Investigation into the effects of cell wall antigens of gram-positive bacteria on lymphocyte stimulation and on cell-mediated cytotoxicity

The effect of Staph, epidermidis and Bac. subtilis cell walls as well as of cell wall teichoic acid, N-acetyl-muramic acid, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, D-alanine, and DL-alpha, epsilon-diaminopimelic acid on lymphocyte stimulation and on cell-mediated cytotoxicity has been studied. Bac. subtilis cell wall preparations, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and teichoic acid showed a slight but significant effect on the mitogenic response of pig lymphocyte cultures. When studied in combination with the mitogens PHA, ConA, and PWM significant synergistic effects were observed with N-acetyl-muramic acid. The most significant stimulation of the in vitro 51Cr-release from labelled P815 tumor cells in the presence of non-sensitized as well as specifically sensitized lymphocytes was exerted by D-alanine.