Abstract
Pneumolysin is a multi-functional toxin produced by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The toxin has distinct cytotoxic activity and complement-activating activity mediated by different parts of the toxin molecule. Mice challenged intranasally with a type 2 pneumococcal strain contract bronchopneumonia and bacteremia. Mice were infected intranasally with isogenic mutants of this strain in which the chromosomal pneumolysin gene carried point mutations affecting either or both properties of pneumolysin. Reduction in either cytotoxic activity or complement activation by pneumolysin decreased the virulence of the mutant pneumococci. However, it was the ability to activate complement that most affected the behaviour of pneumococci in the lungs and associated bacteremia in the first 24 h following infection.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 167-174 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Microbial Pathogenesis |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1998 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Work in Leicester was supported by The Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM) and the Royal Society, in Adelaide by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and in Minneapolis by NIH grant A134051.
Keywords
- Pneumolysin
- Pneumonia
- Streptococcus pneumoniae
