Candida albicansand the chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear neutrophils

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Abstract
Cell-wall mannan antigens of Candida albicans were highly stimulatory for polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) but the cytoplasmic antigens showed little activity. C. albicans stimulated a greater migration of neutrophils than did Torulopsis glabrata. Suspensions of blastospores attracted significantly larger numbers of PMN neutrophils than did mycelial suspensions of similar weight or opacity. Nearly twice as many PMN neutrophils migrated towards a suspension of freeze-dried Escherichia coli as did towards an equal weight of freeze-dried C. albicans. The relative chemotactic stimulation exhibited by E. coli and C. albicans blastospores and mycelium respectively, is shown to be a surface area phenomenon, directly proportional to the surface area of the microbial mass. It is suggested that the cell-wall mannan of C. albicans forms a complex with serum complement and it is this which induces the positive chemotaxis of PMN neutrophils.