Alginate Inhibition of the Uptake of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Macrophages
- 1 January 1988
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Microbiology Society in Microbiology
- Vol. 134 (1) , 29-36
- https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-134-1-29
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa alginate was purified and characterized in terms of uronic acid, carbohydrate and protein content, as well as by infra-red spectroscopy and gel electrophoresis. Added exogenous bacterial alginate inhibited the uptake and degradation of both viable and non-viable radiolabelled non-mucoid P. aeruginosa by resident mouse peritoneal macrophages. Alginic acid (from seaweed) inhibited the same parameters to almost the same degree. Bacterial alginate also inhibited the uptake of fluorescent-labelled zymosan and latex particles. Starch, at equivalent viscosity to the alginate, inhibited the uptake and degradation of radiolabelled nonviable P. aeruginosa to a greater extent, but Dextran T500 had no effect. This suggests that the viscous nature of alginate exerts a non-specific inhibitory effect on the uptake and subsequent degradation of phagocytosible particles.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: