Abstract
A crude cell wall-rich fraction of Listeria monocytogenes contains a substance or substances which cause blast transformation and thymidine incorporation by mouse spleen cells. The substance, Listeria cell wall fraction (LCWF), is a B cell mitogen in the mouse. It is not endotoxin, in that it stimulates B cells in C3H/HeJ mice. It is weakly mitogenic for rat spleen cells and not at all mitogenic for human peripheral blood or tonsil lymphocytes. Thus, it is dissimilar to both endotoxin and purified protein derivative (PPD) in its spectrum of activity. A cell wall-associated mitogen may play an early role in Listeria resistance.
Footnotes
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↵1 This work was supported by Grants AI-11661, AI-11240, and AI-10398 from the National Institutes of Health, and Grant IC-94 from the American Cancer Society.
- Received September 23, 1974.
- Copyright © 1975 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.
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