Rh. Widen et al., ANTIBODY-MEDIATED ENHANCEMENT OF LEGIONELLA-PNEUMOPHILA-INDUCED INTERLEUKIN-1 ACTIVITY, Infection and immunity, 61(10), 1993, pp. 4027-4032
The ability of antibody specific for Legionella pneumophila to enhance
the induction of interleukin 1 (IL-1) production by murine peritoneal
, splenic, and pulmonary macrophages in response to the bacterium was
examined. Two preparations of L. pneumophila were utilized, a formalin
-killed whole-cell preparation and viable bacteria. We measured both s
ecreted (sIL-1) and cell membrane-associated (mIL-1) activities after
incubation of the macrophages with the bacterial preparations in the p
resence or absence of the antibody. Both bacterial preparations induce
d sIL-1 and mIL-1 activities in each of the macrophage populations tes
ted. These activities were generally enhanced by pretreating the bacte
ria with antibody, with the greatest enhancing activity observed for t
he formalin-killed preparations at lower doses of bacteria.