A. Delillo et al., RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY AND CELL-SURFACE BINDING OF LACTOFERRIN IN SPECIES OF GENUS MICROCOCCUS, FEMS microbiology letters, 150(1), 1997, pp. 89-94
Human lactoferrin was bactericidal in vitro for Micrococcus luteus but
not for other Micrococcus species (M. radiophilus, M. roseus and M. v
arians). A correlation between the binding of lactoferrin to the bacte
rial surface and the antimicrobial action was observed. Viability assa
ys showed that ferric, but not ferrous, salts prevented binding and co
nsequently M. luteus was not killed. The unsaturated form of lactoferr
in showed a greater affinity than that of the iron-saturated molecule
for lipomannan, a lipoglycan present on the cell wall of M. luteus, su
pporting the role for lipomannan as one of the possible binding sites
of lactoferrin on M. luteus.