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Infect Immun, March 1998, p. 974-979, Vol. 66, No. 3
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Immunoglobulins to Group A Streptococcal Surface Molecules Decrease Adherence to and Invasion of Human Pharyngeal Cells

U. Fluckiger,1,dagger K. F. Jones,2 and V. A. Fischetti1,*

Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021,1 and SIGA Pharmaceuticals, New York, New York 100222

Received 15 October 1997/Returned for modification 3 December 1997/Accepted 23 December 1997

The M protein is one of the most important virulence factors of group A streptococci (Streptococcus pyogenes) and may play an important role in the first steps of streptococcal infection. Since acute pharyngitis is a frequently occurring infectious disease caused by these bacteria, we wished to know whether antibodies to the M protein or other surface components inhibit adherence and internalization of streptococci to pharyngeal cells. We investigated the role of whole human secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), M6 protein-specific sIgA, and M6 protein-specific serum IgG in the inhibition of streptococcal adherence and internalization to cultured human pharyngeal cells. S. pyogenes D471, which produces a type 6 M protein (M+), and its isogenic M-negative (M-) derivative JRS75 were tested. Purified whole sIgA, M protein-specific sIgA, and sIgA preabsorbed with M protein were able to decrease significantly the adherence of streptococci to pharyngeal cells. Purified IgG against the M6 protein did not diminish the attachment of streptococci to the pharyngeal cells but did reduce internalization. Thus, our data suggest that secretory IgA may play a key role in preventing streptococcal infection at mucosal surfaces by blocking adherence while affinity-purified anti-M protein-specific IgG blocks epitopes responsible for invasion.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Ave., New York, NY 10021. Phone: (212) 327-8166. Fax: (212) 327-7584. E-mail: vaf{at}rockvax.rockefeller.edu.

dagger Present address: Dept. Innere Medizin, Abteilung für Infektiologie, Kantonsspital Basel, Basel CH-403, Switzerland.




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