Abstract
This chapter discusses some of staphylococcal products exerting especially pronounced biological effects and possibly participating in the pathogenesis of staphylococcal infections. Alpha toxin possessed hemolytic, cytotoxic, dermonecrotic, and lethal activities, which was confirmed in the results of Bernheimer and Schwartz. Alpha-hemolysin binds to membranes and this is its primary site of action. The toxic properties of beta-hemolysin are quite controversial since the observed toxicity of many preparations of this substance was due, to some extent, to contamination with other staphylococcal exotoxins. Gamma-hemolysin is produced in the late stage of the logarithmic growth phase. The inhibitory action of scrum and its components suggests that delta-hemolysin may be inactive in vivo. Adenyl cyclase increases its activity under the influence of leukocidin, but is not leukocidin-susceptible in cells resistant to the action of this toxin. It also seems that change in the cAMP content are not essential to the basic mechanisms of leukocidin action.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Bacterial Enzymes and Virulence |
Publisher | CRC Press |
Pages | 145-183 |
Number of pages | 39 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781351078498 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781351070041 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Immunology and Microbiology