Seven strains of Mycoplasma hominis from human genital tracts were selected to produce antisera. The complement-dependent mycoplasmacidal (MC) activity and two complement-independent activities, metabolic inhibition (MI) and agglutination during growth (GA), of these sera were compared. The GA and MI tests were equivalent in titer and generally not affected by concentration of antigen; they rev...

The ability of superantigens (SAGs) to trigger various cellular events via major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules is largely mediated by their mode of interaction. Having two MHC class II binding sites, staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) is able to dimerize MHC class II molecules on the cell surface and consequently induces cytokine gene expression in human monocytes. In cont...

We have studied the ability of three different Mycoplasma species to induce proliferation of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM). We observed a significant mitogenic effect when BMM cells from BALB/c, DBA/2J, SJL, and C57BL/6 mice were incubated with membranes derived from Mycoplasma arginini or M. arthritidis but not when they were incubated with an equivalent amount of M. pulmonis membrane....

Four Mycoplasma arthritidis strains, two virulent (158p10p9 and 14124p10) and two avirulent (PG6 and H606), were examined for differences in their antigenic compositions. Rabbit antisera prepared against each strain were compared for their reactivities against both homologous and heterologous strains by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and metabolism inhibition assay. These tests confirmed a c...