The opsonic fragment of the third component of human complement (C3).

Human peripheral blood phagocytes ingest Escherichia coli 026:B6 lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-coated paraffin oil droplets containing Oil red O only if fresh serum deposits C3 on the surfaces of the particles (opsonizes them), by reactions involving the properdin system. The rate of binding of purified [125-I]C3 in serum to LPS-coated particles correlated precisely with the rate of acquisition of ingestibility assayed spectrophotometrically. Once opsonized, LPS-coated particles remained fully ingestible and retained fixed [125-I]C3 radioactivity even after exposure to extremes of temperature, pH, ionic strength, phospholipases, urea or guanidine, some nonionic and ionic detergents, and organic solvents. Trypsin, human conglutinogen-activating factor, another heat-stable activity found in human serum, and sodium dodecyl sulfate removed radioactivity and diminished ingestibility of the opsonized particles. Alkylation, reduction plus alkylation and F(ab')2 from anti-C3 blocked ingestibility but did not alter particle-bound radioactivitymelectrophoretic and tryptic peptide autoradiographic analysis of dodecyl sulfate eluates of opsonized particles, cleansed of many contaminating proteins by boiling with 2 M NaCl (yet still opsonized), revealed that the polypeptide with C3-derived radioactivity had a mol wt of approximately 140,000 and was composed of 70,000 mol wt subunits linked by disulfide bonds. Immunochemical analysis and comparison of the peptide structure of the eluate with that of C3 indicated that the opsonic fragment is not the fragment defined as C3b but a smaller derivative of C3.

The choice of adjuvants in Mycoplasma vaccines.

The use of adjuvants in vaccine production is an important aspect of potent vaccines. This investigation was concerned with finding the most efficient adjuvants for use in Mycoplasma vaccines produced in Nigeria. Four different vaccines were produced from the Gladysdale strain of Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides. They differed depending on the type of adjuvants used. Each vaccine was used to vaccinate eight cattle using a dose of 1 ml. Two other groups of eight cattle were used as controls. One of the two groups received 1 ml dose of inactivated Gladysdale vaccine without adjuvant while the second group received 1 ml dose of saline. The number of cattle that had the peak complement fixing (CF) antibody titres of 1/80 in each group of cattle was four for vaccine containing aluminium hydroxide gel, eight for vaccine containing liquid paraffin, one for vaccine containing sodium alginate and one for vaccine without adjuvant. Seven cattle from the group vaccinated with vaccine containing Freund's incomplete adjuvant had peak CF antibody titres of 1/80 or higher. The two groups vaccinated with vaccine containing liquid paraffin and Freund's incomplete adjuvant survived challenge at 6 months post vaccination. Freund's incomplete adjuvant and liquid paraffin containing 10% Arlacel A are the most efficient adjuvants.