ISSN:
1574-695X
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Zymosan, a particulate β-glucan preparation from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, shows various biological activities, including anti-tumor activity. We have previously shown that soluble β-glucan initiated anti-tumor activity was long-lived and was effective even by prophylactic treatment at 1 month prior to tumor challenge. However, the activity by zymosan was relatively short-lived. Antigen-specific responses of mice to zymosan might be a causative mechanism. In this paper, mice were immunized with zymosan and antibody production and antigen-specific responses of lymphocytes to zymosan were analyzed. Sera of zymosan immune mice contained zymosan-specific IgG assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and FACS. Spleen and bone marrow cells of zymosan-immune mice showed higher cytokine production in response to zymosan. Specificity of zymosan-specific responses were also analyzed using various derivatives prepared from zymosan. These facts strongly suggested that mice recognize zymosan as antigen in addition to non-specific immune stimulant.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-695X.1999.tb01274.x
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