The nature of staphylococcal beta hemolysin. II Effect on mammalian cells

Abstract

Purified beta hemolysin A was toxic to human amnion and monkey kidney and KB cells on the basis of trypan blue uptake, absence of pH changes in the medium, and inability of the cells to adhere to glass surfaces. Cells treated with the hemolysin were smaller than controls with granular cytoplasm and prominent nuclei. Rabbit and sheep leukocytes were unable to reduce the dye dichlorophenol-indophenol in the presence of the hemolysin but their ability to take up bacteria seemed unimpaired. Morphological changes in other mammalian cells were not found in leukocytes.