Erythrocyte membrane structural features that are critical for the lytic reaction of Spirographis spallanzani coelomic fluid hemolysin

1. Hemolytic activity of Spirographis spallanzani coelomic fluid depends on factor(s) strongly influenced by calcium but not by sulfhydril or disulfide reagents.

2. The lytic reaction was suppressed by low zinc ion concentrations but it was not influenced by the presence of proteinase inhibitors.

3. These data indicate that S. spallanzani hemolysin is a non-enzymatic, calcium-dependent, zincinhibitable factor that occurs naturally in the coelomic fluid.

4. In the absence of calcium, enzymatic desialization converted sheep erythrocytes into susceptible targets, suggesting the involvement of erythrocyte surface sialic acid.

5. However, the inhibitory effect of the sugar on anti-rabbit lysis was partially removed by addition of calcium.

6. Attempts to characterize membrane components that are critical for hemolysis were performed by inhibition experiments.

7. We found that saccharides, glycoproteins, mucosubstances as well as rabbit erythrocyte soluble tryptic fragments were ineffective in inhibiting hemolysis.

8. Sonicated dispersion of phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl glycerol, phosphatidyl ethanol, sphingomyelin and cholesterol did not influence the hemolytic reaction.

9. Rabbit erythrocyte extracted from membrane lipids (chloroform phase) did not modify the lytic activity against rabbit red blood cells.

10. Conversely, the methanol phase consistently reduced the lytic capacity of the fluid.

11. The heat-stable, trypsin-resistant inhibitory factor was most probably a small molecule, since dialysis removed the inhibitory effect.