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Concise Publication Free access | 10.1172/JCI107236

Biological Defense Mechanisms. THE PRODUCTION BY LEUKOCYTES OF SUPEROXIDE, A POTENTIAL BACTERICIDAL AGENT

Bernard M. Babior, Ruby S. Kipnes, and John T. Curnutte

1Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, Harvard Medical Unit, Boston City Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02118

Find articles by Babior, B. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

1Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, Harvard Medical Unit, Boston City Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02118

Find articles by Kipnes, R. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

1Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, Harvard Medical Unit, Boston City Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02118

Find articles by Curnutte, J. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Published March 1, 1973 - More info

Published in Volume 52, Issue 3 on March 1, 1973
J Clin Invest. 1973;52(3):741–744. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI107236.
© 1973 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published March 1, 1973 - Version history
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Abstract

As a highly reactive substance produced in biological systems by the one-electron reduction of oxygen, superoxide (O2-) seemed a likely candidate as a bactericidal agent in leukocytes. The reduction of cytochrome c, a process in which O2- may serve as an electron donor, was found to occur when the cytochrome was incubated with leukocytes. O2- was identified as the agent responsible for the leukocyte-mediated reduction of cytochrome c by the demonstration that the reaction was abolished by superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that destroys O2-, but not by boiled dismutase, albumin, or catalase.

Leukocyte O2- production doubled in the presence of latex particles. The average rate of formation of O2- in the presence of these particles was 1.03 nmol/107 cells per 15 min. This rate, however, is only a lower limit of the true rate of O2- production, since any O2- which reacted with constituents other than cytochrome c would have gone undetected. Thus. O2- is made by leukocytes under circumstances which suggest that it may be involved in bacterial killing.

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