Conglutinin exhibits a complement-dependent enhancement of the respiratory burst of phagocytes stimulated by E. coli

Conglutinin is a mammalian C-type lectin which shows anti-bacterial activity when tested in vivo and in vitro. This study concerns the effect of conglutinin on the respiratory burst of murine spleen cells, using a chemiluminescence assay for measurement of generated reactive oxygen metabolites. Conglutinin enhances, in a dose-dependent manner, the respiratory burst of spleen cells stimulated with serum-opsonized Escherichia coli. The enhancement was only demonstrable in the presence of a functional complement system. The conglutinin-mediated enhancement of the respiratory burst was inhibited in the presence of a N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, D-mannose and N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, monosaccharides reported to inhibit conglutinin-binding to zymosan and the complement factor iC3b. On the other hand, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine was non-inhibitory.