pubmed-article:2266582 | pubmed:abstractText | Induction of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) by Staphylococcus aureus L-form was investigated. The supernatant of a macrophage culture mixed with S. aureus L-form showed a potent cytotoxic activity to L cells. Addition of anti TNF-alpha antibody inhibited completely the cytotoxic activity of the supernatant, indicating that the activity might be due mostly to TNF-alpha. To investigate localization of TNF-alpha production, the membranes of hypotonicity treated L-form were layered on a step-gradient composed of an upper and lower layers of 35% and 50% sucrose, respectively. The membranes were banded at the interface of 35% and 50% of sucrose. The activity of TNF-alpha production of the membrane fraction was 10-times higher than that of the soluble fraction. | lld:pubmed |