Heterogeneity of hemolytic efficiency and isoelectric point of streptolysin O

Using thin-layer agarose gel isoelectric focusing overlaid with thin-layer erythrocyte agar plates, we found that crude streptolysin O (SLO) consisted of a variety of hemolytic components with different isoelectric points (pIs) and that the distribution of pIs in crude SLO was different even in samples which were produced from a single strain of Streptococcus pyogenes under similar conditions. All of the hemolytic components in crude SLO were shown to have the properties of SLO with respect to their susceptibility to oxygen and anti-SLO serum and their molecular weight. The SLO components showed a single molecular weight of 64,000, but they exhibited various pIs ranging from pH 5.4 to 8.3, with major components showing a pI of 6 and/or 7.5. Further examination revealed the slope of the hemolytic titration curve to be dissimilar among the samples of crude SLO. Since the slope of the hemolytic titration curve of a component appears to be based on its hemolytic efficiency, the value of the slope was designated its hemolytic efficiency index. When SLO was purified by isoelectric focusing, the pI of the components was correlated with its hemolytic efficiency index; hemolytic components with lower pIs exhibited a lower hemolytic efficiency index. These results indicate that SLO consists of heterogeneous components with different pIs and suggest that the differences in hemolytic efficiency indices of SLO components are due to the different electrical charges of SLO molecules, which are related to their polymerization and affect hemolytic efficiency.