Hemolysin produced by various bacteria,may destroy erythrocyte membranes via a pore-forming mechanism,a deter-gent action,or a lipase activity.Previous to this experiment,the mode of action used by cyanobacterial hemolysin had not been re-ported.To characterize the action mode of hemolysin produced by the wild-type strain of Synechocystis sp.PCC6803,hemolysis of erythrocytes originating from human,mouse,sheep,rabbit and goldfish was studied.The erythrocytes of mouse,sheep and rabbit were sensitive,while those of human and fish were resistant,to this hemolysin.Using rabbit erythrocytes,it was shown that hemoly-sis occurred in two steps:a binding step within the first 10 min of treatment and a lytic step after 30 min.Both binding and lysis were highly temperature-dependent.Effects of erythrocyte density on hemolysis suggest that the hemolysin might target erythrocytes via a multiple-hit mechanism.In the osmotic protection experiment,all tested osmotic protectants,with molecular diameters ranging from 0.9 ?5.66 nm,failed to effectively inhibit hemolysis.Scanning electron micrographs showed that the hemolysin caused protuberances or echinocytes in rabbit erythrocytes,and then disrupted and ruptured the erythrocytes.Characteristics of hemolysis showed distinct differences from other pore-forming mechanisms,suggesting that this hemolysin might act through a detergent-like or lipase mecha-nism,rather than a pore-forming mechanism.
BI Shuai WANG Wei ZHAO Yuanyuan RU Shaoguo LIU Yunzhang
