Cytotoxic Activity and Cytokine Gene Induction of Asp-hemolysin to Murine Macrophages

We examined the effects of Asp-hemolysin from Aspergillus fumigatus Fresenius-Muramatsu strain on the viability and cytokine gene expression of mouse peritoneal macrophages (Mφ). The cytotoxic activity of Asp-hemolysin to Mφ cultured in FCS-RPMI medium was increased in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of Asp-hemolysin with N-ethylmaleimide or sulfo-N-hydroxy-sulfosuccinimide-acetate caused a remarkable loss of the cytotoxic activity, however, the cytotoxic activity of Asp-hemolysin to Mφ cultured in serum-free medium was significantly increased as compared with that in FCS-RPMI medium. As other biological activities of Asp-hemolysin, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) mRNA expression were observed in Mφ cultured with 1μg/ml of Asp-hemolysin.