| Abstract: | The reactions of polyfunctional proteins alpha2-macroglobulin (MG) and lactoferrin (LF) lipoprotein-receptor protein (LRP) and different ligands (antibodies and hydrolases) for ascertaining the mechanisms of their interaction and the probable role of MG and LF in the neutralization of bacterial pathogens were under study. The binding of MG and LF with ligands, irrespective of their nature, was shown to lead to the neutralization of the complex thus formed. This mechanism of neutralization in reaction of LF with ligands was supposedly due to the antibacterial properties of this protein: multiple reactions of LF with receptor sites on the surface of pathogens neutralized the charge of the latter and facilitated phagocytosis. The interaction of LRP of immunocompetent cells with MG, in the presence of additional binding sites on its surface, made it possible for MG to effectively bind and present even heretofore unknown pathogens in the presence of hydrolases on their surface. |
