Attachment of Mycoplasma pneumoniae to respiratory epithelium.

The attachment of radioisotope-labeled Mycoplasma pneumoniae to hamster tracheal rings in organ culture was examined by radioautography and liquid scintillation counting. Radioautographs of individual rings exposed for 8 h to (3H) thymidine-labeled virulent M. pneumoniae revealed a dense extracellular collection of emulsion grains along the luminal surface of epithelial cells. Similar exposure of rings to isotope-labeled avirulent M. pneumoniae resulted in no accumulation of emulsion grains. The numbers of attached virulent mycoplasmas, as measured by liquid scintillation counting of infected rings, were found to increase in a nearly linear fashion over an 8-h incubation period. Viability of the mycoplasmas and metabolic integrity of the tracheal rings were important for optimal attachment. Pretreatment of rings with neuraminidase or sodium periodate significantly impaired orgainism adherence. These data suggest a specificity of interation between virulent M. pneumoniae and tracheal epithelial cells that can be further examined through the use of isotopically labeled mycoplasmas.