Kinetics of conversion of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to resistance to complement by cytidine 5'-monophospho-N-acetyl neuraminic acid.

Freshly isolated gonococci upon subculture are readily lysed by normal human serum although a few strains remain inherently resistant to the complement activity. The sensitive gonococci can be converted to serum resistance by incubation with a host derived factor referred to as cytidine 5'-monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid (CMP-NANA). These gonococci resist complement mediated killing due to their sialylation of an epitope structure on a component of lipo-oligosaccharide (LOS). In the present study, the kinetics of conversion to serum resistance by the action of sialyltransferase (STase) in Neisseria gonorrhoeae was followed with very low concentrations of CMP-NANA. This conversion could not be perceived at 2 x 10(-3) nmol.ml-1 but was fully attainable from 8 x 10(-3) to 2 x 10(-2) nmol.ml-1 CMP-NANA. When pretreated up to 100 min in presence of the very low concentration of 2 x 10(-3) nmol.ml-1, a potentiating effect on the conversion of gonococci by 2 x 10(-2) nmol.ml-1 was observed in relation to the time of preincubation. This action was abolished after exposure to a subinhibitory concentration of chloramphenicol (0.5 microgram.ml-1). The gonococci recovered their ability to convert to serum resistance following adequate washing. The potential for increase in STase activity should be of interest for understanding the conversion from a serum sensitive to a serum resistance state.