THE FATE OF BACTERIA WITHIN PHAGOCYTIC CELLS

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Abstract
The intraleucocytic fate of a variety of P32- and C14-labeled bacteria has been studied in both polymorphonuclear leucocytes and macrophages. Both cell types brought about extensive degradation of bacterial lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins. Intracellular breakdown was primarily dependant upon the composition of the ingested particle rather than on the type or source of the phagocyte. Evidence is presented for the reincorporation of bacterial constituents into leucocyte lipid. More than 50 per cent of the acid-soluble degradation products of P32-labeled bacteria appear as inorganic phosphate. Bacterial RNA is degraded more readily than DNA.