Changes in the serum of mice infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae that stimulate in-vitro multiplication of virulent but not avirulent strains.
During pneumococcal infection of mice, nucleic-acid products, including deoxynucleotides, may be released into the serum from cellular disintegration in at least three organs, the lungs, spleen and liver. The serum, after sterilisation to remove contaminating pneumococci, stimulated multiplication of virulent but not avirulent pneumococci in vitro. It also stimulated growth of virulent pneumococci in serum from uninfected animals and could be replaced, at least in part, by certain nucleic-acid degradation products at concentrations found in infected serum. The effects of the serum were lost after dialysis or dilution.