%0 Journal Article %A Williams, P. %A Lambert, P. A. %A Brown, M. R. W. %T Penetration of immunoglobulins through the Klebsiella capsule and their effect on cell-surface hydrophobicity %D 1988 %J Journal of Medical Microbiology, %V 26 %N 1 %P 29-35 %@ 1473-5644 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00222615-26-1-29 %I Microbiology Society, %X SUMMARY The ability of antibodies to cell-surface components of Klebsiella to increase surface hydrophobicity and to gain access to antigens potentially masked by the capsule was investigated. Treatment of capsulate or non-capsulate strains with the respective autologous antiserum resulted in a marked increase in surface hydrophobicity. Antisera raised against a rough non-capsulate (K−O-) strain had little effect on the surface hydrophobicity of either of the capsulate strains K1+O1+ and K2+ O1+, or of the non-capsulate K− O1+ strain. Whereas anti-K−O1+ sera or anti-K2+ sera increased the surface hydrophobicity of the K2+ O1+ strain, only antisera containing anti-K1+ antibodies increased the hydrophobicity of the K1+ O1+ strain. Immunoadsorption of anti-K−O1+ serum by whole capsulate cells revealed that neither the K1 nor the K2 capsular polysaccharide acted as a barrier to anti-O antibodies but that the K1 capsular polysaccharide masked the presence of the immunoglobulin at the cell surface. The Klebsiella capsular polysaccharide does not appear to present a permeability barrier to immunoglobulins although failure to detect outer-membrane proteins in the immune complexes of either of the capsulate strains or of the K−O1+ strain suggests that the O antigen may prevent access of antibodies to these antigens. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/00222615-26-1-29