[A study on biological properties of fimbriae of Actinomyces viscosus. II. Chemical characteristics of fimbriae of A. viscosus].
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the chemical characteristics of two purified fimbriae. METHODS: The specific antibodies against type I and type II fimbriae of A. viscosus were prepared and the purity of the two purified fimbriae had been identified by the specific antibodies. Then, chemical analysis and amino acid analysis of the two purified fimbriae were done. RESULTS: The two purified fimbriae were mainly composed of proteins and small amount of carbohydrate. The two types of fimbriae contained large amounts of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, alanine, lysine and glycine, and high percentage of nonpolar amino acid was analysed while basic amino acids were present in a very small amounts. CONCLUSION: These results may help to understand the relationship between the chemical characteristics of two types of fimbriae and their biological activity.