lysin Biol.
(ˈlaɪsɪn)
Also † -ine.
[ad. G. lysine (W. Kruse 1893, in Beiträge zur path. Anat. und zur allgemeinen Path. XII. 339), f. lysis lysis: see -in1.]
Any substance (as a bacteriolysin or hæmolysin) which is able to lyse cells; spec. an antibody with this ability.
| 1900 A. C. Jones tr. Fischer's Struct. & Functions Bacteria xvii. 168 To formulate a theory of immunity that shall not be lost in clouds of hypothesis is at present impossible. The alexines, antitoxines, lysines, and antilysines, that the wordy research of the last few years has given us, are at present quite unknown. 1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 5 Apr. 845 Some immune serums appear to exercise an agglutination of the red cells immediately before the lysin action. Ibid. 12 Apr. 920 [The first-mentioned poisons] as well as..the lysin of cholera belong to the lysin group. 1922 Brit. Jrnl. Exper. Path. III. 259 Gengou..has described a bacteriolytic substance which he has found in extracts of leucocytes. He found, however, that the lysin was absorbed by saturation with the microbe. 1954 A. White et al. Princ. Biochem. xxiv. 658 If the cells are lysed, the antibodies are lysins. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VII. 637/2 Lysins vary in the range of host species whose cells they will attack and in their requirements for accessory factors for lysis; the immune lysins are strictest in their requirements. |