Extraction of lysozyme from egg white by salt precipitation: a hypothesis for its immunostimulatory use on Gram-positive bacteria.

According to my theory, by extracting, using ammonium sulfate, a salt with the formula: (NH₄)₂SO₄, mainly used in the salting-out of a mixture in which proteins with a certain saturation (e.g., 40–50%) “fall to the bottom” forming a viscous white pellet containing various proteins in their crude state, this pellet is called a precipitate, or crude protein precipitate. Essentially, my hypothetical idea would be the following: by precipitating egg white at 40% saturation using ammonium sulfate, extracting the pellet, theoretically 30% of the crude proteins would contain lysozymes. Lysozymes are enzymes produced by mucous membranes as well as saliva, and are enzymes that inhibit the cell walls of Gram-positive bacteria, i.e., bacteria with a very thick cell wall composed primarily of peptidoglycan and lacking an outer membrane. At this point, we should mix Gram-positive bacterial strains with our solution and add anti-IgM as an optional method. Finally, we can note that this solution theoretically stimulates the production of B lymphocytes, as well as immunological memory due to the presence of antigens normally present in bacteria, such as membrane proteins and/or peptidoglycans. After lysis by lysozymes, the bacteria will still have residual parts that can be recognized as foreign molecules by the immune system, stimulating it but without causing damage as before, since after the cell wall ruptures, the bacteria will have little or no ability to reproduce.

p.s. Naturally, this hypothesis would require rigorous experimental validation in the laboratory to confirm the immunological efficacy of the resulting lysate.