Measurements of Mutagenic and Antimutagenic Activities of Bile Acids by Rec-assay

To study the carcinogenic activity of bile acids, we examined the mutagenic activity of bile acids by Rec-assay using B. subtilis H17 and M45 strains. Cholic, chenodeoxycholic, lithocholic, and glycolithocholic acids exerted much weaker mutagenicity than mitomicin C (MMC), and deoxycholic and glycodeoxycholic acids showed toxicity toward the bacteria. Most of the conjugated bile acids (glycocholic, taurocholic, and taurodexycholic acids) and their amino acid components (glycine and taurine) were neither toxic nor mutagenic. No bile acids enhanced the mutagenicity of N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), but glycine enhanced both toxicity and mutagenicity of MNNG in a dose-dependent manner. On the other hand, taurine decreased the mutagenicity of MNNG, and most of the bile acids decreased the mutagenicity of MMC. Furthermore, taurocholic acids decreased toxicity and/or mutagenicity of other bile acids. These results suggested that the mutagenic and comutagenic activities of bile acids can be disregarded, but they are antimutagenic in some situations.     

紧密连接蛋白claudins应用于肿瘤治疗的进展

Claudins蛋白家族是组成紧密连接(Tight junctions,TJs)必不可少的骨架蛋白,在维持上皮和内皮细胞中的细胞极性、细胞间的粘附固定、细胞旁路的离子运输等发挥重要作用。近年来大量的研究结果证明,claudins在许多人类恶性肿瘤中异常表达。因此,claudins也被作为癌症治疗的潜在靶标。文中就claudin蛋白家族在肿瘤中的表达情况及其相关药物的研究进展进行阐述。     

A Clostridium perfringens hem gene cluster contains a cysG(B) homologue that is involved in cobalamin biosynthesis

The hem gene cluster, which consists of hemA, cysG(B), hemC, hemD, hemB, and hemL genes, and encodes enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathway from glutamyl-tRNA to uroporphyrinogen III, has been identified by the cloning and sequencing of two overlapping DNA fragments from Clostridium perfringens NCTC8237. The deduced amino acid sequence of the N-terminal region of C. perfringens HemD is homologous to those reported for the C-terminal region of Salmonella typhimurium CysG and Clostridium josui HemD. C. perfringens CysG(B) is a predicted 220-residue protein which shows homology to the N-terminal region of S. typhimurium CysG. Disruption of the cysG(B) gene in C. perfringens strain 13 by homologous recombination reduced cobalamin (vitamin B12) levels by a factor of 200. When grown in vitamin B12-deficient medium, the mutant strain showed a four-fold increase in its doubling time compared with that of the wild-type strain, and this effect was counteracted by supplementing the medium with vitamin B12. These results suggest that C. perfringens CysG(B) is involved in the chelation of cobalt to precorrin II as suggested for the CysG(B) domain of S. typhimurium CysG, enabling the synthesis of cobalamin.     

Role of the C-domain in the biological activities of Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin

Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin (370 residues) possesses hemolytic and lethal activities as well as the enzymatic activity of phospholipase C (PLC). In this study we examined the role of the C-domain (251-370 residues; CP251- 370) in biological activities of the toxin. The N-domain (1-250 residues; CP1- 250) of the alpha-toxin as well as the Bacillus cereus phospholipase C (BcPLC) possessed PLC activity, but did not bind to rabbit erythrocytes and lyse them. A hybrid protein (BC-CP251-370) consisting of BcPLC and CP251- 370 bound to the red cells and lysed them. Incubation of CP1-250 with CP251-370 completely complemented hemolytic and PLC activities. CP251-370 also conferred hemolytic activity on BcPLC. CP251-340 (251-340 residues) significantly stimulated PLC activity of CP1-250), but did not confer hemolytic activity on CP1-250. Kinetic analysis suggested that CP251-370 increased affinity toward the substrate of CP1-250. The results suggested that CP251-370 plays an important role in binding to erythrocytes and the hemolytic and enzymatic activities of CP1-250. Acrylodan-labeled CP251-370 variants (S263C and S365C) bound to liposomes and exhibited a marked blue shift, and in addition, an N,N'-dimethyl-N-(iodoacetyl)-N'-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazolyl)ethylene diamine (NBD)-labeled CP251-370 (S365C) variant also bound to liposomes and the fluorescence intensity significantly increased, suggesting movement of CP251-370 to a hydrophobic environment. These observations suggest that interaction of CP251-370 of alpha-toxin with fatty acyl residues of phosphatidylcholine plays an important role in the biological activities of CP1-250.     

腐败梭菌α毒素基因的克隆表达及其类毒素的免疫原性研究

根据GenBank公布的腐败梭菌α毒素基因序列,设计了一对引物,并以腐败梭菌基因组为模板,经PCR特异性扩增出腐败梭菌菌株HeB01的α毒素基因。序列分析表明,该基因产物大小为1323bp,与GenBank报道的4个腐败梭菌参考菌株α毒素基因序列同源性高于99·5%。将扩增的α毒素基因定向克隆到原核表达载体pQE30中,得到重组质粒pQE30-α,将重组质粒转化大肠杆菌M15中,得到重组菌株M15(pQE30-α),经IPTG诱导后,SDS-PAGE分析可见表达的48kD特异条带;Westernblot和ELISA检测实验表明:表达的α毒素与抗天然α毒素抗体发生特异性反应,说明α毒素蛋白具有较好的免疫原性。将表达的α毒素蛋白制成类毒素疫苗,免疫小鼠后,具有一定的保护能力,表明该重组菌株有望作为腐败梭菌基因工程类毒素疫苗的候选生产菌株。     

The role of neutrophils and monocytic cells in controlling the initiation of Clostridium perfringens gas gangrene

Clostridium perfringens is a common cause of the fatal disease gas gangrene (myonecrosis). Established gas gangrene is notable for a profound absence of neutrophils and monocytic cells (phagocytes), and it has been suggested that the bactericidal activities of these cells play an insignificant role in controlling the progression of the infection. However, large inocula of bacteria are needed to establish an infection in experimental animals, suggesting phagocytes may play a role in inhibiting the initiation of gangrene. Examination of tissue sections of mice infected with a lethal (1 x 10(9)) or sublethal (1 x 10(6)) inoculum of C. perfringens revealed that phagocyte infiltration in the first 3 h postinfection was inhibited with a lethal dose but not with a sublethal dose, indicating that exclusion of phagocytes begins very early in the infection cycle. Experiments in which mice were depleted of either circulating monocytes or neutrophils before infection with C. perfringens showed that monocytes play a role in inhibiting the onset of gas gangrene at intermediate inocula but, although neutrophils can slow the onset of the infection, they are not protective. These results suggest that treatments designed to increase monocyte infiltration and activate macrophages may lead to increased resistance to the initiation of gas gangrene.     

Development and validation of stable reference materials for food microbiology using Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens spores

Aims: To develop a new type of microbiological Reference Materials (RMs), displaying long‐term stability at room temperature. The purpose was to produce and validate two batches of RMs for the enumeration of Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens. Methods and Results: The RMs were based on spores of B. cereus and Cl. perfringens, adsorbed on calcium carbonate pellets. Two batches of 1000 units were manufactured and validated in compliance with ISO guide 35. After verification of their homogeneity, the stability of the ‘RM‐B. cereus’ and ‘RM‐Cl. perfringens’ batches was proven during at least 36 and 9 months, respectively, at room temperature. The validation study was completed by international collaborative trial involving 12 laboratories, allowing the validation of the assigned values. Conclusions: The methodology developed in this work enabled to produce easy‐to‐handle and cost‐effective RMs, displaying an unprecedented stability at room temperature, a good homogeneity and a precise and validated assigned value. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study revealed new paths for the development of stable microbiological RMs. Overcoming the intrinsic instability of the living cells makes it possible to produce valuable tools for the quality assurance of microbiology laboratories.     

Fibronectin‐binding proteins of Clostridium perfringens recognize the III1‐C fragment of fibronectin

The Clostridium perfringens strain 13 genome contains two genes (fbpA, fbpB) that encode putative Fbp. Both rFbpA and rFbpB were purified and their reactivity with human serum Fn was analyzed. To determine the region of the Fn molecule recognized by rFbp, a plate binding assay using N‐terminal 70‐kDa peptide, III₁‐C peptide, and 110‐kDa peptide containing III_2–10 of Fn was performed. Both rFbp bound to the III₁‐C peptide of Fn but not to the other peptides. However, the III₁‐C fragment of Fn is known to be cryptic in serum Fn. Then, rFbp‐BP from Fn were purified by rFbp‐affinity chromatography. The yield of purified proteins was approximately 1% of the applied Fn on a protein basis. Western blotting analysis of the rFbp‐BP, using four different anti‐Fn monoclonal antibodies, revealed that the rFbp‐BP carried partial Fn antigenicity. Bindings of rFbp to rFbp‐BP were inhibited by the presence of the III₁‐C peptide, suggesting that rFbp‐BP express the III₁‐C fragment. The binding of Fn to III₁‐C was inhibited by the presence of either rFbpA or rFbpB. This result that suggests C. perfringens Fbps may inhibit the formation of Fn‐matrix in vivo.     

Clostridium glycyrrhizinilyticum sp. nov., a glycyrrhizin-hydrolysing bacterium isolated from human faeces

Screening of faecal bacteria for glycyrrhetic acid (GA) production by hydrolysing of glycyrrhizin (GL) resulted in the isolation of two strains, designated ZM35T and ZM38. Strains ZM35T and ZM38 were Gram-positive, obligate anaerobic, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped bacteria. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strains ZM35T and ZM38 belonged to cluster XIVa of the genus Clostridium. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of strains ZM35T and ZM38 were identical. Strain ZM35T exhibited approximately 94% to 95% identity with the validly described species, Clostridium oroticum(94.5%), Eubacterium contortum(93.8%), Ruminococcus gnavus(94.5%) and R. torques(95.1%). In an experiment of DNA-DNA hybridization, it was confirmed that strains ZM35T and ZM38 were the same species. The guanine-plus-cytosine (G+C) content of strain ZM35T is 45.7 mol%. Based on the phylogenetic and phenotypic findings, we propose that strains ZM35T and ZM38 be assigned to a novel species named Clostridium glycyrrhizinilyticum. The type strain is ZM35T (=JCM 13368T=DSM 17593T).     

Evaluation of an alternative method for the enumeration and confirmation of Clostridium perfringens from treated and untreated sewages

AIMS: Clostridium perfringens is recommended as a suitable indicator bacterium for human enteric viruses, Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts in finished water and in the assessment and evaluation of water treatment. Several agars and confirmation procedures were evaluated in parallel with the Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZ) Method for the enumeration of Cl. perfringens from treated and untreated sewage samples. METHODS AND RESULTS: The current AS/NZ method utilizes tryptose sulfite cycloserine agar (TSC), lactose gelatin medium (LG) and nitrate motility medium (NM) at an incubation temperature of 37 degrees C. Sixty treated and untreated sewage samples were used to evaluate TSC agar, membrane Cl. perfringens agar (mCP), Perfringens agar (OPSP) and Perfringens agar with 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate (OPSP-MUP) for enumeration of Clostridium. An incubation temperature of 44 degrees C for 24 h was used for comparison. Confirmation procedures were also evaluated using 103 isolates and included LG and NM, ortho-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG) with MUP (ONPG-MUP) and phosphatase reagent (PR). OPSP compared favourably with TSC agar. One false negative result was obtained from each of the LG/NM and ONPG-MUP procedures. No false results were obtained using the PR confirmation procedure. CONCLUSIONS: OPSP agar and PR were determined as suitable replacements for the AS/NZ Standard procedure with no interference from spreading organisms. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This is a simple and rapid method for isolating and enumerating Cl. perfringens from sewage samples and confirmed results can be reported more quickly due to shorter analytical turnaround times.