Pig Intestinal Membrane-Bound Receptor (Guanylyl Cyclase) for Heat-Stable Enterotoxin: cDNA Cloning,Functional Expression,and Characterization

A cDNA encoding the receptor protein for a heat-stable enterotoxin (STa) produced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli was cloned from intestinal epithelial cells of a 10-week-old pig. The cDNA had an open reading frame of 3,219 base pairs and coded for a protein with 1,073 amino acid residues. The mature protein consisted of 1,050 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of ca. 121 kDa and was 87% and 82% identical with the human and rat protein, respectively. The CHO cell line overexpressing the pig recombinant STa receptor specifically bound to a photoaffinity-labeled analog of STa and showed marked elevation of the cellular content of cGMP in response to STa.     

表达大肠杆菌LT-B/ST融合抗原的减毒鼠伤寒沙门氏菌株的构建

编码LT-B/ST融合抗原的基因插入pYA248载体中,构建了重组质粒pXZL66。该重组质粒转入无毒鼠伤寒沙门氏菌SR-11,ΔCya,Δcrp,Δasd菌株X4072。此无抗药性的杂合菌株X4072(pXZL66)表达的LT-B/ST融合抗原具有LT和ST抗原性而没有生物毒性,可望成为预防ETEC腹泻和相应的沙门氏菌病双价口服活疫苗候选株。     

Rabbit enterotoxaemia: Purification and preliminary characterisation of a toxin produced by Clostridium spiroforme

Abstract A culture filtrate of Clostridium spiroforme grown in a brain-heart-infusion peptone medium at 37°C for 24 h was concentrated by ultrafiltration, and the toxic fraction separated by ion exchange chromatography. This material was dermonecrotic in depilated guinea pigs, lethal in mice, enterotoxic in rabbit ileal loops and infant mice and cytophathic for HeLa cells. All activity was neutralised by Clostridium perfringens Type E antitoxin. Analysis by size exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography produced a single symmetrical peak corresponding to an M _r of 41 000 to 42 000.     

Detection of heat-stable and heat-labile enterotoxin genes of Escherichia coli in diarrhoeic faecal samples of mithun (Bos frontalis) calves by polymerase chain reaction

Aims:  To find out the prevalence of different serogroups of Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and to detect heat-stable (ST) and heat-labile (LT) enterotoxin genes of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) from the faeces of mithun calves with diarrhoea.
Methods and Results:  Faecal samples obtained from 65 diarrhoeic mithun calves of under 2 months of age were examined for E. coli using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fifty-four E. coli isolates were obtained from those samples, which belonged to 38 different serogroups. Out of 54 isolates tested by PCR, two isolates (3·70%) belonging to serogroups O26 and O55 were found to possess gene that code for ST enterotoxin and one isolate (1·85%) belonging to serogroup O125 was found to carry LT enterotoxin gene.
Conclusions:  Escherichia coli isolates from diarrhoeic mithun calves were found to possess ST and LT enterotoxin genes, which are designated as ETEC, and these isolates can be detected through PCR using specific primers.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  This study reports the isolation of ETEC possessing ST and LT enterotoxin genes for the first time and ETEC could be a cause of diarrhoea in mithun calves leading to calf mortality.     

Role of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli in cattle and buffalo calf diarrhoea

Abstract 273 Strains of Escherichia coli isolated from diarrhoeic and healthy control cattle and buffalo calves in Sri Lanka, were tested for Verocytotoxin (VT) and for heat-stable (ST) and heat-labile (LT) enterotoxins. VT and ST toxigenic E. coli were significantly associated with diarrhoea, accounting for 28% and 18% of diarrhoeic episodes, respectively. LT toxigenic E. coli were not significantly associated with diarrhoea.     

大肠埃希菌不耐热肠毒素双突变体的表达及活性研究

为了使大肠埃希菌不耐热肠毒素(LT)的毒性丧失或减弱的同时仍保留其较强的免疫原性,通过PCR和重叠—延伸PCR扩增突变体LTK⁶³/G¹⁹²基因片段, IPTG诱导表达目的蛋白,经Western免疫印迹检测目的蛋白,在HPLC系统上纯化目的蛋白,经ADP-核酸转移酶试验及Patent-mouse毒性试验检测其酶活性与毒性,纯化的目的蛋白与鸡新城疫病毒弱毒疫苗联合一起经滴鼻免疫鸡。结果表明：制备的突变体LTK⁶³/G¹⁹²的基因片段经酶切和测序发现,所构建的表达载体pLTK⁶³/G¹⁹² 阅读框架正确,且相应位点氨基酸获得了替换;经SDS-PAGE电泳检测,野生型LT及双突变体均表达出约33.0 ku和13.0 ku的两条蛋白带,与LTA、LTB亚基分子质量相吻合;经Western bolt检测,两个蛋白亚基均可与His抗体发生特异性反应;双突变蛋白的酶活性和毒性与野生型LT相比酶活性和毒性都有所降低;突变体LTK⁶³/G¹⁹²能辅助新城疫疫苗在血清和黏膜中产生较高抗新城疫病毒的IgG和IgA。说明LTK⁶³/G¹⁹²是一个良好的免疫佐剂。     

Variation in nuclear DNA content in an ex-type isolate of Penicillium measured by continuous flow microfluorimetry

Abstract The effect of purified enterotoxin produced by Clostridium difficile on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells was examined. In a certain concentration range (0.9–3.6 μ g/ml), purified toxin caused CHO elongation, namely a cytotonic effect, which is similar to a typical morphological change in CHO cells induced by cholera enterotoxin. At a higher concentration, purified enterotoxin had a cytotoxic effect on CHO cells which was neutralized by anti- C. difficile enterotoxin, but not by anti- C. difficile cytotoxin. Thus, enterotoxin had both cytotonic and cytotoxic effects on CHO cells. About 60 and 180 min were required for binding of enterotoxin to CHO cells, and its internalization, respectively, both times being much longer than those for C. difficile cytotoxin.     

Emission of carbonyl sulfide by Thiobacillus thioparus grown with thiocyanate in pure and mixed cultures

Abstract The biological activity of the heat-stable enterotoxin of Vibrio cholerae non-O1 (NAG-ST) was found to be predominantly associated with the periplasmic extract (about four-fold higher than the culture supernatant) of a recombinant E. coli (JM109) strain carrying the NAG-St toxin gene. Four molecular species of NAG-ST, two each from the periplasmic extract and culture supernatant of JM109, were purified. Amino acid sequence analysis of the four NAG-ST peptides isolated by HPLC revealed that they all differed from that of the mature 17-amino acid residue NAG-ST released by V. cholerae non-O1. The M _r-values of the peptides obtained from the periplasmic extract were 4331 and 2785, while those recovered from the culture supernatant were 3154 and 2785. It thus appears that V. cholerae NAG-ST is synthesized as larger molecules in the recombinant E. coli strain. The differences in sizes of the exported NAG-ST molecule could relate to difference in the enzyme cleavage system between E. coli and V. cholerea .     

Hemagglutinating activity of the heat-labile enterotoxin isolated from porcine enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

Abstract The hemagglutinating activity of the heat-labile enterotoxin (LT_p) isolated from porcine enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli was studied by hemagglutination inhibition. The hemagglutinating activity of LT_p was enhanced 64–512-fold with pronase- and neuraminidase-treated human erythrocytes although both intact human and sheep erythrocytes were not agglutinated by LT_p at the highest concentration used. No enhancement was found in hemagglutination of neuraminidase-treated sheep erythrocytes by LT_p. Hemagglutination of pronase-treated human type A erythrocytes induced by LT_p was inhibited by melibiose and galactose among mono-, di-, and polysaccharides used as inhibitors. Galactose was a slightly better inhibitor than melibiose. These findings suggest that LT_p is a bacterial lectin specific for galactose.     

层析等电聚焦法提纯葡萄球菌肠毒素D

 我们成功地建立了层析等电聚焦的三步程序,分离提纯葡萄球菌D型肠毒素。首先用CG-50树脂吸附由细菌培养液中获得粗毒素,然后在PBE94柱上进行层析等电聚焦,最后经过Sephacryls-200过滤。纯化的SED纯度约98%,回收率89%,分子量为28500,pI 7.6。Western blot,免疫双向琼脂扩散的鉴定试验表明,纯化SED与其相应抗血清是特异性反应。     

Hemagglutinating activity of trypsinized Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin

Abstract The hemagglutinating activity of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) was studied after trypsin treatment. Untreated CPE did not show any hemagglutinating activity to human type A, B, and O, sheep, chicken, horse, guinea-pig, or rabbit erythrocytes. Trypsinized CPE resulted in a more than 100-fold increase in hemagglutinating activity with rabbit erythrocytes only. Other erythrocytes and trypsinized rabbit erythrocytes were not agglutinated at all. The hemagglutinating activity of CPE was also found on treatment with a lysine-specific proteinase. On the other hand, trypsinized CPE did not significantly increase the cytotoxic and enterotoxic activities. The binding reaction between trypsinized and rabbit erythrocytes was not inhibited by any mono-, di-, or polysaccharides, glycoproteins or ganglioside mixtures. These results suggest that the hydrolysis of bonds involving lysine residues is mainly required for hemagglutinating activity, and that the receptor for trypsinized CPE on rabbit erythrocytes is probably the protein moiety.     

An association of 27- and 40-kDa molecules with glycolipids that bind A-B bacterial enterotoxins to cultured cells

It is well recognized that the Shiga-like toxins (Stxs) preferentially bind to Gb3 glycolipids and the cholera toxin (CT) and heat-labile enterotoxin (LTp) bind to GM1 gangliosides. After binding to the cell surface, A-B bacterial enterotoxins have to be internalized by endocytosis. The transport of the toxin-glycolipid complex has been documented in several manners but the actual mechanisms are yet to be clarified. We applied a heterobifunctional cross-linker, sulfosuccinimidyl-2-(p-azidosalicylamido)-1,3′-dithiopropionate (SASD), to detect the membrane proteins involved in the binding and the transport of A-B bacterial enterotoxins in cultured cells. Both Stx1 and Stx2 bound to the detergent-insoluble microdomain (DIM) of Vero cells and Caco-2 cells, which were susceptible to the toxin, but neither was bound to insusceptible CHO-K1 cells. Both CT and LTp bound to the DIM of Vero cells, Caco-2 cells, and CHO-K1 cells. In a cross-linking experiment, Stx1 cross-linked only with a 27-kDa molecule, while Stx2, which was more potently toxic than Stx1, cross-linked with 27- and 40-kDa molecules of Vero cells as well as of Caco-2 cells; moreover, no molecules were cross-linked with the insusceptible CHO-K1 cells. LTp was cross-linked only to the 27-kDa molecule of these three cell types but the CT, which was more toxic than LTp, was also cross-linked with 27- and 40-kDa molecules of Vero cells, Caco-2 cells, and CHO-K1 cells. The 27- and the 40-kDa molecules might play a role in the endocytosis and retrograde transport of A-B bacterial enterotoxins.     

Identification and Characterization of Heat-Stable Enterotoxin II-Producing Escherichia coli from Patients with Diarrhea

Stock strains of Eschericia coli isolated from patients with traveller's diarrhea were examined for production of heat-stable enterotoxin II (STII). Of 400 strains examined, 3 were found to produce STII. The nucleotide sequence of the STII gene of these human strains was shown to be identical to that of porcine strains. Cultured cells of these strains induced fluid accumulation in ligated mouse intestinal loops and the activity was neutralized by anti-STII antiserum. These results suggest that STII-produciing enterotoxigenic E. coli can cause human diarrhea.     

Prosequence switching: An effective strategy to produce biologically active E. coli heat-stable enterotoxin STh

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infections account for the majority of cases of acute secretory diarrhea. The causative agents are enterotoxins secreted by ETEC, among them is the heat-stable enterotoxin, STh. STh is a 19-amino acid peptide containing three disulfide bonds that stimulates fluid secretion in the bowel by binding to the receptor domain of intestinal guanylyl cyclase C (GC-C). Since GC-C agonists have pharmacologic potential for diagnosis and treatment of disorders such as constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C), chronic constipation, and colorectal carcinoma, it is crucial to develop methods for the large-scale production of STh and related peptides. Here, we present a strategy for recombinant expression of STh that relies on the use of the prosequence of human uroguanylin to support proper folding and disulfide bond formation. The chimeric protein CysCys-STh consisting of the propeptide of uroguanylin as N-terminus and the STh peptide as C-terminus was expressed in E. coli, and an efficient purification protocol was developed. Trypsin digestion of this protein released the enterotoxin which could be obtained in high purity. NMR and mass spectrometry confirmed the identity and homogeneity of the toxin, and its biological activity was confirmed by a cell-based in vivo assay. The expression scheme introduced here represents a cost-efficient and scalable way of STh production.     

Binding and hemagglutinating properties of the B subunit(s) of heat-labile enterotoxin isolated from human enteroxigenic Escherichia coli

The binding and hemagglutinating activities of the B subunit(s) of the heat-labile enterotoxin (LTh-B) isolated from human enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli were investigated. The binding of 125I-labeled LTh-B to neuraminidase-treated human type B erythrocytes was most effectively inhibited by ganglioside GM1. A number of mono-, di- and polysaccharides, as well as several glycoproteins were at least 500 times less potent inhibitors. However, hemagglutination was effectively inhibited by galactose, melibiose and hog A + H but not by ganglioside GM1. Preincubation of the LTh-B with ganglioside GM1 gave much stronger hemagglutination than LTh-B alone. These results suggest that the predominant binding substance for LTh-B on neuraminidase-treated human type B erythrocytes is ganglioside GM1, but indicate that the interaction of LTh-B with ganglioside GM1 is different in hemagglutination.     

A heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) purified from chicken enterotoxigenic Excherichia coli is identical to porcine LT

We have previously reported that the heat-labile enterotoxin (LTc) isolated from a chicken enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) was identical to LTh produced by human ETEC (Tsuji et al. (1988) FEMS Microbiol Lett. 52, 79-84). In this study, we purified an LTc-like toxin (LTc') from another strain isolated from a chicken that developed diarrhea at a different place and time to the previously reported chicken. Its molecular weight and antigenicity were compared with those of purified LTs from porcine and human ETEC (LTp and LTh). The A subunit of LTc' was identical to those of the purified LTs in mobility on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The Ouchterlony test demonstrated that LTc' was antigenically identical to LTp. The isoelectric point and amino acid composition of LTc' were also identical to those of LTp. These data suggest that chicken ETEC can be grouped with both the porcine and human types on the basis of the LTs produced.     

葡萄球菌肠毒素A全长基因的克隆和序列测定

分析和克隆超抗原（SAg）葡萄球菌肠毒素A（SEA）全长基因,为进行SAg基因应用于肿瘤导向治疗和基因治疗的研究奠定基础。设计并合成一对针对SEA全长基因的特异性引物,用PCR反应从产SEA的标准葡萄球菌菌株的基因组中扩增出SEA全长基因。PCR产物与克隆载体pGEM-T连接后进行基因序列测定。成功地从标准葡萄球菌菌株的基因组中扩增出一条约770bp的条带。基因序列测定表明,与巳发表的SEA全长基国序列完全一致。     

空肠弯曲菌肠毒素理化特性的研究

经ＳＤＳＰＡＧＥ 分析发现,空肠弯曲菌细胞紧张性肠毒素（Ｃｙｔｏｔｏｎｉｃ ｅｎｔｅｒｏｔｏｘｉｎ ,ＣＥ） 的硫酸胺盐析粗提物除有一条６８ｋＤ 的带外,还有一些未分开的小分子物质,而经神经节苷脂ＧＭ１ 亲和层析后仅有６８ＫＤ 的一条带,即表明６８ｋＤ 的蛋白质为ＣＥ 的主要成分。ＣＥ 不耐热、ｐＨ 依赖和对胰酶有抗性。５６ ℃和６０ ℃加热３０ｍｉｎ 、１００ ℃加热１５ｍｉｎ 即可完全失活。其活性在ｐＨ６－０ 时最高,在ｐＨ３－０ 和９－０ 时均可使其完全丧失活性。在４ ℃保存超过３ｄ 后,其活性迅速降低。抗ＬＴ 血清能完全抑制ＣＥ 的活性。     

人毒素原性大肠杆菌肠毒素ST、LT-B基因的融合

将毒素原性大肠杆菌(ETEC)编码耐热肠毒素(ST)的基因片段与编码热敏肠毒素B亚基(LT—B)的基因进行融合,并在此基础上进行不同数目ST基因的串联。ELISA检测融合基因表达蛋白产物,观察到ST与LT-B之间存在着相互影响。ST的检测滴度随基因串联个数增加而逐渐升高,而LT的ELISA滴度则减弱。本研究说明ST可以通过基因串联提高表达产物抗原活性。这为毒素原性大肠杆菌多价疫苗的研制提供了重要的研究基础。     

Effect of combined physico-chemical preservatives on enterocin AS-48 activity against the enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus CECT 976 strain

AIMS: Control of the enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus CECT 976 strain by enterocin AS-48 in laboratory cultures, and behaviour of the AS-48 activity in the presence of food preservatives. METHODS AND RESULTS: Enterocin AS-48 shows inhibitory activity on the majority of the Staphylococcus species tested. This enterocin has a bactericidal and bacteriolytic mode of action on S. aureus CECT 976, a strain selected for this study by its enterotoxigenic character (SEA production). The inhibitory effect of AS-48 was pH and temperature dependent, and enterocin activity was higher at pH 5. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of AS-48, decreased from 15 microg ml(-1) at 37 degrees C to 10 microg ml(-1) at 15 degrees C. Sublethally injured cells showed an increased sensitivity with a MBC of 5 microg ml(-1). In this way, the highest effectiveness of Ent AS-48 against S. aureus CECT 976 was obtained at 4 degrees C in combination with high concentrations of NaCl (6 and 7%). Interestingly, enterotoxin SEA production by strain CECT 976 was markedly inhibited by subinhibitory concentrations of Ent AS-48. These low concentrations also provoked a delay of bacterial growth. CONCLUSION: The results presented indicated that Ent AS-48 has a potential for application as a protective agent against S. aureus in foods. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: In this study, we have established the conditions for an efficient inhibition of growth and enterotoxin production by S. aureus CECT 976 in culture media by a combination of environmental factors and Ent AS-48.