肉毒毒素的中毒和检测方法

肉毒毒素是自然界中的一类强毒素．能引起人和动物的中毒甚至死亡。国内外均有肉毒毒素中毒及其相关检测方法的报道。本文简要论述了肉毒毒素的中毒情况和检测方法,并介绍了近年来检测技术的新进展。     

肉毒毒素体外检测方法的研究进展

肉毒毒素是肉毒梭状芽胞杆菌在生长繁殖过程中产生的一种神经毒素,对人和动物具有强毒性和高致死性,在世界范围内,肉毒中毒的案例时有发生,病情严重者一般2~3 d即可死亡。肉毒毒素产品所用的体内检测方法(小鼠生物法)的结果变异系数大,不利于肉毒毒素产品含量的标准化控制。因而,建立准确且灵敏度高的肉毒毒素体外检测方法,在临床治疗及制品的质量控制方面都具有重要意义,现就常用的肉毒毒素体外检测方法作一阐述。     

肉毒毒素研究进展

肉毒毒素是肉毒梭菌产生的一种神经毒素,能够通过抑制神经肌肉接头处的乙酰胆碱释放而引起肌肉麻痹.肉毒毒素在培养液中以复合物形式存在,其中的毒性组分由3个非同源性结构域组成,是一种新型的金属蛋白酶.不同血清型的肉毒毒素能够特异性地作用于不同底物,这些底物在神经细胞的胞外分泌过程中发挥重要作用.肉毒毒素在胞吞胞吐机制的研究以及临床医学应用方面具有宝贵的价值.     

C型肉毒毒素与C型肉毒中毒

本文介绍了Ｃ型肉毒毒素的纯化、生物学特性,并从流行病学角度对动物Ｃ型肉毒中毒的发生、中毒机理及临床表现、诊断、治疗及预防等进行了概述。对近年来Ｃ型肉毒毒素在分子水平、作用机理等方面的研究进展做了简要介绍。     

肉毒毒素作用机制的研究进展

肉毒毒素(botulinum toxin,BTX)是肉毒梭状芽胞杆菌在生长繁殖过程中产生的一种外毒素,其通过抑制神经递质的释放而引起肌肉松弛型麻痹。在世界范围内,肉毒中毒的案例时有发生,病情严重的患者最终因呼吸衰竭而死亡。肉毒毒素相关产品在临床痉挛性疾病、腺体分泌过度、神经性疼痛的治疗及美容除皱等领域展现出广阔的应用前景。因而,肉毒毒素作用机制的研究在肉毒中毒的治疗以及临床新适应症的开发等方面具有重要意义。就肉毒毒素跨越小肠上皮细胞屏障的吸收及神经毒性作用机制的研究现状作一概述。     

肉毒毒素中和抗体的研究进展

肉毒毒素是目前已知毒性最强的细菌蛋白质,极少量便可以致人死亡,我国每年都有散发病例出现,并且它极有可能被用于恐怖行动或被一些国家用作生物战剂。肉毒毒素中和抗体是肉毒毒素中毒后惟一有效的药物。与马源的抗毒素血清相比,重组基因工程中和抗体具有很多优势,是目前肉毒毒素预防和治疗研究的主要方向。简要综述了肉毒毒素基因工程中和抗体研究现状、保护性抗原选择、体内外中和活性检测方法及研发难点、解决方法等。     

肉毒毒素结构及其重组疫苗的相关研究进展

肉毒毒素是肉毒梭状杆菌产生的外毒素,有7种血清型(A～G).肉毒毒素属神经强毒,是目前已知的毒性最强的细菌蛋白质.作为重要的生物战剂之一,对肉毒毒素的研究已经相当深入,基本明确了各型肉毒毒素的基因序列、同源性和三维结构及毒素作用的本质和机理.随着国际恐怖活动的日益猖獗,针对肉毒毒素的检测和预防也备受关注,对其疫苗的探索已成为研究的焦点.本扼要介绍了肉毒毒素的结构、作用机制及其疫苗的相关研究进展.     

肉毒毒素抑制剂的研究进展

肉毒毒素(BoNT)是目前已知的毒性最强的生物毒素,肉毒毒素中毒的抗毒素治疗只对未进入神经细胞的毒素有效,而对中毒时间较长、轻链已进入神经系统者无效。近10年来,随着肉毒毒素晶体结构的测定、中毒机理的深入研究,以及体外高通量评价模型的建立,对小分子肉毒毒素抑制剂的研究取得了显著进展。从肉毒毒素中毒机理、结构特征出发,简要综述了肉毒毒素抑制剂的研究进展。     

Botulinum Neurotoxin Light Chain Refolds at Endosomal pH for its Translocation

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the most poisonous member of class A biothreat agent, cause neuroparalysis by blocking neurotransmitter release at the neuromuscular junctions. In its mechanism of action, the catalytic domain (light chain (LC) of BoNT) is transported to the cytosol by the heavy chain (HC) in order to reach its proteolytic substrates. The BoNT HC forms a membrane channel under acidic conditions encountered in endosomes to serve as a passageway for LC to enter into cytosol. We demonstrate here that BoNT/A LC undergoes unique structural changes under the low pH conditions, and adopts a molten globule state, exposing substantial number of hydrophobic groups. The flexibility of the molten globular structure combined with retention of the secondary structure and exposure of specific residues of LC for interaction with the HC, allows its translocation through the narrow endosomal membrane channel.     

The use of Endopep-MS for the detection of botulinum toxins A, B, E, and F in serum and stool samples

Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) causes the disease botulism, which can be lethal if untreated. Previous work in our laboratory focused on developing Endopep-MS, a mass spectrometric-based endopeptidase method for the detection and differentiation of BoNT serotypes. We have expanded this effort to include an antibody capture method to partially purify and concentrate BoNT from serum and stool extract samples for the Endopep-MS assay. Because complex matrices such as serum and stool contain abundant endogenous proteases, this technique was needed to remove most proteases from the sample while concentrating BoNT from a sample size of 100 to 500 microl to 20 microl. When this antibody capture method is combined with the Endopep-MS reaction, limits of detection in 500mul of spiked human serum are 10 mouse LD50 (20 mouse LD50/ml) for BoNT A, 0.5 mouse LD50 (1 mouse LD50/ml) for BoNT B, 0.1 mouse LD50 (0.2 mouse LD50/ml) for BoNT E, and 0.5 mouse LD50 (1 mouse LD50/ml) for BoNT F. The limits of detection in spiked stool extracts are somewhat higher due to the high-protease environment of stool extract that also requires use of protease inhibitors. The entire method can be performed in as short a time as 4 h.     

Endoproteinase Activity of Type A Botulinum Neurotoxin: Substrate Requirements and Activation by Serum Albumin

Type A botulinum neurotoxin, a zinc-dependent endoproteinase that selectively cleaves the neuronal protein SNAP-25, can also cleave relatively short peptides. We found that bovine and other serum albumins stimulated the type A-catalyzed hydrolysis of synthetic peptide substrates, through a direct effect on the kinetic constants of the reaction. Furthermore, with bovine serum albumin in the assays, the optimum substrate size was 16 residues (11 on the amino-terminal side of the cleavage site and 5 on the carboxy-terminal side). To further investigate the catalytic requirements of the neurotoxin, peptides were synthesized with various amino acid substitutions at the P5 through P5 substrate sites. Changes at all of these locations affected values for both k _cat and K _m. Substitutions at the P2, P1, and P2 sites had more pronounced effects on hydrolysis rates than did substitutions at the P1 site. Enzyme–substrate interactions at the P3 threonine probably involved the side-chain methyl group rather than the hydroxyl group. Replacing the P2 alanine with leucine eliminated detectable hydrolysis, but not binding, since this peptide was an inhibitor. A negatively charged residue was preferred at P5, but not at P4. The data indicate that type A botulinum neurotoxin has an extended substrate recognition region and a requirement for arginine as the P1 residue.     

人源抗A型肉毒毒素单链抗体的体外亲和筛选

以重组制备的A型肉毒毒素保护性抗原为配体,对人源噬菌体免疫抗体文库进行体外定向亲和筛选,获得特异结合子,其中与抗原高亲和力结合的抗体克隆B17基因全长750bp,可编码250个氨基酸,抗体可变区基因同源分析表明,分属VH4和κ chain Ⅱ家族,是一株人源特异单链抗体基因。人源单链抗体B17在大肠杆菌中获得了重组表达,表达产物可以竞争特异肉毒抗毒素马血清与抗原的结合,是国内首次获得的抗A型肉毒毒素保护性抗原的人源单链抗体,可以在肉毒毒素检测和治疗研究中发挥作用。     

肉毒毒素蛋白受体syt II N端片段基因的合成及其在大肠杆菌中的融合表达

本研究旨在构建肉毒毒素蛋白受体sytII N端片段的原核表达载体,并在大肠杆菌pMAL-c2x系统中表达MBP-Syt融合蛋白。根据GenBank中已报道的人syt II基因序列,截取N端氨基酸序列,依据大肠杆菌的偏爱密码子,设计引物人工合成全基因,将全长基因克隆至原核表达载体pMAL-c2x中,重组质粒转化大肠杆菌E.coli ER2566,IPTG诱导表达。表达产物经Amylose Resin亲和层析进行纯化,SDS-PAGE和免疫印记对其进行鉴定,并对该蛋白进行活性的初步分析,为进一步研究毒素与受体相互作用的机制奠定基础。     

以表位模拟肽为亲和靶标的肉毒毒素受体结合抑制剂的筛选及鉴定

以设计合成的A型肉毒毒素表位模拟肽为亲和靶标,对噬菌体随机肽库进行筛选,寻找能与A型肉毒毒素表位模拟肽特异结合并能拮抗毒素毒性效应的分子,通过ELISA鉴定阳性克隆,并对鉴定的阳性克隆进行特异性分析及DNA测序。氨基酸序列同源性分析发现,针对P4、P5表位模拟肽获得了两条特异的结合序列,并通过动物保护实验在噬菌体展示肽水平对特异结合分子的毒素毒性拮抗效应进行了初步研究,初步证明结合肽对A型肉毒毒素有一定的保护作用。     

Production of an Expression System for a Synaptobrevin Fragment to Monitor Cleavage by Botulinum Neurotoxin B

Recombinant DNA techniques were used to develop an expression system for a 51-amino acid peptide fragment that encompasses residues 44–94 of human synaptobrevin 2. This protein is associated with secretory vesicles of nerve terminals and is a substrate for four of the seven serotypes of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT). The DNA for the recombinant peptide was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and cloned into the pTrxFus vector. The resulting synaptobrevin peptide was expressed as a thioredoxin fusion protein in E. coli and released into the medium by osmotic lysis. The 18.7-kDa thioredoxin-synaptobrevin protein, designated as TSB-51, is intended for use in a cell-free assay to test potential inhibitors of BoNT/B-mediated proteolysis of synaptobrevin with the ultimate aim of developing clinically effective therapeutic agents to counteract botulism. Incubation of TSB-51 with the purified light chain of BoNT/B resulted in proteolysis which was evident within 30 min and increased with time until completion (4 hr). Cleavage of TSB-51 appeared to be at the appropriate BoNT/B cleavage site as indicated by a reduced intensity of the 18.7-kDa band and the appearance of a band at 16.4 kDa on Tris-tricene polyacrylamide gradient gels. The concentration of free Zn²⁺ had a significant effect on the cleavage rate; low Zn²⁺ concentrations stimulated substrate cleavage, whereas high concentrations were inhibitory. Cleavage was not significantly depressed by the naturally occurring metalloprotease inhibitor phosphoramidon when tested at concentrations up to 5 mM. TSB-51 appears to be a useful substrate for studying BoNT/B and is expected to aid in the discovery of effective BoNT inhibitors.     

Status of Cys Residues in the Covalent Structure of Botulinum Neurotoxin Types A, B, and E

Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin (NT) serotypes A, B, and E have 9, 10, and 8 Cys residues, respectively, as deduced from nucleotide sequences [Whelan et al. (1992), Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 48, 2345–2354]. Each of the 150-kDa NTs has at least one disulfide; but type B, like types A and E, may have two disulfides. Using two different chemical reagents, we studied the status of the Cys residues in these three proteins after (i) the final anion exchange chromatographic step in their purification (fresh NT), (ii) 24 hr storage at 8°C, (iii) precipitation with ammonium sulfate (precipitated NT), and (iv) dissolving the precipitated NT in 6 M guanidine·HCl. In all three NT serotypes the number of Cys residues titrated with 5,5-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid (DTNB) as free -SH groups varied, depending upon the absence or presence of EDTA added to the chromatography buffer, storage condition, age, and presence of the denaturant. Titration of 9.5–10 and 5.4–6.0 -SH groups in fresh NTs type B and E, respectively, indicated total and partial absence of disulfide bonds. Fewer titratable -SH groups in the precipitated NT than in the fresh NT suggested formation of disulfide and/or inaccessibility of the -SH groups due to protein's conformational change(s). When the precipitated NTs were dissolved in 6 M guanidine·HCl, in the absence of any added reducing agent, all Cys residues of types B and E, and 6.4–8.3 Cys in type A NT were titratable with DTNB. Iodoacetamide modification of precipitated NT types A, B, and E carboxymethylated 4, 2, and 2 Cys residues, respectively; these numbers rose to 6, 9.4, and 8 when these proteins were carboxymethylated after dissolving in 6 M guanidine·HCl in the absence of any added reducing agent. We propose that -S-S- cleavage mediated by the -SH/-S-S- exchange observed in vitro after unfolding the NTs (also unfolded by 2 M guanidine·HCl or urea) possibly mimicks a similar exchange process inside the endosomes, where the NTs are thought to undergo conformational changes, resulting in the reductive cleavage of the interchain disulfide between the 50-kDa light and 100-kDa heavy chain, which in turn releases the light chain and allows its egress out of the endosomes into the cytosol.