A recombinant Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin (STa) fusion protein eliciting anti-STa neutralizing antibodies

A recombinant fusion protein consisting of native Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin (STa) and a dimer of a synthetic IgG-binding fragment (ZZ), derived from Staphylococcus aureus protein A was produced in E. coli. The fusion protein (ZZSTa) was secreted in large quantities into the growth medium and recovered by affinity chromatography on IgG-Sepharose. Rabbits immunized with the fusion protein responded by producing high serum levels of anti-STa antibodies that also effectively neutralized STa toxicity in infant mice. The fusion peptide ZZSTa had a substantially decreased toxicity as compared with native STa. A polymeric form of ZZSTa separated by size fractionation was about 100 times less toxic than the monomeric fusion protein, yet both forms had the same capacity to induce neutralizing antibodies. This suggests that modified non-toxic forms of ZZSTa with retained immunogenicity may be produced and tested for their usefulness as functional components in a vaccine against diarrhoea caused by enterotoxigenic E. coli.     

An agar-overlay method for detection of toxins produced by Escherichia coli

Abstract An agar overlay method, with Vero and Hela cells, was used for detection of heat-labile enterotoxin and verotoxin from Escherichia coli . The method is more sensitive than the conventional cell culture assay, is rapid, easy to perform, and is suitable for epidemiological studies.     

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.     

金黄色葡萄球菌肠毒素A的基因克隆、表达及活性试验

利用PCR从金黄色葡萄球菌标准株（Staphylococcus aureus, ATCC13565）中克隆了金黄色葡萄球菌肠毒素A(SEA)的基因,序列测定结果与报道完全一致。构建了表达载体pETSEA并获得高效表达,重组蛋白（rSEA）在37℃诱导时以包涵体形式存在,降低温度则出现可溶表达,可溶性rSEA占总rSEA的55%。可溶性rSEA经Ni²⁺亲和层析纯化,达电泳纯。通过同源模建对rSEA对SEA进行结构比较,结果表明尽管rSEA比野生型SEA多了9个氨基酸但其结构并没有明显的变化。单核细胞增殖试验进一步证明了该结论：将rSEA与SEA同外周血单个核细胞共同培养,两者均能有效地促进其增殖。将rSEA与体内激活的脾细胞共培养,则能增强脾细胞的体外抑瘤活性。     

大肠杆菌不耐热肠毒素的表达及其纯化保存策略

编码完整大肠杆菌不耐热肠毒素(LT)的基因被引入pET11c形成pET11-LT,该质粒在E.coli BL21(DE3)中得到较高效率的表达,约46mg/L。用D(+)Immobilized galactose柱可以在很宽的pH范围(pH7.3～10.4)内用多种方法对LT进行纯化且保持其结构完整。溶于TEAN(pH7.3)或碳酸盐缓冲液(pH10.4)的LT,冻干后保存于4℃,可长久保持其完整结构,此为保存LT的较好策略。与GM1结合实验、CHO细胞及Patentmouse毒性检测实验证明纯化的LT具有生物学活性。     

表达大肠杆菌K88ac-ST1-LTB融合蛋白基因工程菌株的构建

利用PCR技术,从大肠杆菌C83902质粒中扩增出K88ac基因、ST1突变基因和LTB基因,通过分离、纯化、内切酶酶切、连接和转化,构建了含K88ac-ST1-LTB融合基因表达载体的重组菌株BL21（DE3）（pXKST3LT5)。经酶切鉴定和DNA序列分析证实,构建的重组质粒pXKST3LT5中含有K88ac-ST1-LTB融合基因,且基因序列和阅读框架均正确。经ELISA检测,重组菌株表达的K88ac-ST1-LTB融合蛋白能够被ST1单抗、LTB和K88ac抗体识别。经乳鼠灌胃试验证实,表达的融合蛋白已丧失天然ST1肠毒素的活性。免疫实验结果表明,K88ac-ST1-LTB融合蛋白能够诱发小白鼠产生抗体,该抗体具有中和天然ST1肠毒素的毒性作用,表明构建的重组菌株可以作为预防仔猪黄、白痢基因工程菌苗的候选菌株。     

Non‐hemolytic enterotoxin of Bacillus cereus induces apoptosis in Vero cells

Bacillus cereus is an opportunistic pathogen that often causes foodborne infectious diseases and food poisoning. Non‐hemolytic enterotoxin (Nhe) is the major toxin found in almost all enteropathogenic B. cereus and B. thuringiensis isolates. However, little is known about the cellular response after Nhe triggered pore formation on cell membrane. Here, we demonstrate that Nhe induced cell cycle arrest at G₀/G₁ phase and provoked apoptosis in Vero cells, most likely associated with mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) and death receptor pathways. The influx of extracellular calcium ions and increased level of reactive oxygen species in cytoplasm were sensed by apoptosis signal‐regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and p38 MAPK. Extrinsic death receptor Fas could also promote the activation of p38 MAPK. Subsequently, ASK1 and p38 MAPK triggered downstream caspase‐8 and 3 to initiate apoptosis. Our results clearly demonstrate that ASK1, and Fas‐p38 MAPK‐mediated caspase‐8 dependent pathways are involved in apoptotic cell death provoked by the pore‐forming enterotoxin Nhe.     

Degradation of staphylococcal enterotoxin A by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate from raw milk

Recently, we found that staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA)-producing Staphylococcus aureus strains produced SEA in raw milk with microbial contaminants at high temperatures like 40 °C only. Moreover, the concentration of SEA produced in raw milk gradually decreased after the peak. The reason(s) for SEA degradation in raw milk was studied in this study. Degradation of SEA spiked in raw milk was observed at 40 °C, but not at 25 °C. A Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate from raw milk degraded SEA spiked in broth at 40 °C. A sample partially purified with a chromatographic method from culture supernatant of the isolate degraded SEA. Two main proteolytic bands were observed in the sample by zymographic analysis with casein. These results suggested that the SEA in raw milk might be degraded by a protease(s) produced by the P. aeruginosa isolate. This finding might be the first report on SEA degradation by a proteolytic enzyme(s) derived from Pseudomonas bacteria to our knowledge.     

Assessing Risks of Plant-Based Pharmaceuticals: II. Non-Target Organism Exposure

Plant-based pharmaceuticals potentially offer a cleaner method of producing a protein for drug manufacturing than traditional methods because plants are free of mammalian infectious agents. However, in the open environment they have the potential for intra-and inter-species gene flow, protein exposure to the public and non-target organisms, and they also have the potential to contaminate livestock feed. This study used probabilistic approaches to quantify the non-target organism risks associated with three pharmaceutical proteins produced in field-grown maize. The risk assessment for plant-based pharmaceuticals was conducted for four receptor species used as surrogates for a wider range of species. Body weights and maize consumption rates for each species were modeled from currently available information and used to calculate the exposure based on expression levels of three proteins. The acute dietary exposure for the receptor species was a single-day event in which the total maize consumption came from the recombinant maize. The non-target organism risk assessment demonstrated that risks will vary between species and between proteins, based primarily on differences in toxic endpoint and consumption rates. It also shows the utility of probabilistic, quantitative risk assessment methodologies and the importance of assessing risks from plant-based pharmaceuticals on a case-by-case basis.     

PCR-based detection of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus in the early stages of raw milk cheese making

AIMS: To define PCR-based detectability of Staphylococcus aureus in raw milk and intermediate products of raw milk cheese making in the presence of a complex background microflora by targetting different specific genes harboured by a single strain. METHODS AND RESULTS: The strain Staph. aureus FRI 137 harbouring nuc, sec, seg, seh and sei genes was used in this study. Raw milk artificially contaminated by different concentrations of Staph. aureus FRI 137 was employed in dairy processing resembling traditional raw milk cheese making. Samples of milk and curds were PCR-analysed after DNA extraction by targetting all the above genes. The pathogen was detected when the initial contamination was 10(4) CFU ml(-1) by amplification of nuc and seh genes. 10(5) and 10(7) CFU ml(-1) were needed when seg or sei and sec genes were targetted, respectively. Enrichment cultures from raw milk and curd samples proved to increase the detection limit of 1 log on average. CONCLUSIONS: The direct detection of the pathogen in the raw material and dairy intermediates of production can provide rapid results and highlight the presence of loads of Staph. aureus potentially representing the risk of intoxication. However, every target gene to be used in the analysis has to be studied in advance in a system similar to the real case in order to determine the level of contamination potentially predictable. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The detection in real dairy systems of significant loads of Staph. aureus by multiple targets PCR can be more accurate.