Binding and aggregation of the 25-kilodalton toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis to cell membranes and alteration by monoclonal antibodies and amino acid modifiers

The 25-kilodalton toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis binds irreversibly to Aedes albopictus cells, Choristoneura fumiferana cells, and erythrocytes. The binding to cells increased with both toxin concentration and time and when the cells were first preincubated with unlabeled toxin. Binding data indicated a two- to threefold increase in the rate of binding after the amount of the membrane-bound toxin reached approximately 3.5 fmol/3 x 10(5) A. albopictus cells or 3.3. fmol/2 x 10(5) C. fumiferana cells. When this level of bound toxin was reached, the toxins also began forming aggregates at the cell membrane. The toxin aggregates were extracted with 10% Triton X-100 and separated from the monomers with a 5 to 20% sucrose density gradient. The toxin aggregates isolated from A. albopictus and C. fumiferana cell membranes were ca. 400 kilodaltons, while those isolated from human erythrocytes were significantly smaller. The proportion of the toxin found in aggregate form increased rapidly with the amount of toxin bound; however, the molecular size of the aggregates remained constant. Eleven monoclonal antibodies raised against the native form of the toxin blocked 80 to 97% of the toxin binding to cells. The epitope of one of these monoclonal antibodies was mapped to a domain which included the cysteine, suggesting the importance of the domain around this amino acid to binding. Toxin binding and cell lysis were also inhibited by treating the toxin with HgCl2, further indicating the importance of the C-terminal hydrophobic cysteine-containing domain in cytolytic activity of the 25-kilodalton protein.