PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “ENTEROTOXINS”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources

Influence of pH on the heat inactivation of staphylococcal enterotoxin A as determined by monkey feeding and serological assay.

The effect of pH on the thermal inactivation of staphylococcal enterotoxin A was investigated. Analysis of heated toxin by immunodiffusion in gel indicated that enterotoxin A in beef bouillon was inactivated faster at pH 5.3 than at pH 6.2. The z values (slopes) for the heat inactivation curves at pH 6.2 and 5.3 were 49.5 and 55 F (about 27 and 30 C), respectively. Enterotoxin produced and heated in dialyzed Casamino Acids medium and assayed by monkey feeding was more easily inactivated by heat at pH 5.3 than at pH 7.8. Thermal inactivation curves for enterotoxin A in beef bouillon (5 mug/ml, pH 5.3) were determined by two methods, monkey feeding and serological assay. The z values for the curves obtained by these two methods were both 55 F, although loss of biological or toxic activity of the enterotoxin occurred before loss of serological activity.

Animal Feed↗

Mutants of type II heat-labile enterotoxin LT-IIa with altered ganglioside-binding activities and diminished toxicity are potent mucosal adjuvants.

The structure and function LT-IIa, a type II heat-labile enterotoxin of Escherichia coli, are closely related to the structures and functions of cholera toxin and LT-I, the type I heat-labile enterotoxins of Vibrio cholerae and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, respectively. While LT-IIa is a potent systemic and mucosal adjuvant, recent studies demonstrated that mutant LT-IIa(T34I), which exhibits no detectable binding activity as determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, with gangliosides GD1b, GD1a, and GM1 is a very poor adjuvant. To evaluate whether other mutant LT-IIa enterotoxins that also exhibit diminished ganglioside-binding activities have greater adjuvant activities, BALB/c mice were immunized by the intranasal route with the surface adhesin protein AgI/II of Streptococcus mutans alone or in combination with LT-IIa, LT-IIa(T14S), LT-IIa(T14I), or LT-IIa(T14D). All three mutant enterotoxins potentiated strong mucosal immune responses that were equivalent to the response promulgated by wt LT-IIa. All three mutant enterotoxins augmented the systemic immune responses that correlated with their ganglioside-binding activities. Only LT-IIa and LT-IIa(T14S), however, enhanced expression of major histocompatibility complex class II and the costimulatory molecules CD40, CD80, and CD86 on splenic dendritic cells. LT-IIa(T14I) and LT-IIa(T14D) had extremely diminished toxicities in a mouse Y1 adrenal cell bioassay and reduced abilities to induce the accumulation of intracellular cyclic AMP in a macrophage cell line.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗

Escherichia coli enterotoxin-induced steroidogenesis in cultured adrenal tumor cells.

A heat-labile, Pronase-sensitive factor has been partially purified from cell-free culture filtrates of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. The partially purified factor contains both protein and carbohydrate moieties and appears to be E. coli enterotoxin (ECT). ECT binds to cultured adrenal tumor cells rapidly and irreversibly leads to adenosine 3', 5'-cyclic monophosphate formation and steroidogenesis after a 60-min lag phase. Further studies indicate that it interacts with the cholera toxin receptor site on adrenal cells rather than the adrenocorticotropin receptor to activate adenyl cyclase. Mixed gangliosides block stimulation of steroidogenesis in response to both E. coli and cholera enterotoxin. In contrast to adrenocorticotropin, ECT has no additive effect on cholera toxin-induced steroidogenesis. The protein moiety of ECT is similar to cholera enterotoxin because horse serum anticholeragenoid prevented stimulation of steroidogenesis by either enterotoxin. Cultured adrenal cells provide a quantitative assay system that has facilitated the purification and characterization of E. coli enterotoxin.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate and alteration of Chinese hamster ovary cell morphology: a rapid, sensitive in vitro assay for the enterotoxins of Vibrio cholerae and Escherichia coli.

The major limitation to our understanding of the clinical importance of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in diarrheal illness has been the lack of a simple rapid assay for the enterotoxin produced by certain E. coli. On the basis of the activation of adenylate cyclase by heat-labile enterotoxin of E. coli (LT) and by cholera toxin (CT) in intestinal and other tissues, cultured Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with known morphological responses to dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) were exposed to these enterotoxins. Crude culture filtrates of LT-producing E. coli and CT stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation and cell elongation in CHO cells. The similarity of time course, concentration dependence, and potentiation by phosphodiesterase inhibitors suggested cyclic AMP mediation of the morphological change. Heat inactivated CT and LT in this system. Choleragenoid inhibited CT; antiserum against CT inhibited both enterotoxin effects. In contrast to culture filtrates of 16 strains of E. coli known to produce LT, culture filtrates from 13 E. coli that do not produce LT did not alter CHO cell morphology. The morphological change is a simple, specific assay for these enterotoxins and detect 3 x 10(-17) mol of CT or a 1:250 dilution of crude culture filtrate of LT-producing E. coli 334.

Animals↗

Affinity chromatography purification of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin.

Anti-enterotoxin immunoglobulins immobilized on CH-Sepharose or CNBr-Sepharose were used for affinity chromatography purification of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin. Cell extracts containing enterotoxin or partially purified toxin preparations were applied to the column and nonspecifically-bound protein was eluted. NaOH was used to elute specifically bound toxin. The purity of enterotoxin purified by Sephadex G-100 chromatography followed by affinity chromatography appears similar to toxin highly purified by conventional means. The procedure can be used successfully for the rapid (less than 2 h) purification of small amounts of enterotoxin.

Animals↗

Reduction of reactivity of Escherichia coli enterotoxins by intestinal mucosal components.

Incubation studies involving rabbit and piglet small intestinal mucosal components and Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae enterotoxins were conducted at 37 and 4 degrees C. Mucosal homogenate cytosol from rabbits did not significantly alter the reactivities of either cholera enterotoxin (CT) or E. coli labile enterotoxin (LT). However, mucosal homogenate cytosol from piglets was capable of neutralizing LT, though it had no effect on E. coli stable enterotoxin. LT became bound to piglet and rabbit microvillous membranes at 4 degrees C in the presence of a protective protein. In rabbits, the binding of LT was not dependent upon an intact glycocalyx or free unbound CT-receptors, although some binding was apparently associated with the glycocalyx and CT-receptors. These results indicated the presence of two different LT-receptors in microvillous membranes one being associated with the membrane proper and the other with the glycocalyx. Stable enterotoxin did not bind to in vitro preparations of piglet mucosal components, which is evidence for a different mechanism for inducing intestinal secretion.

Animals↗

Inhibition of small-intestinal sugar and amino acid transport by the enterotoxin of Shigella dysenteriae I.

The enterotoxin of Shigella dysenteriae I produces fluid and electrolyte secretion in the rabbit ileum. These present studies were designed to evaluate nonelectrolyte transport in rabbit ileal mucosa exposed to Shigella enterotoxin. Both 10 mM galactose and 5 mM L-alanine absorptions were significantly impaired in enterotoxin-exposed ileal mucosa compared with control mucosa. L-Alanine influx was not imparied in two other secretory processes: that induced by cholera enterotoxin and hyperosmolarity. These studies provide evidence that both surgar and amino acid absorptions are diminished in the small intestine by the enterotoxin of S. dysenteriae I.

Alanine↗

An enterotoxin-negative strain of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3 is capable of producing diarrhea in mice.

A strain of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3 that consistently produced heat-stable enterotoxin at 22 but not at 37 degrees C and another strain of the same serotype which did not produce enterotoxin at 22 degrees C were both positive for autoagglutination at 35 degrees C, a test that has been related to virulence in yersiniae. Both strains were infective for HeLa cells and produced guinea pig conjunctivitis. Mice infected with either strain through their drinking water developed diarrhea and excreted the organism in high numbers in the feces. A control strain of serotype O:3 positive for enterotoxin and HeLa cell infectivity but negative for autoagglutination was avirulent. Extracts of feces and intestines from mice with diarrhea were negative for enterotoxin. The results indicate that the heat-stable enterotoxin produced in vitro by some strains of Y. enterocolitica and measured by the infant mouse assay plays no role in pathogenesis as described by the mouse diarrhea model.

Animals↗

Purification of two Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin-like proteins and their effects on membrane permeability in primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes.

We isolated two proteins, ET-1 and ET-2, from the sporangial extracts of Clostridium perfringens type A. Both proteins had some properties in common with the well-known C. perfringens enterotoxin. ET-1 and ET-2 behaved as single and distinct entities in anion exchange chromatography and disk gel electrophoresis. ET-2 was the more anionic protein since it eluted more slowly from the anion exchange column and migrated faster toward the anode in polyacrylamide disk gel electrophoresis (pH 8.5, native gels). Additionally, in this electrophoretic system ET-2 was not distinguishable from the enterotoxin. The amino acid compositions of ET-1 and ET-2 were similar but differed in a few amino acid residues. The values for both proteins were also similar to the published reports of others for the enterotoxin. Both ET-1 and ET-2 showed lines of identity in agar gel double immunodiffusion against anti-enterotoxin antiserum. Both ET-1 and ET-2 were toxic for rat hepatocytes in primary monolayer culture as determined by accelerated exodus of L-[14C]glucose from preloaded cells and by the rapid uptake of 45Ca2+ after exposure to the proteins. In this regard, ET-1 and ET-2 appeared to be identical in mechanism of action to what has been regarded in the literature as "the" C. perfringens enterotoxin. Interestingly, ET-2 was 3 to 10 times more toxic on a weight basis than ET-1 was.

Amino Acids↗

Evidence that a new enterotoxin of Escherichia coli which activates adenylate cyclase in eucaryotic target cells is not plasmid mediated.

Escherichia coli SA53 produces a new enterotoxin that has a biological activity similar to that of E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) but is not neutralized by antiserum against LT or cholera enterotoxin. Strain SA53 contained two plasmids, pRB1 (69.2 +/- 4.3 megadaltons) and pRB2 (57.6 +/- 5.3 megadaltons). Studies were undertaken to determine whether either plasmid was required for production of the LT-like toxin. We isolated a derivative of SA53 lacking both plasmids and confirmed that radioactively labeled pRB1 and pRB2 DNAs failed to hybridize to total DNA digests of the cured strain. The new enterotoxin was still produced by the cured strain, demonstrating that the gene(s) encoding the toxin was not located on pRB1 or pRB2 and was most likely on the bacterial chromosome. Although sonic extracts from SA53 contained no detectable LT antigen, plasmid pRB1 DNA did contain sequences with partial homology to the LT-A and LT-B genes. No sequence homology with LT genes was detected with pRB2 DNA. When the enterotoxin plasmid pCG86 was introduced into a rifampin-resistant derivative of SA53, LT was produced. Thus, plasmid-coded LT could be produced in the E. coli SA53 host, and the sequences homologous to LT in pRB1 were cryptic.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗

Comparative observations of fever and associated clinical hematological and blood biochemical changes after intravenous administration of staphylococcal enterotoxins B and F (toxic shock syndrome toxin-1) in goats.

The present investigation was undertaken to examine the characteristics of purified toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (staphylococcal enterotoxin F) given intravenously to dwarf goats (dose, 0.02 to 20 micrograms kg-1). Rectal temperature, heart rate, rumen motility, plasma zinc and iron concentrations, and certain other blood biochemical and hematological values were studied and compared with the changes seen after intravenous administration of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (dose, 0.02 to 0.5 micrograms kg-1). Similar changes such as fever, tachycardia, inhibition of rumen contractions, drop in plasma zinc and iron concentrations, lymphopenia, and a decrease in serum alkaline phosphatase activity were observed. In contrast to the effects of toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, staphylococcal enterotoxin B induced colic, watery diarrhea with pseudomembranes, hemoconcentration, and a more pronounced increase in blood urea nitrogen. The results obtained demonstrate that (i) in the goat staphylococcal enterotoxin B is much more potent than toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 and (ii) the goat is a useful model to study the gastro-intestinal effects caused by staphylococcal enterotoxin B. The present finding that no clear relationship could be found between the temperature response and the alterations in zinc and iron levels in plasma support the theory that the febrile reactions and the changes in plasma trace metals are mediated by different polypeptides released by activated macrophages.

Animals↗

Immunity to heat-labile enterotoxins of porcine and human Escherichia coli strains achieved with synthetic cholera toxin peptides.

Antiserum to a synthetic peptide, CTP3, consisting of residues 50 to 64 of the B subunit of cholera enterotoxin (CT), a sequence which is conserved in heat-labile enterotoxins from Escherichia coli strains of human (H-LT) or porcine (P-LT) origin, cross-reacted with and neutralized all three enterotoxins. It also cross-reacted with genetically engineered chimeric B subunit proteins in which H-LT amino acids had been substituted for the corresponding residues in P-LT. Antisera against another CT peptide, CTP1, consisting of residues 8 to 20, were weakly cross-reactive with H-LT but not with P-LT, whereas antisera against four other CT peptides were not cross-reactive with the heterologous enterotoxins. A single dose of CTP3-linked tetanus toxoid, by itself nonimmunogenic, primed rabbits to a vigorous immune response to subsequent administration of single, small, subimmunizing doses of any of the three enterotoxins.

Animals↗

Immunologic cross-reactivity of type A streptococcal exotoxin (erythrogenic toxin) and staphylococcal enterotoxins B and C1.

Immunologic cross-reactivity between Streptococcus pyogenes type A exotoxin (erythrogenic toxin) and Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins B and C1 was demonstrated by Ouchterlony double diffusion, Western immunoblot, and immunodot analyses. Specific antiserum to type A streptococcal exotoxin reacted more strongly with staphylococcal enterotoxin B than with enterotoxin C1. The reactivity of type A streptococcal exotoxin with antiserum to staphylococcal enterotoxin B was greater than that of antiserum to enterotoxin C1. These results suggest that a conserved domain is present in the three exotoxins, which most likely originated from a common evolutionary ancestor.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗

Determination by western blot (immunoblot) of seroconversions to toxic shock syndrome (TSS) toxin 1 and enterotoxin A, B, or C during infection with TSS- and non-TSS-associated Staphylococcus aureus.

Serum antibody responses to toxic shock syndrome (TSS) toxin 1 (TSST-1) and staphylococcal enterotoxins A, B, and C were determined by western blot (immunoblot) analysis of acute- and convalescent-phase paired sera from 18 TSS- and 31 non-TSS-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections. Compared with non-TSS cases, seroconversion to TSST-1 was significantly more frequent among both menstrual (5 of 8 versus 1 of 31; P less than 0.001) and nonmenstrual (3 of 10; P less than 0.05) patients. Seroconversion to staphylococcal enterotoxin A was also more frequent among both menstrual (2 of 8 versus 0 of 31; P less than 0.05) and nonmenstrual (2 of 9; P less than 0.05) TSS patients. In general, patients with TSS associated with TSST-1-positive S. aureus were more likely to seroconvert exclusively to TSST-1 (4 of 12 versus 0 of 6; P = 0.16), whereas those associated with TSST-1-negative S. aureus were more likely to seroconvert exclusively to enterotoxins (3 of 6 versus 0 of 11; P less than 0.05). Concurrent seroconversions to multiple exoproteins were more frequent among both menstrual (3 of 8; P less than 0.05) and nonmenstrual (2 of 9; P less than 0.05) TSS patients compared with persons without TSS (0 of 31). These data suggest but do not prove that enterotoxins (especially staphylococcal enterotoxin A) in addition to TSST-1 may be involved in both menstrual and nonmenstrual TSS. Furthermore, since exposure to multiple exoproteins is more likely to occur during TSS-associated than non-TSS-associated S. aureus infections, the possibility of additive or synergistic effects of these putative toxins in the pathogenesis of TSS should be further explored.

Acute Disease↗

Identification of a bacteriophage containing a silent staphylococcal variant enterotoxin gene (sezA+).

A variant enterotoxin gene, referred to as sezA+, has been identified. Staphylococcus aureus FRI1106, a staphylococcal enterotoxin type D producer (Sed+), contained HindIII fragments of 3.8 and 9.4 kilobase pairs (kbp) that hybridized in Southern blot analysis to a probe containing only staphylococcal enterotoxin type A structural gene sequences. Presumably, probe A-624 hybridized to the 9.4-kbp HindIII fragment because of the sequence homology between sea+ and sed+. This 9.4-kbp HindIII fragment, which was part of a staphylococcal plasmid, was isolated and ligated into an Escherichia coli plasmid vector; Sed+ E. coli recombinant clones were isolated. The 3.8-kbp HindIII fragment was shown to be part of a viable lysogenic bacteriophage, and it contained sezA+. This sezA(+)-containing fragment was cloned into E. coli, and its DNA sequence was determined. Examination of the nucleotide sequence revealed a 771-bp region that contained an open reading frame with 85 and 77% nucleotide and derived amino acid sequence identifies with sea+ and staphylococcal enterotoxin type A, respectively. This open reading frame has 83 to 50% nucleotide sequence identities with the other types of staphylococcal enterotoxin genes. sezA+ was shown to be transcribed into stable mRNA. However, the sezA+ mRNA was not translated into an enterotoxinlike protein because it lacks an appropriate translation initiation codon.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Production of toxic shock syndrome-like illness in rabbits by Staphylococcus aureus D4508: association with enterotoxin A.

Staphylococcus aureus D4508, obtained from a patient with nonmenstrual toxic shock syndrome (TSS), produced enterotoxin A while not making other known enterotoxins or TSS toxin 1. Concentrated culture fluids of the organism, administered subcutaneously in miniosmotic pumps, induced TSS-like symptoms (four of six animals succumbed). Identical culture fluids pretreated with anti-enterotoxin A serum failed to induce symptoms except for fever (none of six animals succumbed). Purified staphylococcal enterotoxin A also had the ability to induce TSS-like symptoms. These data suggest that enterotoxin A is the major TSS-associated toxin made by strain D4508.

Animals↗

Effect of site-directed mutagenic alterations on ADP-ribosyltransferase activity of the A subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin.

Previous studies of the S1 subunit of pertussis toxin, an NAD(+)-dependent ADP-ribosyltransferase, suggested that a small amino-terminal region of amino acid sequence similarity to the active fragments of both cholera toxin and Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin represents a region containing critical active-site residues that might be involved in the binding of the substrate NAD+. Other studies of two other bacterial toxins possessing ADP-ribosyltransferase activity, diphtheria toxin and Pseudomonas exotoxin A, have revealed the presence of essential glutamic acid residues vicinal to the active site. To help determine the relevance of these observations to activities of the enterotoxins, the A-subunit gene of the E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin was subjected to site-specific mutagenesis in the region encoding the amino-terminal region of similarity to the S1 subunit of pertussis toxin delineated by residues 6 through 17 and at two glutamic acid residues, 110 and 112, that are conserved in the active domains of all of the heat-labile enterotoxin variants and in cholera toxin. Mutant proteins in which arginine 7 was either deleted or replaced with lysine exhibited undetectable levels of ADP-ribosyltransferase activity. However, limited trypsinolysis of the arginine 7 mutants yielded fragmentation kinetics that were different from that yielded by the wild-type recombinant subunit or the authentic A subunit. In contrast, mutant proteins in which glutamic acid residues at either position 110 or 112 were replaced with aspartic acid responded like the wild-type subunit upon limited trypsinolysis, while exhibiting severely depressed, but detectable, ADP-ribosyltransferase activity. The latter results may indicate that either glutamic acid 110 or glutamic acid 112 of the A subunit of heat-labile enterotoxin is analogous to those active-site glutamic acids identified in several other ADP-ribosylating toxins.

Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose↗

Role of trypsin-like cleavage at arginine 192 in the enzymatic and cytotonic activities of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin.

Previous studies of cholera toxin and Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin have suggested that proteolytic cleavage plays an important role in the expression of ADP-ribosyltransferase activity and toxicity. Specifically, several studies have implicated a trypsin-like cleavage at arginine 192, which lies within an exposed region subtended by a disulfide bond in the intact A subunit, in toxicity. To investigate the role of this modification in the enzymatic and cytotonic properties of heat-labile enterotoxin, the response of purified, recombinant A subunit to tryptic activation and the effect of substituting arginine 192 with glycine on the activities of the holotoxin were examined. The recombinant A subunit of heat-labile enterotoxin exhibited significant levels of ADP-ribosyltransferase activity that were only nominally increased (approximately twofold) by prior limited trypsinolysis. The enzymatic activity also did not appear to be affected by auto-ADP-ribosylation that occurs during the high-level synthesis of the recombinant A subunit in E. coli. A mutant form of the holotoxin containing the arginine 192-to-glycine substitution exhibited levels of cytotonic activity for CHO cells that were similar to that of the untreated, wild-type holotoxin but exhibited a marked delay in the ability to increase intracellular levels of cyclic AMP in Caco-2 cells. The results indicate that trypsin-like cleavage of the A subunit of E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin at arginine 192 is not requisite to the expression of enzymatic activity by the A subunit and further reveal that this modification, although it enhances the biological and enzymatic activities of the toxin, is not absolutely required for the enterotoxin to elicit cytotonic effects.

ADP Ribose Transferases↗