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The homodimeric diphtheria toxin repressor (DtxR) uses Fe2+ as a corepressor, binds to iron-regulated promoters, and negatively regulates the syntheses of diphtheria toxin, corynebacterial siderophore, and several other Corynebacterium diphtheriae products. The crystal structure of DtxR shows that the second domain of each monomer has two binding sites for Fe2+ or certain other divalent metal ions. In addition, site 1 binds a sulfate or phosphate anion, suggesting that phosphate may function intracellularly as a co-corepressor. The effects of alanine substitutions for selected residues in sites 1 and 2 were determined by measuring the beta-galactosidase activities of a tox operator/promoter-lacZ reporter construct in Escherichia coli strains expressing each DtxR variant. Our studies demonstrated that single alanine substitutions for the anion-binding residues in site 1 (R80A, S126A, or N130A) caused severely decreased DtxR activity, similar to the effects of alanine substitutions for metal-binding residues in site 2 (C102A, E105A, or H106A) and greater than the effects of alanine substitutions for metal-binding residues in site 1 (H79A, E83A, or H98A) reported previously by other investigators. Various combinations of alanine substitutions for site 1 and site 2 residues were also analyzed to further elucidate the roles of these cation- and anion-binding ligands in DtxR activity. Furthermore, the interaction between residue E20 in the DNA binding domain and R80 in anion/cation binding site 1 was analyzed, and the E20A variant of DtxR was shown to have a phenotype indistinguishable from that of the R80A variant. Our data demonstrated for the first time that the anion-binding residues R80, S126, and N130 at site 1 are essential for DtxR activity. The data also showed that the interaction of E20 in domain 1 with R80 in domain 2, first revealed by X-ray crystallography in apo-DtxR and holo-DtxR, is a structural feature of DtxR that is important for its repressor activity.

Mutants of Corynebacterium diphtheriae C7(beta) that are resistant to the inhibitory effects of iron on toxinogenesis were identified by their ability to form colonies surrounded by toxin-antitoxin halos on agar medium containing both antitoxin and a high concentration of iron. Chromosomal mutations were essential for the altered phenotypes of four independently isolated mutant strains. During growth in deferrated liquid medium containing various amounts of added iron, these mutants differed from wild-type C. diphtheriae C7(beta) in several ways. Their growth rates were slower under low-iron conditions and were stimulated to various degrees under high-iron conditions. The concentrations of iron at which optimal toxin production occurred were higher for the mutants than for wild-type C. diphtheriae C7(beta). Toxin production by the mutants during growth in low-iron medium occurred throughout the period of exponential growth at nearly constant rates that were proportional to the bacterial growth rates. In contrast, toxin production by wild-type C. diphtheriae C7(beta) in similar low-iron cultures occurred predominantly during the late exponential phase, when iron was a growth-limiting nutrient. Additional studies demonstrated that these mutants had severe defects in their transport systems for ferric iron. We propose that the altered regulation of toxinogenesis by iron in our mutants was caused by the severe defects in their iron transport systems. As a consequence, the mutants exhibited a low-iron phenotype during growth under conditions that permitted wild-type C. diphtheriae C7(beta) to exhibit a high-iron phenotype.

One strategy for the induction of mucosal immune responses by oral immunization is to administer the antigen in conjunction with cholera toxin. Cholera toxin consists of one A polypeptide (CTA) which is noncovalently linked to five B subunits (CTB) via the A2 portion of the A subunit (CTA2). Coupling of antigens to the nontoxic B subunit of cholera toxin may improve the immunogenicity of antigens by targeting them to GM1 ganglioside on M cells and intestinal epithelial cells. Here, we describe the construction of a translational fusion protein containing the serine-rich Entamoeba histolytica protein (SREHP), a protective amebic antigen, fused to a maltose binding protein (MBP) and to CTA2. When coexpressed in Escherichia coli with the CTB gene, these proteins assembled into a holotoxin-like chimera containing MBP-SREHP-CTA2 and CTB. This holotoxin-like chimera (SREHP-H) inhibited the binding of cholera toxin to GM1 ganglioside. Oral vaccination of mice with SREHP-H induced mucosal immunoglobulin A (IgA) and serum IgG antiamebic antibodies and low levels of mucosal anti-CTB antibodies. Our studies confirm that the genetic coupling of antigens to CTA2 and their coexpression in E. coli can produce holotoxin-like molecules that are mucosally immunogenic without the requirement for supplemental cholera toxin, and they establish the SREHP-H protein as a candidate for evaluation as a vaccine to prevent amebiasis.

A reversed passive hemagglutination (RPHA) assay for diptherial toxin has been developed. Antitoxic antibodies were isolated from commercially available equine diptherial antitoxin by immunoabsorption using highly purified diphtherial toxin covalently linked to Sepharose 4B. Formalinized, tanned sheep erythrocytes sensitized with the purified antitoxic antibodies are specifically agglutinated by diphtherial toxin but are not agglutinated by extracellular antigens of Corynebacterium diptheriae that are unrelated to toxin. The RPHA assay described can detect less than 20 pg of diphtherial toxin and is comparable in sensitivity to intracutaneous tests for toxin. The RPHA assay was shown to be at least 1,000 times more sensitive than quantitative immunological assays for diptherial toxin performed by single radial immunodiffusion or by one-dimensional double diffusion in agar gels. Fragment A prepared from purified diphtherial toxin and nontoxic mutant proteins that cross-react immunologically with toxin can be assayed directly by RPHA, but the sensitivity of the assay for these proteins is less than for native diphtherial toxin. Inhibition of RPHA was also shown to be a sensitive quantitative method for measuring diptherial antitoxin in vitro.

Cholera and Escherichia coli heat-labile toxins (CT and LT) require proteolysis of a peptide loop connecting two major domains of their enzymatic A subunits for maximal activity (termed "nicking"). To test whether host intestinal epithelial cells may supply the necessary protease, recombinant rCT and rLT and a protease-resistant mutant CTR192H were prepared. Toxin action was assessed as a Cl- secretory response (Isc) elicited from monolayers of polarized human epithelial T84 cells. When applied to apical cell surfaces, wild type toxins elicited a brisk increase in Isc (80 microA/cm2). Isc was reduced 2-fold, however, when toxins were applied to basolateral membranes. Pretreatment of wild type toxins with trypsin in vitro restored the "basolateral" secretory responses to "apical" levels. Toxin entry into T84 cells via apical but not basolateral membranes led to nicking of the A subunit by a serine-type protease. T84 cells, however, did not nick CTR192H, and the secretory response elicited by CTR192H remained attenuated even when applied to apical membranes. Thus, T84 cells express a serine-type protease(s) fully sufficient for activating the A subunits of CT and LT. The protease, however, is only accessible for activation when the toxin enters the cell via the apical membrane.

Diphtherial toxin is produced in maximal yields by Corynebacterium diphtheriae (C7(beta tox+) only when iron is present in growth-limiting amounts. Toxin production is markedly decreased under high-iron conditions. We studied the role of the bacteriophage beta genome in this apparent regulation of toxin production by iron. Using a passive immune hemolysis assay to detect toxin antigen production in individual plaques, we identified rare phage mutants that were toxinogenic in high-iron medium. Lysogenic derivatives of C. diphtheriae C7 harboring such phage mutants were constructed. The lysogens were compared with wild-type strain C7(beta) for their ability to produce toxin in deferrated liquid medium containing varying amounts of added iron. Quantitative tests for extracellular toxin were performed by competitive-binding radioimmunoassays. We identified phenotypically distinct mutant strains that produced slightly, moderately, or greatly increased yields of toxin antigen under high-iron conditions. The toxin produced by the mutant lysogens was biologically active and immunochemically indistinguishable from wild-type toxin. Complementation experiments demonstrated that the phage mutation designated tox-201 had a cis-dominant effect on the expression of the toxin structural gene of phage beta. The characteristics of the tox-201 mutation suggest that it defines a regulatory locus of phage beta that is involved in control of toxinogenesis by iron in C. diphtheriae.

The structural gene for diphtherial toxin is present in corynebacteriophage beta. Previous studies located several point mutations within the tox locus and determined the orientation of transcription of the toxin structural gene. The production of maximal quantities of toxin by Corynebacterium diphtheriae C7(beta) occurs only when the bacteria are iron deficient. Mutations in phage beta can affect this control of toxin production by iron. The tox-201 mutation regulates expression of the toxin structural gene in a cis-dominant manner and permits large amounts of toxin to be made under high-iron conditions when phage beta tox-201 infects C. diphtheriae C7. In this study tox-201 was found to be closely linked to the structural gene for toxin. We performed a series of multifactor matings to determine the relative positions of tox-201 and several point mutations within the toxin structural gene. The order of these markers on the vegetative genetic map of phage beta was tox-201-tox-4-tox-2-tox-30. These findings establish that the tox-201 regulatory site is closely linked to the end of the toxin structural gene corresponding to the origin of transcription. This location is consistent with our hypothesis that tox-201 defines a cis-dominant regulatory element, such as an operator, promoter, or attenuator, involved in control of toxinogenesis in C. diphtheriae C7(beta).

Seven new nontoxinogenic (tox) mutants of corynebacteriophage beta were isolated. Strains of Cornyebacterium diphtheriae C 7 lysogenic for these tox mutants of beta were tested for their ability to produce extracellular diphtherial toxin or proteins (CRMs) that cross-react immunologically with toxin. By using a sensitive reversed passive hemagglutination assay for toxin antigen, three of the tox mutants were phenotypically CRM+ and four were CRM-. The molecular weights of the CRMs produced by mutants beta tox-1, beta tox-2, and beta tox-3 were determined to be approximately 20,000, 26,000, and 34,000, respectively, by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels containing sodium dodecyl sulfate. The 26,000 and 34,000-dalton CRMs had nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide: elongation factor 2 adenosine diphosphate ribose transferase activity, but the 20,000-dalton CRM did not. These three CRMs correspond to amino-terminal fragments of diphtherial toxin and appear to be formed by chain termination during protein synthesis directed by phages with nonsense mutations in the structural gene for diphtherial toxin. No complementation was observed between independently isolated tox mutants of phage beta. The positions of four tox markers on the vegetative genetic map of phage beta were determined, and the orientation of transcription of the structural gene for diphtherial toxin with respect to other markers on the genetic map of phage beta was established.

The highly toxinogenic Park-Williams 8 strain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae grows slowly in vitro and is avirulent. C. diphtheriae Park-Williams 8 is defective in iron uptake and does not produce the corynebacterial siderophore corynebactin. Addition of partially purified corynebactin stimulated iron uptake and growth of iron-deprived C. diphtheriae Park-Williams 8 cells.

The effect of host determinants on expression of plasmid-coded heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) was examined. A collection of LT plasmids was introduced into isogenic strains of Escherichia coli K-12 strains containing the wild type or hypertoxinogenic (htx-2) allele. For each plasmid tested, production of LT increased by approximately 1.5- to 3-fold in the host containing htx-2, indicating that the htx-2 allele affects a regulatory function for LT production that is common to many different enterotoxin plasmids. LT plasmids from E. coli were also introduced into strains of Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmonella typhimurium. The plasmids were stably maintained and determined production of LT in those genera, although the amounts of LT produced varied by more than 50-fold. These observations demonstrate that host factors have an important role in determining the level of expression of plasmid-coded LT genes and support the hypothesis that interspecific, conjugal transfer of enterotoxin plasmids may confer enterotoxigenicity to a wide variety of potentially pathogenic enteric bacteria.

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.

Nine selected hybridoma cell lines that produced monoclonal antibodies against the heat-labile enterotoxin encoded by a plasmid from an Escherichia coli strain of human origin (LTh) were characterized. Hybridomas that produced anti-LTh antibodies with previously unrecognized specificities or reactivities were selected for cloning. Each monoclonal antibody was tested for isotype and for binding to LTh holotoxin, the A and B subunits derived from LTh (LTh-A and LTh-B), holotoxin encoded by a plasmid from an E. coli strain of porcine origin (LTp), and cholera enterotoxin (CT). Binding was also tested in Western blots with the following antigens: pentameric LTh-B, monomeric LTh-B, LTh-A, and the A1 and A2 fragments produced from LTh-A by treatment with trypsin. These monoclonal anti-LTh antibodies and selected anti-LTh and anti-CT monoclonal antibodies described previously were tested for neutralization of LTh, LTp, and CT. Five of the nine new monoclonal antibodies gave detectable cross-reactions with LTp and CT. Four reacted with determinants of LTh that were not present on CT; one of these four did not react with LTp and was specific for a unique epitope of LTh. Three antibodies were specific for LTh-B. All three reacted with pentameric LTh-B, but only one reacted in Western blots with monomeric LTh-B. Six antibodies were specific for LTh-A. Three reacted in Western blots with LTh-A and its A1 fragment; the other three did not react in Western blots. All nine of the new monoclonal antibodies neutralized LTh but not CT; the eight that cross-reacted with LTp in binding assays also neutralized LTp. Of four neutralizing anti-CT monoclonal antibodies that bound to LTh, none had significant neutralizing activity against LTh.