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Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) represents one of the most important etiological agents of diarrhea in developing countries and characteristically produces at least one of two enterotoxins: heat-labile toxin (LT) and heat-stable toxin (ST). It has been previously shown that the production and release of LT by human-derived ETEC strains are variable. Although the natural genetic polymorphisms of regulatory sequences of LT-encoding (eltAB) genes may explain the variable production of LT, the knowledge of the transcriptional and posttranscriptional aspects affecting LT expression among ETEC strains is not clear. To further understand the factors affecting LT expression, we evaluated the impact of the natural polymorphism in noncoding regulatory sequences of eltAB among clinically derived ETEC strains. Sequence analyses of seven clinically derived strains and the reference strain H10407 revealed polymorphic sites at both the promoter and upstream regions of the eltAB operon. Operon fusion assays with GFP revealed that specific nucleotide changes in the Pribnow box reduce eltAB transcription. Nonetheless, the total amounts of LT produced by the tested ETEC strains did not strictly correspond to the detected LT-specific mRNA levels. Indeed, the stability of LT varied according to the tested strain, indicating the presence of posttranscriptional mechanisms affecting LT expression. Taken together, our results indicate that the production of LT is a strain-specific process and involves transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms that regulate the final amount of toxin produced and released by specific strains. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s42770-020-00231-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

As toxinas LT são expressas por linhagens de Escherichia coli enterotoxigênicas e possuem marcantes efeitos adjuvantes. No entanto, não se conhece se a exposição prévia à toxina afeta sua atividade adjuvante durante imunizações subsequentes. Assim, o presente estudo avaliou o impacto da imunidade pré-existente nas propriedades inflamatórias e adjuvantes da LT quando inoculada pela via subcutânea. Como antígeno modelo, empregou-se a proteína NS1 do vírus dengue e duas abordagens experimentais distintas: (i) incubação in vitro de LT com anticorpos anti-LT e com o receptor gangliosídio (GM1) antes da administração em camundongos não imunizados em conjunto com a proteína NS1 do vírus dengue; (ii) imunização com NS1 coadministrada à LT em camundongos previamente expostos à LT. Foram avaliados os efeitos inflamatórios locais e os efeitos adjuvantes por meio da resposta imunológica humoral anti-NS1. Nossos resultados indicam que a imunidade prévia contra a LT não afeta seu potencial inflamatório e atividade adjuvante. Além disto, a exposição ao receptor GM1 reduziu as reações inflamatórias locais sem, no entanto, reduzir os efeitos adjuvantes de LT. LT toxins are expressed by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains and display strong adjuvant effects. Nonetheless, the impact of preexisting immunity on the on LT adjuvant activities is still unknown. Thus, the present study evaluated the impact of pre-existing immunity in the inflammatory and adjuvant properties of LT after subcutaneous administration. the NS1 of dengue virus was employed as a model antigen and two experimental approaches were evaluated: (i) in vitro incubation of LT with LT-specific antibodies and the ganglyoside receptor (GM1) before administration to naïve mice in combination with NS1; (ii) immunization with NS1 co-administered with LT in mice previously exposed to LT. The local inflammatory effects induced by LT were evaluated as wel as the adjuvant effects by means of NS1-specific humoral response. Our results indicate that the LT pre-existing immunity does not affect the inflammatory and adjuvant activities of the toxin. In addition, exposure to GM1 reduced the local inflammatory reactions without affecting the toxin adjuvant effects.