BACKGROUND Diarrhea is a prevalent pathological condition frequently associated to the colonization of the small intestine by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains, known to be endemic in developing countries. These strains can produce two enterotoxins associated with the manifestation of clinical symptoms that can be used to detect these pathogens. Although several detection tests ha...

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are composed of two elements: a toxic protein and an antitoxin which is either an RNA (type I and III) or a protein (type II). Type II systems are abundant in bacterial genomes in which they move via horizontal gene transfer. They are generally composed of two genes organized in an operon, encoding a toxin and a labile antitoxin. When carried by mobile genetic eleme...

*Correspondence to: Laurence Van Melderen; Email: [email protected] Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are composed of two elements: a toxic protein and an antitoxin which is either an RNA (type I and III) or a protein (type II). Type II systems are abundant in bacterial genomes in which theymove via horizontal gene transfer. They are generally composed of two genes organized in an operon, encoding ...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) produce heat-labile (LT) and/or heat-stable enterotoxins (ST). Despite that, the mechanism of action of both toxins are well known, there is great controversy in the literature concerning the in vitro production and release of LT and, for ST, no major concerns have been discussed. Furthermore, the majority of published papers describe the use of only one ...

The properties of a synthetically produced peptide composed of the same primary structure of 18 amino acids described for human Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin were compared with those of purified heat-stable toxin obtained by bacterial growth. The dosage required to evoke fluid secretion in the suckling mouse and rat ligated ileal loop assays was the same for both toxins. The antigeni...

The infection of bacterial organisms generally causes cell death to facilitate microbial invasion and immune escape, both of which are involved in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases. In addition to the intercellular infectious processes, pathogen-produced/secreted enterotoxins (mostly exotoxins) are the major weapons that kill host cells and cause diseases by inducing different types of ce...

materials and methods two-hundred pasteurized (n = 100) and nonpasteurized (n = 100) cheese samples were collected. the initial isolation was performed on pemba specific medium. antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using several antibiotic disks, according to the guidelines of the clinical laboratory and standards institute. specific primers amplifying the hbla enterotoxin-encoding g...

Diarrheal disease is still a major public health concern, as it considered an important cause of death in children under five years age. A few decades ago, the detection enteropathogenic E. coli was made by detecting O, H, and K antigens, mostly agglutination. The recent protocols recommend molecular methods for diagnosing EPEC, they can distinguish between typical atypical EPEC identifying pre...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), defined by their elaboration of heat-labile (LT) and/or heat-stable (ST) enterotoxins, are a common cause of diarrheal illness in developing countries. Efficient delivery of these toxins requires ETEC to engage target host enterocytes. This engagement is accomplished using a variety of pathovar-specific and conserved E. coli adhesin molecules as well as ...

Highly purified, polymyxin-released, low molecular weight Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) catalyzed the hydrolysis of NAD to ADP-ribose and nicotinamide. This NAD glycohydrolase activity was stimulated by dithiothreitol and was independent of cellular components. Nicotinamide formation was enhanced by arginine methyl ester > d-arginine congruent with l-arginine congruent with guan...