We previously reported that the inflammatory effects of Clostridium difficile toxin A on rat intestine can be significantly inhibited with a specific neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist. In this study we investigated the localization and expression of NK-1R mRNA and protein in rat intestine by in situ hybridization, Northern blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry, respectively, after expo...

Summary Bacterial type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules encode a toxic protein that downregulates metabolism and specific antitoxin binds inhibits the toxin during normal growth. In non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae, common cause of infections in humans, vapXD locus was found to constitute functional TA module contribute pathogenicity; however, mode action VapD mechanism...

Cholera toxin was labeled with tritium by the Wilzbach technique, and highly purified radiolabeled toxin was obtained by Sephadex column chromatography and disc gel electrophoresis. 3H-labeled cholera toxin retained its biological activity and chemical stability and had a specific activity of 405.9 muCi/mumol. The methods utilized in extraction and purification of 3H-labeled toxin may be advant...

A gene from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki that codes for a Lepidoptera-specific insecticidal toxin (delta-endotoxin) was engineered for expression in Bacillus subtilis. A low-copy-number plasmid vector that replicates in Escherichia coli and B. subtilis was constructed to transform B. subtilis with gene fusions first isolated and characterized in E. coli. Naturally occurring promoter s...

Bacterial toxins possess specific mechanisms of binding and uptake by mammalian cells. Mycoplasma pneumoniae CARDS (Community Acquired Respiratory Distress Syndrome) toxin is a 68 kDa protein, which demonstrates high binding affinity to human surfactant protein-A and exhibits specific biological activities including mono-ADP ribosylation and vacuolization. These properties lead to inflammatory ...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To test whether therapeutic effects of botulinum toxin A on patient- specific keloid tissue can be reproduced on the cellular level. Specifically, effects on cell proliferation and expression of growth factors and cytokines relevant for wound healing were to be tested. STUDY DESIGN Experimental study including patient specific cell cultures of keloids. METHODS Patient-...

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are proteases that cleave specific cellular proteins essential for neurotransmitter release. Seven BoNT serotypes (A-G) exist; 4 usually cause human botulism (A, B, E, and F). We developed a rapid, mass spectrometry-based method (Endopep-MS) to detect and differentiate active BoNTs A, B, E, and F. This method uses the highly specific protease activity of the toxins...

THE RESULTS OBTAINED IN THE PRECEDING EXPERIMENTS MAY BE BRIEFLY SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS: 1. Nucleohiston does not protect against a separate and subcutaneous injection of tetanus toxin, diphtheria toxin, hog-cholera bacillus, or anthrax bacillus. 2. Mixtures of nucleohiston and either tetanus toxin or diphtheria toxin lose their specific toxic action-the latter much more rapidly than the former....

Matrix-assisted laser-desorption time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) is a valuable high-throughput tool for peptide analysis. Liquid chromatography electrospray ionization (LC-ESI) tandem-MS provides sensitive and specific quantification of small molecules and peptides. The high analytic power of MS coupled with high-specificity substrates is ideally suited for detection and quant...

Toxins in culture supernatants and bacterial lysates of S. dysenteriae 1 and S. flexneri were quantitated by a cytotoxicity assay and a newly developed radioimmunoassay. Cytotoxin titers paralleled toxin antigen levels. Thus, variations in cytotoxicity among shigellae probably reflect differences in toxin yield rather than specific activity (cytotoxicity per microgram of toxin antigen).