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ABSTRACT: The protein toxin of Pasteurella multocida PMT is a potent mitogen and activator of phospholipase Cbeta. In this study different toxin fragments were investigated. A C-terminal fragment encompassing amino acids 581 through 1285 (PMT581C) was constructed, which was inactive toward intact embryonic bovine lung (EBL) cells after addition to culture medium but caused reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and rounding up of cells when introduced into the cells by electroporation. As the holotoxin, the toxin fragment PMT581C induced an increase in total inositol phosphate levels after introduction into the cell by electroporation. A C-terminal fragment shorter than PMT581C as well as N-terminal fragments were inactive. Exchange of cysteine-1165 for serine in the holotoxin resulted in a complete loss of the ability to increase inositol phosphate levels. Correspondingly, the mutated toxin fragment PMT581C.C1165S was inactive after cell introduction by electroporation, suggesting an essential role of Cys-1165 in the biological activity of the toxin.
Infection and Immunity 07/2001; 69(6):3628-34. · 4.16 Impact Factor
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Infect.Immun. 01/2001; 69:3628-3634.
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ABSTRACT: Large clostridial cytotoxins act on cells by glycosylating low molecular mass GTPases using nucleotide-sugars as the sugar donor. These toxins are important virulence factors in human and animal diseases, but are also valuable cell biology tools. Recent findings shed some light on their mode of action and provide new insights into the structure/activity relationship of these bacterial toxins.
Current Opinion in Structural Biology 11/2000; 10(5):528-35. · 9.42 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Clostridium novyi alpha-toxin belongs to the family of large clostridial cytotoxins which act on cells through the modification of small GTP-binding proteins. We present here an analysis of the catalytic domain of alpha-toxin. A NH(2)-terminal 551-amino-acid fragment, alpha 551, was found to contain the full enzyme activity of the holotoxin, whereas a slightly shortened fragment encompassing 509 amino acids showed no detectable enzyme activity. Further characterization of the enzymatically active fragment alpha 551 revealed a substrate specificity for both UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and UDP-glucose. A Michaelis-Menten constant of 17 microM was determined for the substrate UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, while that for UDP-glucose was about 20 times higher, indicating a weaker affinity of the toxin for the latter substrate. Mutation of the aspartic acids of a conserved motif DXD within alpha 551 reduced enzyme activity >700-fold and inhibited cytotoxicity after microinjection in cells. Inhibition of enzyme activity of the DXD mutant could be partially overcome by increased concentrations of manganese ions, suggesting the involvement of these aspartic acids in Mn(2+) binding. By construction of chimeras of enzymatically active fragments of C. sordellii lethal toxin and C. novyi alpha-toxin, we located the region involved in nucleotide-sugar specificity to amino acids 133 through 517.
Infection and Immunity 11/2000; 68(11):6378-83. · 4.16 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Large clostridial cytotoxins catalyze the glucosylation of Rho/Ras GTPases using UDP-glucose as a cosubstrate. By site-directed mutagenesis of Clostridium sordellii lethal toxin and Clostridium difficile toxin B fragments, we identified tryptophan 102, which is located in a conserved region within the catalytic domain of all clostridial cytotoxins, to be crucial for UDP-glucose binding. Exchange of Trp-102 with alanine decreased the glucosyltransferase activity by about 1,000-fold and blocked cytotoxic activity after microinjection. Replacement of Trp-102 by tyrosine caused a 100-fold reduction in enzyme activity, indicating a partial compensation of the tryptophan function by tyrosine. Decrease in glucosyltransferase and glycohydrolase activity was caused predominantly by an increase in the K(m) for UDP-glucose of these mutants. The data indicate that the conserved tryptophan residue is implicated in the binding of the cosubstrate UDP-glucose by large clostridial cytotoxins. Data bank searches revealed different groups of proteins sharing the recently identified DXD motif (Busch, C., Hofmann, F., Selzer, J., Munro, J., Jeckel, D., and Aktories, K. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 19566-19572) and a conserved region defined by a tryptophan residue equivalent to Trp-102 of C. sordellii lethal toxin. From our findings, we propose a novel family of glycosyltransferases which includes both prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins.
Journal of Biological Chemistry 06/2000; 275(18):13228-34. · 4.77 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The family of the large clostridial cytotoxins, encompassing Clostridium difficile toxins A and B as well as the lethal and hemorrhagic toxins from Clostridium sordellii, monoglucosylate the Rho GTPases by transferring a glucose moiety from the cosubstrate UDP-glucose. Here we present a new detoxification procedure to block the enzyme activity by treatment with the reactive UDP-2', 3'-dialdehyde to result in alkylation of toxin A and B. Alkylation is likely to occur in the catalytic domain, because the native cosubstrate UDP-glucose completely protected the toxins from inactivation and the alkylated toxin competes with the native toxin at the cell receptor. Alkylated toxins are good antigens resulting in antibodies recognizing only the C-terminally located receptor binding domain, whereas formaldehyde treatment resulted in antibodies recognizing both the receptor binding domain and the catalytic domain, indicating that the catalytic domain is concealed under native conditions. Antibodies against the native catalytic domain (amino acids 1 through 546) and those holotoxin antibodies recognizing the catalytic domain inhibited enzyme activity. However, only antibodies against the receptor binding domain protected intact cells from the cytotoxic activity of toxin B, whereas antibodies against the catalytic domain were protective only when inside the cell.
Infection and Immunity 04/2000; 68(3):1094-101. · 4.16 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A fragment of the N-terminal 546 amino acid residues of Clostridium sordellii lethal toxin possesses full enzyme activity and glucosylates Rho and Ras GTPases in vitro. Here we identified several amino acid residues in C. sordellii lethal toxin that are essential for the enzyme activity of the active toxin fragment. Exchange of aspartic acid at position 286 or 288 with alanine or asparagine decreased glucosyltransferase activity by about 5000-fold and completely blocked glucohydrolase activity. No enzyme activity was detected with the double mutant D286A/D288A. Whereas the wild-type fragment of C. sordellii lethal toxin was labeled by azido-UDP-glucose after UV irradiation, mutation of the DXD motif prevented radiolabeling. At high concentrations (10 mM) of manganese ions, the transferase activities of the D286A and D288A mutants but not that of wild-type fragment were increased by about 20-fold. The exchange of Asp270 and Arg273 reduced glucosyltransferase activity by about 200-fold and blocked glucohydrolase activity. The data indicate that the DXD motif, which is highly conserved in all large clostridial cytotoxins and also in a large number of glycosyltransferases, is functionally essential for the enzyme activity of the toxins and may participate in coordination of the divalent cation and/or in the binding of UDP-glucose.
Journal of Biological Chemistry 08/1998; 273(31):19566-72. · 4.77 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Clostridium sordellii lethal toxin is a member of the family of large clostridial cytotoxins that glucosylate small GTPases. In contrast to Clostridium difficile toxins A and B, which exclusively modify Rho subfamily proteins, C. sordellii lethal toxin also glucosylates Ras subfamily proteins. By deletion analysis and construction of chimeric fusion proteins of C. sordellii lethal toxin and C. difficile toxin B, we localized the enzyme activity of the lethal toxin to the N terminus of the holotoxin and identified the region involved in protein substrate specificity. The toxin fragment of the N-terminal 546 amino acid residues of C. sordellii lethal toxin glucosylated Rho and Ras subfamily proteins, as the holotoxin did. Deletion of a further 30 amino acid residues from the C terminus of this active fragment drastically reduced glucotransferase activity and blocked glucohydrolase activity. Exchange of amino acid residues 364 through 516 of lethal toxin for those in the active toxin B fragment (1 to 546) allowed glucosylation of Ras subfamily proteins. In contrast, the chimera with amino acids 1 to 364 from toxin B, 365 to 468 from lethal toxin, and 469 to 546 from toxin B exhibited markedly reduced modification of Ras subfamily proteins, whereas modification of Rac and Cdc42 was hardly changed. The data indicate that the region of amino acid residues 364 through 516 primarily defines the substrate specificity of C. sordellii lethal toxin.
Infection and Immunity 04/1998; 66(3):1076-81. · 4.16 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Clostridium difficile toxin B that is one of the largest cytotoxins (270 kDa) known acts on Rho subfamily proteins by monoglucosylation (Just, I., Selzer, J., Wilm, M., von Eichel-Streiber, C., Mann, M., and Aktories, K. (1995) Nature 375, 500-503). By deletion analysis we identified the enzyme and cytotoxic activity of the toxin to be located at the N terminus of the holotoxin. A 63-kDa fragment of toxin B covering the first 546 amino acid residues glucosylated Rho, Rac, and Cdc42, but not Ras, by using UDP-glucose as a cosubstrate. As known for the holotoxin, glucosylation by the toxin fragment was favored with the GDP-bound form of the low molecular mass GTPases. Microinjection of the toxin fragment into NIH-3T3 cells induced rounding up of cells and redistribution of the actin cytoskeleton. In contrast, a toxin fragment encompassing the first 516 amino acid residues was at least 1000-fold less active than toxin fragment 1-546 and cytotoxically inactive. The data give direct evidence for location of the enzyme activity of C. difficile toxin B at the N-terminal 546 amino acids residues and indicate a functionally and/or structurally important role of the region from amino acid residues 516 through 546 for enzyme and cytotoxic activities.
Journal of Biological Chemistry 05/1997; 272(17):11074-8. · 4.77 Impact Factor
