Cholera toxin

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Cholera toxin mechanism

Cholera toxin (also known as choleragen and sometimes abbreviated to CTX, Ctx or CT) is an

bacterium Vibrio cholerae.[1][2] CTX is responsible for the massive, watery diarrhea characteristic of cholera infection.[3] It is a member of the heat-labile enterotoxin family
.

History

Robert Koch, a German physician and microbiologist, was the first person to postulate the existence of cholera toxin. In 1886, Koch proposed that Vibrio cholerae secreted a substance which caused the symptoms of Cholera.[4] Koch's postulation was proven correct by Indian microbiologist Sambhu Nath De, whom in 1951 studied and documented the effects of injecting rabbits with heat-killed cholerae bacteria.[5] De concluded from this experiment that an endotoxin liberated upon disintegration of the bacteria was the cause of the symptoms of cholera.[5] In 1959, De conducted another experiment, this time using a bactaria-free culture-filtrate from V. Cholera injected into the small intestines of rabbits.[6] The resulting build up of fluid in the intestines conclusively proved the existence of a toxin.[7]

Structure

Cholera toxin B pentamer, Vibrio cholerae

The complete

hexamer made up of a single copy of the A subunit (part A, enzymatic, P01555), and five copies of the B subunit (part B, receptor binding, P01556), denoted as AB5. Subunit B binds while subunit A activates the G protein which activates adenylate cyclase. The three-dimensional structure of the toxin was determined using X-ray crystallography by Zhang et al. in 1995.[8]

The five B subunits—each weighing 11

kDa, form a five-membered ring. The A subunit which is 28 kDa, has two important segments. The A1 portion of the chain (CTA1) is a globular enzyme payload that ADP-ribosylates G proteins, while the A2 chain (CTA2) forms an extended alpha helix which sits snugly in the central pore of the B subunit ring.[9]

This structure is similar in shape, mechanism, and

heat-labile enterotoxin secreted by some strains of the Escherichia coli
bacterium.

Pathogenesis

Cholera toxin acts by the following mechanism: First, the B subunit ring of the cholera toxin binds to

ubiquitination
.

CTA1 is then free to bind with a human partner protein called

efflux of chloride ions and leads to secretion of H2O, Na+, K+, and HCO3− into the intestinal lumen. In addition, the entry of Na+ and consequently the entry of water into enterocytes are diminished. The combined effects result in rapid fluid loss from the intestine, up to 2 liters per hour, leading to severe dehydration and other factors associated with cholera, including a rice-water stool.[15]

The

Gαi subunit, rendering it unable to inhibit cAMP production.[16]

Origin

Comparison between RS1, CTXφ and f1 filamentous phages. [17]

The gene encoding the cholera toxin was introduced into V. cholerae by

Serogroups) hold a genes from a virus known as the CTXφ bacteriophage.[17] The integrated CTXφ gene contains many of the genes of RS1, a filamentous "satellite" phage, including elements for replication (RstA), integration (RstB), and regulation of gene expression (RstR), as well as genes coding for proteins needed for phage packaging and secretion (Psh, Cep, OrfU, Ace and Zot), which are very similar to the genes of Ff filamentous coliphages.[17] These genes (and others) enable the replication and later secretion of the CTXφ bacteriophage, as well as coding for CTX, enabling the horizontal gene transfer of CTXφ to other susceptible celles.[17]

Applications

Because the B subunit appears to be relatively non-toxic, researchers have found a number of applications for it in cell and molecular biology. It is routinely used as a

neuronal tracer.[18]

Treatment of cultured rodent neural stem cells with cholera toxin induces changes in the localization of the transcription factor Hes3 and increases their numbers.[19]

GM1 gangliosides are found in lipid rafts on the cell surface. B subunit complexes labelled with fluorescent tags or subsequently targeted with antibodies can be used to identify rafts.

Vaccine

There are currently two vaccines for cholera: Dukoral and Shanchol. Both vaccines use whole killed V. cholerae cells however, Dukoral also contains recombinant cholera toxin β (rCTB). Some studies suggest that the inclusion of rCTB may improve vaccine efficacy in young children (2-10) and increase the duration of protection. This is countered by the costs of protecting and storing rCTB against degradation.[20]

Vaccine adjuvant

Another application of the CTB subunit may be as a vaccine

humoral immune responses, vaccines against mucosal viruses such as HIV are a potential target.[20]

Membrane biology

Lipid rafts

Since cholera toxin has been shown to preferentially bind to GM1 gangliosides, this characteristic can be utilized for membrane studies. Lipid rafts are difficult to study as they vary in size and lifetime, as well being part of an extremely dynamic component of cells. Using cholera toxin β as a marker, we can get a better understanding of the properties and functions of lipid rafts.[21]

Endocytosis

Endocytosis is broadly divided into clathrin-dependent and clathrin-independent process, and the cholera toxin utilizes both pathways. Cholera toxin has been shown to enter cells via endocytosis in multiple pathways. These pathways include caveolae, clathrin-coated pits, clathrin-independent carriers (CLICs), and GPI-Enriched Endocytic Compartments (GEECs) pathway, ARF6-mediated endocytosis and Fast Endophilin-Mediated Endocytosis (FEME). How cholera toxin triggers these endocytosis pathways is not fully understood, but the fact that cholera toxin triggers these pathways shows the use of the toxin as an important marker to investigate these mechanisms.[21]

Retrograde trafficking

One of the most important aspects of cholera toxin is the retrograde traffic mechanism that transports the toxin from the cell membrane back to the trans-Golgi network and the endoplasmic reticulum. Since both cholera toxin and GM1 species can be tagged with a fluorescent tags, the mechanism of retrograde traffic can be monitored. This opens up the potential to monitor the mechanism in real time. This may open up new discoveries on how intracellular transport works and how protein and lipid sorting work in the endocytotic pathway.[21]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-8385-8529-0
    .
  2. ISBN 978-1-904455-33-2
    .
  3. S2CID 33657660
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  4. PMID 21415492
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  5. ^
    PMID 14898376
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  6. PMID 13666809
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  7. PMID 21415492
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  8. PMID 7658473
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  9. S2CID 22270979
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  10. PMID 26512888
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  11. PMID 29432456
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  12. PMID 29411974
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  13. S2CID 3111310
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  14. S2CID 8669389
    .
  15. ^ Joaquín Sánchez; Jan Holmgren (February 2011). "Cholera toxin – A foe & a friend" (PDF). Indian Journal of Medical Research. 133: 158. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  16. ^ Boron, W. F., & Boulpaep, E. L. (2009). Medical physiology: a cellular and molecular approach (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Saunders/Elsevier.
  17. ^
    ISSN 1369-5274
    .
  18. ^ Pierre-Hervé Luppi. "The Discovery of Cholera-Toxin as a Powerful Neuroanatomical Tool". Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  19. PMID 20520777
    .
  20. ^
    PMID 25802972
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  21. ^
    PMID 34437414
    .

External links
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