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New Monoclonal Antibodies against a Novel Subtype of Shiga Toxin 1 Produced by Enterobacter cloacae and Their Use in Analysis of Human Serum

Author:
Craig Skinner, Stephanie Patfield, Rowalda Khalil, Qiulian Kong, Xiaohua He
Source:
mSphere 2016 v.1 no.1 pp. 1-11
ISSN:
2379-5042
Subject:
Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Shiga toxin, Shiga-like toxin 1, Shigella, Western blotting, bacterial infections, blood serum, cytotoxicity, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, genes, humans, monoclonal antibodies, neutralization, pathogens, virulence
Abstract:
Shiga toxin (Stx) is a major virulence factor of several bacterial pathogens that cause potentially fatal illness, including Escherichia coli and Shigella spp. The continual emergence of new subtypes of Stxs presents challenges for the clinical diagnosis of infections caused by Stx-producing organisms. Here, we report the development of four new monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against Stx1e, a novel subtype of Stx1 that was produced by an Enterobacter cloacae strain and had limited reactivity with existing anti-Stx1 antibodies. Western blot analysis indicates that these MAbs were Stx1 specific, bound to the A subunit, and had distinct preferences for subtypes of Stx1. Of the four MAbs, Stx1e-2 was capable of partially neutralizing cytotoxicities derived from Stx1e in Vero cells. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays assembled with these high-affinity MAbs de- tected Stx1e at concentrations as low as 4.8 pg/ml in phosphate-buffered saline and 53.6 pg/ml in spiked human serum samples and were also capable of distinguishing Stx1e-producing strains in enriched cultures. These assays may therefore have clinical value in diagnosing Stx1e-producing bacterial infection. Additionally, characteristics of Stx1e, such as the origin of stx1e genes, conditions for toxin expression, receptor binding, and cytotoxicity, were investigated with the new antibodies developed in this study. This information should be useful for further understanding the clinical significance and prevalence of Stx1e-harboring E. cloacae and other organisms.
Agid:
63153
Handle:
10113/63153