Original Article

Cell death analysis of recombinant mature epsilon toxin on the kidney cell line

Epsilon toxicity on the kidney cell line

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Epsilon toxin is the third hazardous bacterial toxin causing ABS enterotoxaemia in domestic animal. In addition, epsilon toxin is known as a biological warfare agent. The aim of this study was to produce the recombinant mature epsilon toxin to evaluate cell death impact on the kidney cell line.
Materials and Methods: For this purpose, the sequence of mature epsilon toxin (46-328 aa) in pET28a was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and purified by nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) column and confirmed by western blot analysis using HRP conjugated anti-His antibody. Then, to assess the anti-proliferative effects of different concentrations of recombinant epsilon toxin, the MTT assay was done on the HEK293 cell line. The annexin V/PI staining was done to investigate the apoptotic and necrotic cell populations after exposure to epsilon toxin.
Results: Induction by 1 mM IPTG for 4 h at 37°C was an optimized condition for expressing mature epsilon toxin in E. coli strain BL21 (DE3). Electrophoresis on SDS-PAGE 12% gel showed the desired band approximately at 38 KDa. Our results showed that recombinant epsilon toxin is mainly expressed as an inclusion body. Furthermore, 100, 150, and 200 µg/mL of mature epsilon toxin are significantly reduced the cell viability (P≤0.05). The considerable increase of necrotic cell percentage was shown after exposing to 100, 150, and 200 µg/mL of mature epsilon toxin (P≤0.05).
Conclusion: The recombinant mature epsilon toxin had cytotoxic effects and could induce necrosis.

1. Smedley JG 3rd, Fisher DJ, Sayeed S, Chakrabarti G, McClane BA. The enteric toxins of Clostridium perfringens. Rev Physiol Biochem Pharmacol 2004;152:183-204.
2. Geng Z, Kang L, Huang J, Gao S, Wang J, Yuan Y, et al. Epsilon toxin from Clostridium perfringens induces toxic effects on skin tissues and HaCaT and human epidermal keratinocytes. Toxicon 2021;198:102-110.
3. Rood JI, Adams V, Lacey J, Lyras D, McClane BA, Melville SB, et al. Expansion of the Clostridium perfringens toxin-based typing scheme. Anaerobe 2018;53:5-10.
4. Stiles BG, Barth G, Barth H, Popoff MR. Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin: a malevolent molecule for animals and man? Toxins (Basel) 2013;5:2138-2160.
5. Popoff MR. Epsilon toxin: a fascinating pore-forming toxin. FEBS J 2011;278:4602-4615.
6. Miyamoto K, Li J, Sayeed S, Akimoto S, McClane BA. Sequencing and diversity analyses reveal extensive similarities between some epsilon-toxin-encoding plasmids and the pCPF5603 Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin plasmid. J Bacteriol 2008;190:7178-7188.
7. Petit L, Gibert M, Gourch A, Bens M, Vandewalle A, Popoff MR. Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin rapidly decreases membrane barrier permeability of polarized MDCK cells. Cell Microbiol 2003;5:155-164.
8. Miyata S, Matsushita O, Minami J, Katayama S, Shimamoto S, Okabe A. Cleavage of a C-terminal peptide is essential for heptamerization of Clostridium perfringens epsilon-toxin in the synaptosomal membrane. J Biol Chem 2001;276:13778-13783.
9. Bokori-Brown M, Kokkinidou MC, Savva CG, Fernandes da Costa S, Naylor CE, Cole AR, et al. Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin H149A mutant as a platform for receptor binding studies. Protein Sci 2013;22:650-659.
10. Beal DR, Titball RW, Lindsay CD. The development of tolerance to Clostridium perfringens type D epsilon-toxin in MDCK and G-402 cells. Hum Exp Toxicol 2003;22:593-605.
11. Soler-Jover A, Blasi J, Gomez de Aranda I, Navarro P, Gibert M, Popoff MR, et al. Effect of epsilon toxin-GFP on MDCK cells and renal tubules in vivo. J Histochem Cytochem 2004;52:931-942.
12. Donelli G, Fiorentini C, Matarrese P, Falzano L, Cardines R, Mastrantonio P, et al. Evidence for cytoskeletal changes secondary to plasma membrane functional alterations in the in vitro cell response to Clostridium perfringens epsilon-toxin. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 2003;26:145-156.
13. Xin W, Wang J. Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin: Toxic effects and mechanisms of action. Biosaf Health 2019;1:71-75.
14. Blanch M, Dorca-Arévalo J, Not A, Cases M, Gómez de Aranda I, Martínez-Yélamos A, et al. The cytotoxicity of epsilon toxin from Clostridium perfringens on lymphocytes Is mediated by MAL protein expression. Mol Cell Biol 2018;38(19):e00086-18.
15. Geng Z, Huang J, Kang L, Gao S, Yuan Y, Li Y, et al. Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin binds to erythrocyte MAL receptors and triggers phosphatidylserine exposure. J Cell Mol Med 2020;24:7341-7352.
16. Graham FL, Smiley J, Russell WC, Nairn R. Characteristics of a human cell line transformed by DNA from human adenovirus type 5. J Gen Virol 1977;36:59-74.
17. Arena GO, Arena V, Arena M, Abdouh M. Transfer of malignant traits as opposed to migration of cells: A novel concept to explain metastatic disease. Med Hypotheses 2017;100:82-86.
18. Knapp O, Maier E, Mkaddem SB, Benz R, Bens M, Chenal A, et al. Clostridium septicum alpha-toxin forms pores and induces rapid cell necrosis. Toxicon 2010;55:61-72.
19. Robertson SL, Li J, Uzal FA, McClane BA. Evidence for a prepore stage in the action of Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin. PLoS One 2011;6(7):e22053.
20. Borrmann E, Gunther H, Kohler H. Effect of Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin on MDCK cells. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 2001;31:85-92.
21. Fennessey CM, Ivie SE, McClain MS. Coenzyme depletion by members of the aerolysin family of pore-forming toxins leads to diminished ATP levels and cell death. Mol Biosyst 2012;8:2097-2105.
22. Ferrarezi MC, Curci VC, Cardoso TC. Cellular vacuolation and mitochondrial-associated factors induced by Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin detected using acoustic flow cytometry. Anaerobe 2013;24:55-59.
23. Chassin C, Bens M, de Barry J, Courjaret R, Bossu JL, Cluzeaud F, et al. Pore-forming epsilon toxin causes membrane permeabilization and rapid ATP depletion-mediated cell death in renal collecting duct cells. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 2007;293:F927-937.
Files
IssueVol 13 No 6 (2021) QRcode
SectionOriginal Article(s)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/ijm.v13i6.8088
Keywords
Cell death; Clostridium perfringens; Epsilon toxin; Necrosis; Recombinant expression

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Chehreara R, Zare Karizi S, Mahmoodzadeh Hosseini H, Mirhosseini SA, Shafiei M, Amani J, Kazemi R. Cell death analysis of recombinant mature epsilon toxin on the kidney cell line. Iran J Microbiol. 2021;13(6):832-838.