Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of genomic DNA was carried out on Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains from different geographic locations to determine its value in an epidemiological survey of O157 infections. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of XbaI-digested DNA fragments clearly separated E. coli O157:H7 strains from nontoxigenic E. coli O157:H19, O157:H43, and O157:H45 strains and from Shiga-l...

Differentiated villus intestinal epithelial cells express globotriaosylceramide, the Shiga-like toxin 1 (SLT-1) receptor, and are sensitive to toxin-mediated cytotoxicity, whereas undifferentiated crypt cells neither express Gb3 nor respond to toxin. To investigate if SLT-1 receptors are maturationally regulated in human intestinal cells, we examined the effect of butyrate, a known transcriptio...

Shiga toxins are the main virulence factors of a group of Escherichia coli strains [Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC)] that cause severe human diseases, such as haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic-uraemic syndrome. The Shiga toxin family comprises several toxin subtypes, which have been differentially related to clinical manifestations. In addition, the phages that carry the Shiga toxin gene...

The heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor geldanamycin (GA) has been shown to alter endosomal sorting, diverting cargo destined for the recycling pathway into the lysosomal pathway. Here we investigated whether GA also affects the sorting of cargo into the retrograde pathway from endosomes to the Golgi apparatus. As a model cargo we used the bacterial toxin Shiga toxin, which exploits the ret...

Recently, the Aquaponic Association (AA) published a statement through multiple outlets in response to our article entitled “The Occurrence of Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli and Hydroponic Systems” [...]

The production of Shiga toxin by a bacterial strain is necessary for induction of enteropathogenic haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). Only strains that produce the toxin are associated with HUS. These include enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae and rarely Citrobacter freundii [1, 2]. All strains associated with haemorrhagic colitis and HUS are Gram-negative, thus producing...

Shiga-like toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 poses grave challenges to public health by its ability to cause severe colonic diseases and renal failure in both human and animals. Shiga-like toxins are the major pathogenic factor for some highly virulent E. coli expecially Shiga-like toxin 2. Conventional treatments such as antibiotics can facilitate the release of the toxin thus po...

objective: verotoxin is a member of shiga toxin family. this family contains ab protein toxins with an enzymatic (a) and a binding (b) compartment. cells that have receptor (gb3) are sensitive to cytotoxic effects of toxin. it has been shown that various tumor cells have gb3 receptor and are selectively sensitive to apoptotic effect of verotoxin. studies on tumor cell lines and laboratory anima...