Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) types A, B, E, and F are toxic to humans; early and rapid detection is essential for adequate medical treatment. Presently available tests for detection of BoNTs, although sensitive, require hours to days. We report a BoNT-B sensor whose properties allow detection of BoNT-B within minutes. The technique relies on the detection of an agarose bead detachment from the t...

B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) is crucial for B-cell survival, and the biological effects of BLyS are mediated by three cell surface receptors designated B cell-activating factor receptor (BAFF-R), transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor (TACI), and B-cell maturation antibody (BCMA). Increased expression of BLyS and its receptors has been identified in nu...

Recent reports that myelin basic protein (MBP) can be ADP-ribosylated and contains specific sites that bind GTP and GM1 ganglioside, have suggested an analogy to the properties of cholera toxin. Comparisons of pairs of sequences between these two proteins yielded two regions of homology between MBP and the cholera toxin B (chol B) subunit, and one region of homology with the cholera toxin A (ch...

Extracellular vesicle production is a ubiquitous process in Gram-negative bacteria, but little is known about such process in Gram-positive bacteria. We report the isolation of extracellular vesicles from the supernatants of Bacillus anthracis, a Gram-positive bacillus that is a powerful agent for biological warfare. B. anthracis vesicles formed at the outer layer of the bacterial cell had doub...

Shiga toxin is a bacterial toxin consisting of A and B subunits. Generally, the essential cytotoxicity of the toxin is thought to be mediated by the A subunit, which possesses RNA cleavage activity and thus induces protein synthesis inhibition. We previously reported, however, that the binding of the Shiga toxin 1-B subunit to globotriaosyl ceramide, a functional receptor for Shiga toxin, induc...

Clostridium difficile, the causative agent of antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis, produces two toxins, A and B (1). Toxin A is both an enterotoxin and cytotoxin, whereas toxin B is a highly potent cytotoxin (2,3,4). Toxin A has been cloned and sequenced by our research team (5) and later by Sauerborn and von Eichel-Streiber (6). The entire coding region of toxin B and 398 bp of the ...

We have shown that urea-extracted cell wall of entomopathogenic Bacillus sphaericus 2297 and some other strains is a potent larvicide against Culex pipiens mosquitoes, with 50% lethal concentrations comparable to that of the well-known B. sphaericus binary toxin, with which it acts synergistically. The wall toxicity develops in B. sphaericus 2297 cultures during the late logarithmic stage, earl...

The binary iota-toxin is produced by Clostridium perfringens type E strains and consists of two separate proteins, the binding component iota b (98 kDa) and an actin-ADP-ribosylating enzyme component iota a (47 kDa). Iota b binds to the cell surface receptor and mediates the translocation of iota a into the cytosol. Here we studied the cellular uptake of iota-toxin into Vero cells. Bafilomycin ...