We surveyed laboratories in Washington State, USA, and found that increased use of Shiga toxin assays correlated with increased reported incidence of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections during 2005-2010. Despite increased assay use, only half of processed stool specimens underwent Shiga toxin testing during 2010, suggesting substantial underdetection of non-O157 S...

Binding kinetics of Shiga toxin to HeLa CCL-2 cells and to cell lines cloned by limiting dilutions were determined. Lines with a wide range of sensitivity to Shiga toxin were obtained. Binding data, analyzed by a computer-based Scatchard model program, revealed two classes of binding sites, one of low affinity and high capacity and one of high affinity and low capacity. The number of high affin...

In this review, we highlight recent work that has increased our understanding of the production and distribution of Shiga toxin in the environment. Specifically, we review studies that offer an expanded view of environmental reservoirs for Shiga toxin producing microbes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We then relate the abundance of Shiga toxin in the environment to work that demonstrate...

Evidence is presented that endocytosis is involved in the transport to the cytosol of the cytotoxin from Shigella dysenteriae 1, Shiga toxin, which acts by removal of a single adenine residue in 28-S ribosomal RNA. Inhibition of endocytosis by ATP depletion of the cells prevented toxin uptake. Exposure of HeLa $3 and Vero cells to toxin at low extracellular pH, where translocation to the cytoso...

Shiga-like toxin-producing (SLTEC) Escherichia coli strains are one of the most important food borne emerging pathogens. One hundred and fifty-seven E. coli strains isolated from 39 children with diarrhea of unknown origin and one hundred and five E. coli strains from 20 healthy children were examined for Shiga-like toxin production in Vero cell line assay. The synthesis of Shiga-like toxin was...

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is associated with intestinal infection by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli strains that produce Shiga toxins. Globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) is the functional receptor for Shiga toxin, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) upregulates Gb3 in both human macrovascular umbilical vein endothelial cells and human microvascular brain endothelial cells. TNF-alpha ...

conclusions these results suggest that toxins induce inflammatory responses, particularly through expression of chemokine. recombinant stx and native toxin induced apoptosis by balancing between different pro- and anti-apoptotic bcl-2 family-factors in epithelial cells. in this study, for the first time, recombinant and native stx induction of apoptotic factors and stimulation of immune respons...

Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2) from the foodborne pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 is encoded on a temperate bacteriophage. Toxin-encoding phages from C600::933W and from six clinical E. coli O157:H7 isolates were characterized for PCR polymorphisms, phage morphology, toxin production, and lytic and lysogenic infection profiles on O157 and non-O157 serotype E. coli. The phages were found to be highly va...