title: Clostridium perfringens delta toxin is sequence related to beta toxin, NetB, and Staphylococcus pore-forming toxins, but shows functional differences.
abstract: Clostridium perfringens produces numerous toxins, which are responsible for severe diseases in man and animals. Delta toxin is one of the three hemolysins released by a number of C. perfringens type C and possibly type B strains. Delta toxin was characterized to be cytotoxic for cells expressing the ganglioside G(M2) in their membrane. Here we report the genetic characterization of Delta toxin and its pore forming activity in lipid bilayers. Delta toxin consists of 318 amino acids, its 28 N-terminal amino acids corresponding to a signal peptide. The secreted Delta toxin (290 amino acids; 32619 Da) is a basic protein (pI 9.1) which shows a significant homology with C. perfringens Beta toxin (43% identity), with C. perfringens NetB (40% identity) and, to a lesser extent, with Staphylococcus aureus alpha toxin and leukotoxins. Recombinant Delta toxin showed a preference for binding to G(M2), in contrast to Beta toxin, which did not bind to gangliosides. It is hemolytic for sheep red blood cells and cytotoxic for HeLa cells. In artificial diphytanoyl phosphatidylcholine membranes, Delta and Beta toxin formed channels. Conductance of the channels formed by Delta toxin, with a value of about 100 pS to more than 1 nS in 1 M KCl and a membrane potential of 20 mV, was higher than those formed by Beta toxin and their distribution was broader. The results of zero-current membrane potential measurements and single channel experiments suggest that Delta toxin forms slightly anion-selective channels, whereas the Beta toxin channels showed a preference for cations under the same conditions. C. perfringens Delta toxin shows a significant sequence homolgy with C. perfringens Beta and NetB toxins, as well as with S. aureus alpha hemolysin and leukotoxins, but exhibits different channel properties in lipid bilayers. In contrast to Beta toxin, Delta toxin recognizes G(M2) as receptor and forms anion-selective channels.
authors.affiliation: Bactéries anaérobies et Toxines, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manich
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Knapp
authors.forename: Maryse
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gibert
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Colette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jolivet-Reynaud
authors.forename: Blandine
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Geny
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Benz
authors.forename: Michel R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Popoff
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000378:metabolism; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012756:Sheep; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; C031884:CPB protein, Clostridium perfringens; C029352:Clostridium perfringens delta-toxin; D004768:Enterotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; C534774:NetB protein, Clostridium perfringens; D009841:Oligonucleotides; C021091:staphylococcal alpha-toxin