Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1995 Feb 28;92(5):1644-8.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.5.1644.

Mutants of Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin lacking ADP-ribosyltransferase activity act as nontoxic, mucosal adjuvants

G Douce  1 , C Turcotte, I Cropley, M Roberts, M Pizza, M Domenghini, R Rappuoli, G Dougan
Affiliations

Mutants of Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin lacking ADP-ribosyltransferase activity act as nontoxic, mucosal adjuvants

G Douce et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

A nontoxic mutant (LTK7) of the Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) lacking ADP-ribosylating activity but retaining holotoxin formation was constructed. By using site-directed mutagenesis, the arginine at position 7 of the A subunit was replaced with lysine. This molecule, which was nontoxic in several assays, was able to bind to eukaryotic cells and acted as a mucosal adjuvant for co-administered proteins; BALB/c mice immunized intranasally with LTK7 and ovalbumin developed high levels of serum and local antibodies to ovalbumin and toxin. In addition, mice immunized intranasally with fragment C of tetanus toxin and LTK7 were protected against lethal challenge with tetanus toxin. Thus nontoxic mutants of heat-labile toxin can act as effective intranasal mucosal adjuvants.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Science. 1974 Jan 25;183(4122):334-6 - PubMed
    1. Eur J Immunol. 1992 Sep;22(9):2277-81 - PubMed
    1. Microbiol Rev. 1992 Dec;56(4):622-47 - PubMed
    1. Vaccine. 1993;11(2):113-8 - PubMed
    1. Vaccine. 1993;11(2):235-40 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources