• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.199-204
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• 1995

The antifungal effects of polyposphates on the growth and T-2 toxin production of Fusarium sporotrichioides M-1-1 were investigated. The growth of the strain was significantly inhibited in the potatoes dextrose agar medium treated with 1.5% polyphosphates or more. When we checked T-2 toxin by the indirect competitive ELISA, the strain produced 11.25 ug/ml and 10.90 ug/ml levels of T-2 toxin rice and corn containing 50% moisture contents, respectively. However, T-2 toxin was little detected in rice medium and corn medium with 1.5% polyphosphates addition for short(14 days) and prolonged incubation time(45 days). We also observed the destruction of cell wall and outflow of cell ingredients with 1% polyphosphates treatment to the strain. Therefore, moisture and polyphosphates greatly effected on the growth and T-2 toxin production of the strain.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 1993

Soil samples and the intestinal contents of arthropods, mollusca, pisces, aves, and mammals were examined for the presence of Clostridium botulinum. Demonstration of Clostridium botulimun was accomplished by identifying its toxin in liquid cultures inoculated with soil or material from the alimentary tract of tested animals with toxin neutralization tests in addition to morphological, cultural and biochemical tests. Incidences of Clostridium botulinum in tested samples were 5.0% in soil, 6.7% in mammal and 8.7% in fish, respectively. All of the positive cultures were identified as Clostridium botulinum type E and any other type was not demonstrated throughout the survey. Canned foods and solid ham/sausage mixture formulated as can with distilled water were inoculated with Clostridium botulinum type E and checked for toxin production by using the mouse bioassay. Clostridium botulinum type E toxin was produced as a large quantity in canned foods of fish, shell, meat and ham and, however, no significant toxin was detected in sausages and fruit samples.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1163-1170
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• 2017

Clostridium difficile releases two exotoxins, toxin A and toxin B, which disrupt the epithelial cell barrier in the gut to increase mucosal permeability and trigger inflammation with severe diarrhea. Many studies have suggested that enteric nerves are also directly involved in the progression of this toxin-mediated inflammation and diarrhea. C. difficile toxin A is known to enhance neurotransmitter secretion, increase gut motility, and suppress sympathetic neurotransmission in the guinea pig colitis model. Although previous studies have examined the pathophysiological role of enteric nerves in gut inflammation, the direct effect of toxins on neuronal cells and the molecular mechanisms underlying toxin-induced neuronal stress remained to be unveiled. Here, we examined the toxicity of C. difficile toxin A against neuronal cells (SH-SY5Y). We found that toxin A treatment time- and dose-dependently decreased cell viability and triggered apoptosis accompanied by caspase-3 activation in this cell line. These effects were found to depend on the up-regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the subsequent activation of p38 MAPK and induction of $p21^{Cip1/Waf1}$. Moreover, the N-acetyl-$\text\tiny L$-cysteine (NAC)-induced down-regulation of ROS could recover the viability loss and apoptosis of toxin A-treated neuronal cells. These results collectively suggest that C. difficile toxin A is toxic for neuronal cells, and that this is associated with rapid ROS generation and subsequent p38 MAPK activation and $p21^{Cip1/Waf1}$ up-regulation. Moreover, our data suggest that NAC could inhibit the toxicity of C. difficile toxin A toward enteric neurons.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2019

Numerous studies have reported that enteric neurons involved in controlling neurotransmitter secretion and motility in the gut critically contribute to the progression of gut inflammation. Clostridium difficile toxins, which cause severe colonic inflammation, are also known to affect enteric neurons. Our previous study showed that C. difficile toxin A directly induces neural cell toxicities, such as viability loss and apoptosis. In the current study, we attempted to identify a potent inhibitor of toxin A-induced neural cell toxicity that may aid in managing toxin A-induced gut inflammation. In our recent study, we found that the Korea dung beetle-derived antimicrobial peptide CopA3 completely blocked neural cell apoptosis caused by okadaic acid or 6-OHDA. Here, we examined whether the antimicrobial peptide CopA3 inhibited toxin A-induced neural cell damage. In neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, CopA3 treatment protected against both apoptosis and viability loss caused by toxin A. CopA3 also completely inhibited activation of the pro-apoptotic factor, caspase-3. Additionally, CopA3 rescued toxin A-induced downregulation of neural cell proliferation. However, CopA3 had no effect on signaling through ROS/p38 $MAPK/p27^{kip1}$, suggesting that CopA3 inhibits toxin A-induced neural cell toxicity independent of this well-characterized toxin A pathway. Our data further suggest that ability of CopA3 to rescue toxin A-induced neural cell damage may also ameliorate the gut inflammation caused by toxin A.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1016-1021
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• 2018

Clostridium difficile toxin A causes pseudomembranous colitis. The pathogenesis of toxin A-induced colonic inflammation includes toxin A-dependent epithelial cell apoptosis, resulting in the loss of barrier function provided by epithelial cells against luminal pathogens. Toxin A-dependent epithelial cell apoptosis has been linked to toxin A-induced production of reaction oxygen species and subsequent p38MAPK activation; $p21^{CIP1/WAF1}$ upregulation-dependent cell cycle arrest; cytoskeletal disaggregation; and/or the induction of Fas ligand on epithelial cells. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying toxin A-induced apoptosis remain poorly understood. This study tested whether toxin A could block the Wnt signaling pathway, which is involved in gut epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation and antiapoptotic progression. Toxin A treatment of nontransformed human colonocytes (NCM460) rapidly reduced ${\beta}$-catenin protein, an essential component of the Wnt signaling pathway. Exposure of mouse ileum to toxin A also significantly reduced ${\beta}$-catenin protein levels. MG132 inhibition of proteasome-dependent protein degradation resulted in the recovery of toxin A-mediated reduction of ${\beta}$-catenin, indicating that toxin A may activate intracellular processes, such as $GSK3{\beta}$, to promote degradation of ${\beta}$-catenin. Immunoblot analysis showed that toxin A increased active phosphorylation of $GSK3{\beta}$. Because the Wnt signaling pathway is essential for gut epithelial cell proliferation and anti-apoptotic processes, our results suggest that toxin A-mediated inhibition of the Wnt signaling pathway may be required for maximal toxin A-induced apoptosis of gut epithelial cells.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.31 no.1 s.57
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• pp.115-122
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• 1995

Effects of staurosporine, genistein and pertussis toxin on superoxide and HOCl production in C5a- or PMA-activated neutrophils were investigated. A C5a-induced superoxide and $H_2O_2$ production was inhibited by staurosporine, genistein and pertussis toxin. The stimulatory effect of PMA was inhibited by staurosporine but was not affected by pertussis toxin, whereas it was further promoted by genistein. Staurosporine and genistein inhibited superoxide production by sodium fluoride, but pertussis toxin did not affect it. PMA-induced $H_2O_2$ production was inhibited by staurosporine but was not affected by pertussis toxin. Genistein did not show a stimulatory effect on PMA-induced $H_2O_2$ production. Staurosporine and pertussis toxin inhibited HOCl production by C5a- or PMA, whereas genistein stimulated it. C5a-or PMA-induced myeloperoxidase release was inhibited by genistein, in this response the effect of pertussis toxin was not detected. Staurosporine did not affect the stimulatory effect of PMA on the release. Myeloperoxidase activity was markedly increased by genistein but was not affected by staurosporine and pertussis toxin. These results indicate that the respiratory burst of neutrophils may be regulated by protein kinase C and protein tyrosine kinase. Superoxide production induced by the direct activation of protein kinase C might be affected by protein tyrosine kinase oppositely. Genistein probably pro-motes HOCl production by activating myeloperoxidase.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.265-274
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• 2016

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous genetic modules that are evolutionally conserved in bacteria and archaea. TA systems composed of an intracellular toxin and its antidote (antitoxin) are currently classified into five types. Commonly, activation of toxins under stress conditions inhibits diverse cellular processes and consequently induces cell death or reversible growth inhibition. These effects of toxins play various physiological roles in such as regulation of gene expression, growth control (stress response), programmed cell arrest, persister cells, programmed cell death, phage protection, stabilization of mobile genetic elements or postsegregational killing of plasmid-free cells. Accordingly, bacterial TA systems are commonly considered as stress-responsive genetic modules. However, molecule screening for activation of toxin in TA system is available as development of antimicrobial agents. In addition, cytotoxic effect induced by toxin is used as effective cloning method with antitoxic effect of antitoxin; consequently cells containing cloning vector inserted a target gene can survive and false-positive transformants are removed. Also, TA system is applicable to efficient single protein production in biotechnology industry because toxins that are site-specific ribonuclease inhibit protein synthesis except for target protein. Furthermore, some TA systems that induce apoptosis in eukaryotic cells such as cancer cells or virus-infected cells would have a wide range of applications in eukaryotes, and it will lead to new ways of treating human disease. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on bacterial TA systems and their applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.375-380
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• 2000

The preliminary screening of several cyanobacteria, using mice bioassay, reveale the production of a hepatotoxin by the cyanobacterium Scytonema sp. strain BT 23 isolated from soil. An intraperitoneal injection of the crude toxin (LD50 56 mg/kg body wt) from this strain caused the death of the mice within 40 min, and the anmals showed slinical signs of mice within 40 min, and the animals showed clinical signs of hepatotoxicity. The toxin was purified and partially characterized. The active fraction appears to be nonpolar in nature and shows absorption peaks at 240 and 285 nm. The purified toxin had an LD50 of TEX>$100<\mu\textrm{g}/kg$ body wt and the test mice died within 40 min of toxin administration. The toxin-treated mice showed a 1.65-fold increase in liver weight at 40 min and the liver color chnged to dark red due to intrahepatic hemorrhage and pooling of blood. Furthermore, the administration of the toxin to test mice induced a 2.58, 2.63, and 2.30-fold increse in the activity of the serum enzymes alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase, respectively. Further experiments with the 14C-labeled toxin revealed a maximum accumulation of the toxin in the liver. The clinical symptoms in the mice were similar to those produced by microcystin-L.R. These results suggest that hepatotoxins may also be produced in non bloom-forming planktonic cyanobacteria.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2015

The effect of diphtheria toxin on cell membrane lipids was studied by examining the phospholipase D (PLD) activity and free fatty acids (FFA) release in HepG2 cells. The diphtheria toxin effects on lipid alteration show apparently maximal at pH 5.1, stimulating PLD activity nearly 3.5 fold and enhancing FFA release approximately 5 fold over the control. These results indicate that the membrane is perturbed and its lipid component is rearranged during the diphtheria toxin translocation. Digitonin, a random membrane perturbing detergent, exhibit about four-fold higher perturbation effect over the diphtheria toxin at neutral pH. This observation suggests that the membrane perturbation induced by diphtheria toxin appears to be rather selective. To investigate the cause of the membrane perturbation, Cibacron blue, an inhibitor of membrane pore formation, and hemagglutinin, an influenza virus with fusion peptide, were tested for their effects on diphtheria toxin action. Cibacron blue decreased the diphtheria toxin effect by almost 50%, but the lipid alteration induced by hemagglutinin was similar to the diphtheria toxin effect. These observations imply that the membrane perturbation induced by diphtheria toxin may be caused by a combination of pore formation and insertion of hydrophobic peptide of toxin to the membrane as well. Additionally, we found that the diphtheria toxin increased the HepG2 cells permeability but the cells viability was maintained at high level at the same time. DNA fragmentation which is related to apoptosis was not induced by the toxin. Under these conditions, we could demonstrate that the lipid alteration of HepG2 cells was brought about by diphtheria toxin at acidic pH.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.694-700
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• 2017

Clostridium difficile, which causes pseudomembranous colitis, releases toxin A and toxin B. These toxins are considered to be the main causative agents for the disease pathogenesis, and their expression is associated with a marked increase of apoptosis in mucosal epithelial cells. Colonic epithelial cells are believed to form a physical barrier between the lumen and the submucosa, and abnormally increased mucosal epithelial cell apoptosis is considered to be an initial step in gut inflammation responses. Therefore, one approach to treating pseudomembranous colitis would be to develop agents that block the mucosal epithelial cell apoptosis caused by toxin A, thus restoring barrier function and curing inflammatory responses in the gut. We recently isolated an antimicrobial peptide, Periplanetasin-2 (Peri-2, YPCKLNLKLGKVPFH) from the American cockroach, whose extracts have shown great potential for clinical use. Here, we assessed whether Peri-2 could inhibit the cell toxicity and inflammation caused by C. difficile toxin A. Indeed, in human colonocyte HT29 cells, Peri-2 inhibited the toxin A-induced decrease in cell proliferation and ameliorated the cell apoptosis induced by this toxin. Moreover, in the toxin A-induced mouse enteritis model, Peri-2 blocked the mucosal disruption and inflammatory response caused by toxin A. These results suggest that the American cockroach peptide Peri-2 could be a possible drug candidate for addressing the pseudomembranous colitis caused by C. difficile toxin A.