A low-toxic site-directed mutant of Clostridium perfringens ε-toxin as a potential candidate vaccine against enterotoxemia

Abstract

Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin (ETX), one of the most potent toxins known, is a potential biological weapon; therefore, the development of an effective vaccine is important for preventing intoxication or disease by ETX. In this study, genetically detoxified epsilon toxin mutants were developed as candidate vaccines. We used site-directed mutagenesis to mutate the essential amino acid residues (His106, Ser111 and Phe199). Six site-directed mutants of ETX (mETXH106P, mETXS111H, mETXS111Y, mETXF199H, mETXF199E, mETXS111YF199E) were generated and then expressed in Escherichia coli. Both mETXF199E and mETXH106P with low or non-cytotoxicity that retained their immunogenicity were selected to immunize mice 3 times, and the mouse survival data were recorded after challenging with recombinant wild-type ETX. mETXF199E induces the same protection as mETXH106P, which was reported previously as a promising toxin mutant for vaccine, and both of them could protect immunized mice against a 100× LD50 dose of active wild-type recombinant ETX. This work showed that mETXF199E is another promising candidate vaccine against enterotoxemia and other diseases caused by ETX.