Efficacy of a potential trivalent vaccine based on Hc fragments of botulinum toxins A, B, and E produced in a cell-free expression system.

ABSTRACT: Botulinum toxins produced by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum are the most potent biological toxins in nature. Traditionally, people at risk are immunized with a formaldehyde-inactivated toxin complex. Second generation vaccines are based on the recombinant carboxy-terminal heavy-chain (Hc) fragment of the neurotoxin. However, the materialization of this approach is challenging, mainly due to the high AT content of clostridial genes. Herein, we present an alternative strategy in which the native genes encoding Hc proteins of botulinum toxins A, B, and E were used to express the recombinant Hc fragments in a cell-free expression system. We used the unique property of this open system to introduce different combinations of chaperone systems, protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), an

SUBMITTER: Zichel R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2863383 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature