A new scaleable method for the purification of botulinum neurotoxin type E

A multipathogen DNA vaccine elicits protective immune responses against two class A bioterrorism agents, anthrax and botulism

Abstract

The potential use of biological agents has become a major public health concern worldwide. According to the CDC classification, Bacillus anthracis and Clostridium botulinum, the bacterial pathogens that cause anthrax and botulism, respectively, are considered to be the most dangerous potential biological agents. Currently, there is no licensed vaccine that is well suited for mass immunization in the event of an anthrax or botulism epidemic. In the present study, we developed a dual-expression system-based multipathogen DNA vaccine that encodes the PA-D4 gene of B. anthracis and the HCt gene of C. botulinum. When the multipathogen DNA vaccine was administered to mice and guinea pigs, high level antibody responses were elicited against both PA-D4 and HCt. Analysis of the serum IgG subtype implied a combined Th1/Th2 response to both antigens, but one that was Th2 skewed. In addition, immunization with the multipathogen DNA vaccine induced effective neutralizing antibody activity against both PA-D4 and HCt. Finally, the protection efficiency of the multipathogen DNA vaccine was determined by sequential challenge with 10 LD₅₀ of B. anthracis spores and 10 LD₅₀ of botulinum toxin, or vice versa, and the multipathogen DNA vaccine provided higher than 50% protection against lethal challenge with both high-risk biothreat agents. Our studies suggest the strategy used for this anthrax-botulinum multipathogen DNA vaccine as a prospective approach for developing emergency vaccines that can be immediately distributed on a massive scale in response to a biothreat emergency or infectious disease outbreak.

Key points • A novel multipathogen DNA vaccine was constructed against anthrax and botulism. • Robust immune responses were induced following vaccination. • Suggests a potential vaccine development strategy against biothreat agents.

Graphical abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00253-022-11812-6.

Avian eyelid assay, a new diagnostic method for detecting botulinum neurotoxin serotypes A, B and E

Based upon botulinum neurotoxins' (BoNT) mechanism of action, a novel, rapid, and sensitive avian eyelid assay was developed to detect Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin serotypes A, B and E in assay buffer and mimic samples. It showed that chick was the most optimal model of 20-selected laboratory, non-laboratory animals. The eyelid closure of chick was the indicator symptom for positive results. The detection limits achieved range from 5 to 250 mouse LD(50) for toxin types A, B, and E in a buffer system and mimic samples. No cross reactivity occurred when using staphylococcal enterotoxin B, diphtheria toxin and nerve agent sarin, but cross reactivity was obtained in more than 6h for using high dose of tetanus toxin. This cross reactivity can be differentiated by BoNT neutralization tests with a serotype-specific antiserum in parallel. The avian eyelid assay can be performed within as short a time as 0.4-6 h. We report here the development of avian eyelid assay is the second animal bioassay for the detection of toxin types A, B, and E which approaches the sensitivity of the mouse bioassay, and is simple to perform as well as rapid to yield results.