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Worbs S, Köhler K, Pauly D, Avondet MA, Schaer M, Dorner MB, Dorner BG. Ricinus communis intoxications in human and veterinary medicine-a summary of real cases. Toxins (Basel) 2011; 3:1332-72. [PMID: 22069699 PMCID: PMC3210461 DOI: 10.3390/toxins3101332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2011] [Revised: 09/26/2011] [Accepted: 09/30/2011] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Accidental and intended Ricinus communis intoxications in humans and animals have been known for centuries but the causative agent remained elusive until 1888 when Stillmark attributed the toxicity to the lectin ricin. Ricinus communis is grown worldwide on an industrial scale for the production of castor oil. As by-product in castor oil production ricin is mass produced above 1 million tons per year. On the basis of its availability, toxicity, ease of preparation and the current lack of medical countermeasures, ricin has gained attention as potential biological warfare agent. The seeds also contain the less toxic, but highly homologous Ricinus communis agglutinin and the alkaloid ricinine, and especially the latter can be used to track intoxications. After oil extraction and detoxification, the defatted press cake is used as organic fertilizer and as low-value feed. In this context there have been sporadic reports from different countries describing animal intoxications after uptake of obviously insufficiently detoxified fertilizer. Observations in Germany over several years, however, have led us to speculate that the detoxification process is not always performed thoroughly and controlled, calling for international regulations which clearly state a ricin threshold in fertilizer. In this review we summarize knowledge on intended and unintended poisoning with ricin or castor seeds both in humans and animals, with a particular emphasis on intoxications due to improperly detoxified castor bean meal and forensic analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvia Worbs
- Centre for Biological Security, Microbial Toxins (ZBS3), Robert Koch-Institut, Nordufer 20, Berlin 13353, Germany; (S.W.); (D.P.); (M.B.D.)
| | - Kernt Köhler
- Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Frankfurter Street 96, Giessen 35392, Germany;
| | - Diana Pauly
- Centre for Biological Security, Microbial Toxins (ZBS3), Robert Koch-Institut, Nordufer 20, Berlin 13353, Germany; (S.W.); (D.P.); (M.B.D.)
| | - Marc-André Avondet
- Biology and Chemistry Section, Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports DDPS SPIEZ LABORATORY, Austrasse 1, Spiez CH-3700, Switzerland; (M.-A.A.); (M.S.)
| | - Martin Schaer
- Biology and Chemistry Section, Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports DDPS SPIEZ LABORATORY, Austrasse 1, Spiez CH-3700, Switzerland; (M.-A.A.); (M.S.)
| | - Martin B. Dorner
- Centre for Biological Security, Microbial Toxins (ZBS3), Robert Koch-Institut, Nordufer 20, Berlin 13353, Germany; (S.W.); (D.P.); (M.B.D.)
| | - Brigitte G. Dorner
- Centre for Biological Security, Microbial Toxins (ZBS3), Robert Koch-Institut, Nordufer 20, Berlin 13353, Germany; (S.W.); (D.P.); (M.B.D.)
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Choi NW, Estes MK, Langridge WHR. Ricin toxin B subunit enhancement of rotavirus NSP4 immunogenicity in mice. Viral Immunol 2006; 19:54-63. [PMID: 16553550 DOI: 10.1089/vim.2006.19.54] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A 90-amino acid peptide from the simian rotavirus SA-11 nonstructural protein, NSP4 was linked to the N-terminus of the Ricinus communis A-B toxin B subunit protein (RTB) and synthesized in Escherichia coli. Recombinant RTB and the NSP4(90)::RTB fusion protein bound artificial receptor glycoprotein asialofetuin in an in vitro enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), demonstrating biological activity of the recombinant protein. Mice co-inoculated with purified recombinant RTB plus NSP4(90) peptide proteins or heat denatured NSP4(90)::RTB fusion protein generated higher titers of serum anti-NSP4(90) IgG antibodies than mice immunized with NSP4(90) peptide alone, indicating the presence of adjuvant functions for N-terminal linked RTB. Serum anti-NSP4(90) IgG titers were highest in mice immunized with native recombinant NSP4(90)::RTB fusion protein, confirming the immunostimulatory function of RTB. Results of experiments described here demonstrate the feasibility of using RTB mediated adjuvant functions for stimulation of the antigenicity of a rotavirus nonstructural protein. The ability of recombinant NSP4(90)::RTB fusion protein synthesized in E. coli to bind glycoprotein receptor molecules effectively indicates that protein linkage to the RTB N-terminus and synthesis of the recombinant NSP4(90)::RTB fusion protein in bacteria do not interfere with the immunostimulatory properties of the RTB subunit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nak-Won Choi
- Center for Molecular Biology and Gene Therapy, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, Califronia 92354, USA
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Choi NW, Estes MK, Langridge WHR. Mucosal immunization with a ricin toxin B subunit-rotavirus NSP4 fusion protein stimulates a Th1 lymphocyte response. J Biotechnol 2005; 121:272-83. [PMID: 16181698 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2005.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2005] [Revised: 07/15/2005] [Accepted: 07/26/2005] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The castor-oil plant Ricinus communis A-B dimeric toxin B subunit (RTB) was genetically linked at its N-terminus with a 90 amino acid peptide from simian rotavirus SA-11 non-structural protein NSP4(90) and produced in Escherichia coli BL21 cells. Biologically active recombinant NSP4(90)-RTB fusion protein was shown to bind glycoprotein asialofetuin receptor molecules in an in vitro enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Oral inoculation of the purified NSP4(90)-RTB ligand-antigen fusion protein delivered the chimeric protein to intestinal epidermal cells for mucosal immunization against rotavirus infection. Mice fed the NSP4(90)-RTB fusion protein generated higher humoral and intestinal antibody titers than mice inoculated with NSP4(90) alone. Titers of serum IgG2a antibodies were significantly higher than IgG1 titers suggesting a dominant Th1 lymphocyte immune response. ELISA measurement of cytokines secreted from splenocyte isolated from immunized mice confirmed NSP4(90)-RTB fusion protein stimulates a strong Th1 cell-mediated immune response. The experimental results demonstrate that the ricin toxin B subunit N-terminus can be used as a site for delivery of virus antigens to the gut associated lymphoid tissues for RTB-mediated immune stimulation of antiviral mucosal immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nak-Won Choi
- Center for Molecular Biology and Gene Therapy, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
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Kreitman RJ. Recombinant toxins in haematologic malignancies and solid tumours. Expert Opin Investig Drugs 2005; 7:1405-27. [PMID: 15992040 DOI: 10.1517/13543784.7.9.1405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Recombinant toxins constitute a new modality for the treatment of cancer, since they target cells displaying specific surface-receptors or antigens. They are fusion proteins, which contain toxin and ligand regions, and are produced in Escherichia coli. The ligand may be a growth factor or a fragment of an antibody, and the toxin is usually one of the two bacterial toxins: Pseudomonas exotoxin and diphtheria toxin. Compared to the earlier generation chemical conjugates of ligands and toxins, recombinant toxins have many advantages, including homogeneity with respect to the connection between the ligand and toxin, ease and yield of production and small size. A variety of chemotherapy-resistant haematologic and solid tumours have been targeted with recombinant toxins, and clinical trials with many of them have recently demonstrated their effectiveness. Moreover, their unwanted toxic effects are different from those of most chemotherapeutic agents, supporting the expectation that they can be combined with existing modalities to improve the clinical resources available to treat cancer in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J Kreitman
- Division of Cancer Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37/4B27, 37 Convent Drive, MSC 4255, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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Tanskanen J, Korhonen TK, Westerlund-Wikström B. Construction of a multihybrid display system: flagellar filaments carrying two foreign adhesive peptides. Appl Environ Microbiol 2000; 66:4152-6. [PMID: 10966447 PMCID: PMC92277 DOI: 10.1128/aem.66.9.4152-4156.2000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
A multivalent, bifunctional flagellum carrying two different adhesive peptides in separate flagellin subunits within a filament was constructed in Escherichia coli. The inserted peptides were the fibronectin-binding 115-mer D repeat region of Staphylococcus aureus and the 302-mer collagen-binding region of YadA of Yersinia enterocolitica. Western blotting, immunoelectron microscopy, and adhesion tests with hybrid flagella from an in trans-complemented DeltafliC E. coli strain showed that individual filaments consisted of both recombinant flagellins.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Tanskanen
- Division of General Microbiology, Department of Biosciences, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
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Chao H, Bautista DL, Litowski J, Irvin RT, Hodges RS. Use of a heterodimeric coiled-coil system for biosensor application and affinity purification. JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY. B, BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES AND APPLICATIONS 1998; 715:307-29. [PMID: 9792518 DOI: 10.1016/s0378-4347(98)00172-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The two-stranded alpha-helical coiled-coil is now recognized as one of nature's favorite ways of creating a dimerization motif. Based on the knowledge of protein folding studies and de novo design model systems, a novel heterodimeric coiled-coil protein was synthesized. The heterodimeric E/K coiled-coil was constructed with two distinct peptides (E and K) that will spontaneously associate into a full helical coiled-coil structure in solution. Equilibrium CD, NMR and real time biosensor kinetics experiments showed that the E/K coiled-coil is both structurally (deltaG(unfold)=11.3 kcal/mol) and kinetically (Kd approximately 1 nM) stable in solution at neutral pH. The engineered coiled-coil had been applied as a dimerization and capture domain for biosensor based applications and used in an expression/detection/affinity chromatography system. Specific test examples demonstrated the usefulness of the E/K heterodimeric system in these applications. The universality of coiled-coil as a dimerization motif in nature and our ability to design and synthesize these proteins suggest a wide variety of applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Chao
- Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
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Williams MD, Rostovtsev A, Narla RK, Uckun FM. Production of recombinant DTctGMCSF fusion toxin in a baculovirus expression vector system for biotherapy of GMCSF-receptor positive hematologic malignancies. Protein Expr Purif 1998; 13:210-21. [PMID: 9675065 DOI: 10.1006/prep.1998.0900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The fusion toxin DTctGMCSF has been constructed by genetically replacing the native receptor-binding domain of diphtheria toxin (DT) with human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GMCSF). This recombinant fusion toxin preserves the catalytic (c) and membrane translocation (t) domains of DT and includes a sterically neutral peptide linker separating the toxin and growth factor domains. Previous work using DTctGMCSF produced in Escherichia coli has shown that this chimeric toxin is selectively cytotoxic to GMCSF receptor (R)-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells both in vitro and in vivo. Its clinical development has been hampered due to very low expression levels, requirements for solubilization with guanidine hydrochloride and subsequent refolding, and concerns about bacterial endotoxin contamination. These difficulties prompted us to investigate the utility of a baculovirus/insect cell expression system for the production of DTctGMCSF. Here, we report that a soluble form of DTctGMCSF can be produced in the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) and purified to homogeneity by column chromatography. The BEVS-derived DTctGMCSF fusion toxin caused apoptotic death in GMCSF-R-positive human AML cells at nanomolar concentrations. In contrast to the 100 microg/L yields of purified DTctGMCSF obtained from E. coli, the BEVS allows us to routinely generate 8-10 mg/L of purified DTctGMCSF. This increased capacity provided by the BEVS for the production of DTctGMCSF makes it now possible to obtain sufficient quantities to carry out preclinical and clinical trials. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the successful utilization of the BEVS for producing a therapeutic fusion toxin.
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Affiliation(s)
- M D Williams
- Department of Protein Engineering, Alexander Parker Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Roseville, Minnesota, 55113, USA
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Abstract
Immunotoxins constitute a new modality for the treatment of cancer, since they target cells displaying specific surface-receptors or antigens. Immunotoxins contain a ligand such as a growth factor, monoclonal antibody, or fragment of an antibody which is connected to a protein toxin. After the ligand subunit binds to the surface of the target cell, the molecule internalizes and the toxin kills the cell. Bacterial toxins which have been targeted to cancer cells include Pseudomonas exotoxin and diphtheria toxin, which are well suited to forming recombinant single-chain or double-chain fusion toxins. Plant toxins include ricin, abrin, pokeweed antiviral protein, saporin and gelonin, and have generally been connected to ligands by disulfide-bond chemistry. Immunotoxins have been produced to target hematologic malignancies and solid tumors via a wide variety of growth factor receptors and antigens. Challenges facing the clinical application of immunotoxins are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Pastan
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Division of Cancer Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 37/4E16, 37 Convent Drive MSC 4255, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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Affiliation(s)
- R J Kreitman
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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Burbage C, Tagge EP, Harris B, Hall P, Fu T, Willingham MC, Frankel AE. Ricin fusion toxin targeted to the human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor receptor is selectively toxic to acute myeloid leukemia cells. Leuk Res 1997; 21:681-90. [PMID: 9301690 DOI: 10.1016/s0145-2126(97)00043-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Treatment failure of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is frequently due to the development of multidrug resistance phenotype blasts. We have expressed a fusion protein consisting of human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GMCSF) fused to the N-terminus of a lectin-deficient ricin toxin B chain (RTB) in Spodoptera frugiperda insect cells. The fusion protein was purified by immunoaffinity chromatography and reassociated with chemically deglycosylated ricin toxin A chain (RTA). The resulting fusion toxin was found to react with antibodies to GMCSF, RTB and RTA and had the predicted molecular mass of 80 kDa. GMCSF-ricin bound poorly to asialofetuin (Kd = 10(6) M-1) and receptor negative cells indicating loss of lectin activity, but bound strongly to GMCSF receptor positive HL60 cells. Ligand displacement assays showed fusion toxin affinity 2.6-fold less than native GMCSF. Selective inhibition of protein synthesis was observed on receptor positive cells. Induction of apoptosis was also observed on receptor positive cells. Cells expressing multidrug resistance gene products (P-gp, Bcl2 and BclXL) were also sensitive to fusion toxin. These results suggest that GMCSF-ricin deserves further preclinical development.
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MESH Headings
- ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1/metabolism
- Animals
- Antibodies
- Asialoglycoproteins/metabolism
- Binding, Competitive
- Cell Line
- Cell Survival/drug effects
- Drug Resistance, Multiple
- Fetuins
- Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/biosynthesis
- Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/metabolism
- Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/pharmacology
- HL-60 Cells
- Humans
- Kinetics
- Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute
- Molecular Weight
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism
- Receptors, Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/biosynthesis
- Receptors, Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/drug effects
- Receptors, Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/physiology
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins/biosynthesis
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins/toxicity
- Ricin/biosynthesis
- Ricin/metabolism
- Ricin/toxicity
- Spodoptera
- Tumor Cells, Cultured
- alpha-Fetoproteins/metabolism
- bcl-X Protein
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Affiliation(s)
- C Burbage
- Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA
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