THE CLOSTRIDIUM-PERFRINGENS EPSILON-TOXIN

The epsilon-toxin is produced by Clostridium perfringens types B and D . The amino acid sequences that have been deduced for the toxins in th ese strains are identical except for one amino acid. Of a variety of t issue culture cells tested only Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells were susceptible to the toxin. In these cells, the toxin caused chang es in the actin cytoskeleton. An assay for the epsilon-toxin, using MD CK cells, has been used to demonstrate the presence of a receptor in r at brain, subsequently shown to be a 26 kDa sialoglycoprotein. The MDC K cell assay was also used to show, with site-directed mutants, that h istidine or tryptophan residues do not play a key role in activity of the epsilon-toxin.