Enzymatic hydrolysis of tetanus toxin by intrinsic and extrinsic proteases. Characterization of the fragments by monoclonal antibodies

Recent Developments in Vaccine Design: From Live Vaccines to Recombinant Toxin Vaccines

Vaccines are one of the most effective strategies to prevent pathogen-induced illness in humans. The earliest vaccines were based on live inoculations with low doses of live or related pathogens, which carried a relatively high risk of developing the disease they were meant to prevent. The introduction of attenuated and killed pathogens as vaccines dramatically reduced these risks; however, attenuated live vaccines still carry a risk of reversion to a pathogenic strain capable of causing disease. This risk is completely eliminated with recombinant protein or subunit vaccines, which are atoxic and non-infectious. However, these vaccines require adjuvants and often significant optimization to induce robust T-cell responses and long-lasting immune memory. Some pathogens produce protein toxins that cause or contribute to disease. To protect against the effects of such toxins, chemically inactivated toxoid vaccines have been found to be effective. Toxoid vaccines are successfully used today at a global scale to protect against tetanus and diphtheria. Recent developments for toxoid vaccines are investigating the possibilities of utilizing recombinant protein toxins mutated to eliminate biologic activity instead of chemically inactivated toxins. Finally, one of the most contemporary approaches toward vaccine design utilizes messenger RNA (mRNA) as a vaccine candidate. This approach was used globally to protect against coronavirus disease during the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2019, due to its advantages of quick production and scale-up, and effectiveness in eliciting a neutralizing antibody response. Nonetheless, mRNA vaccines require specialized storage and transport conditions, posing challenges for low- and middle-income countries. Among multiple available technologies for vaccine design and formulation, which technology is most appropriate? This review focuses on the considerable developments that have been made in utilizing diverse vaccine technologies with a focus on vaccines targeting bacterial toxins. We describe how advancements in vaccine technology, combined with a deeper understanding of pathogen-host interactions, offer exciting and promising avenues for the development of new and improved vaccines.

Heterologous Expression of Recombinant Proteins and Their Derivatives Used as Carriers for Conjugate Vaccines

Carrier proteins that provide an effective and long-term immune response to weak antigens has become a real breakthrough in the disease prevention, making it available to a wider range of patients and making it possible to obtain reliable vaccines against a variety of pathogens. Currently, research is continuing both to identify new peptides, proteins, and their complexes potentially suitable for use as carriers, and to develop new methods for isolation, purification, and conjugation of already known and well-established proteins. The use of recombinant proteins has a number of advantages over isolation from natural sources, such as simpler cultivation of the host organism, the possibility of modifying genetic constructs, use of numerous promoter variants, signal sequences, and other regulatory elements. This review is devoted to the methods of obtaining both traditional and new recombinant proteins and their derivatives already being used or potentially suitable for use as carrier proteins in conjugate vaccines.

A Novel High-Potency Tetanus Vaccine

Chemical inactivation is a clinically effective mechanism to detoxify protein toxins to produce vaccines against microbial infections and to serve as a platform for production of conjugate polysaccharide vaccines. This method is widely used for the production of protein toxin vaccines, including tetanus toxoid. However, chemical modification alters the protein structure with unknown effects on antigenicity. Here, a recombinant full-length tetanus toxin (TT) is engineered with 8 mutations (8MTT) that inactivate three toxin functions: catalysis, translocation, and receptor binding. 8MTT is nontoxic and elicits a potent immune response in outbred mice. 8MTT also represents a malleable platform for the production of conjugate vaccines, which can facilitate a rapid vaccine response against emerging microbial pathogens.

Chemically inactivated tetanus toxoid (CITT) is clinically effective and widely used. However, CITT is a crude nonmalleable vaccine that contains hundreds of Clostridium tetani proteins, and the active component is present in variable and sometimes minor percentages of vaccine mass. Recombinant production of a genetically inactivated tetanus vaccine offers an opportunity to replace and improve the current tetanus vaccine. Previous studies showed the feasibility of engineering full-length tetanus toxin (TT) in Escherichia coli. In the present study, full-length TT was engineered with eight individual amino acid mutations (8MTT) to inactivate catalysis, translocation, and host receptor-binding functions, retaining 99.4% amino acid identity to native tetanus toxin. 8MTT purified as a 150-kDa single-chain protein, which trypsin nicked to a 100-kDa heavy chain and 50-kDa light chain. The 8MTT was not toxic for outbred mice and was >50 million-fold less toxic than native TT. Relative to CITT, 8MTT vaccination elicited a strong immune response and showed good vaccine potency against TT challenge. The strength of the immune response to both vaccines varied among individual outbred mice. These data support 8MTT as a candidate vaccine against tetanus and a malleable candidate conjugate vaccine platform to enhance the immune response to polysaccharides and other macromolecular molecules to facilitate a rapid response to emerging microbial pathogens.

Reductive cleavage of tetanus toxin and botulinum neurotoxin A by the thioredoxin system from brain. Evidence for two redox isomers of tetanus toxin

Inhibition of neurotransmitter release by tetanus toxin and botulinum neurotoxin A can be mimicked by intracellular application of the corresponding toxin light chains. The aim of this study was to determine whether the two-chain toxins are reduced by brain preparations to yield free light chains which would represent the ultimate toxins. The interchain disulfide of two-chain tetanus toxin was cleaved by rat cortex homogenate fortified with NADPH. Reduction was promoted further by addition of thioredoxin. Thioredoxin reductase was demonstrated in and purified from porcine brain cortex. The thioredoxin system which consisted of purified enzyme, thioredoxin and NADPH reduced both toxins. The resulting light chains appeared homogeneous in SDS gel electrophoresis. The complementary heavy chain of tetanus but not of botulinum toxin migrated in two bands, the faster one with the velocity of heavy chain obtained by chemical reduction. The major, slower form was converted into the faster by chemical but not by enzymatic reduction. Tetanus toxin, whether in its single-chain or two-chain version also occurred in two forms which differed by their electrophoretic mobility. The two forms of single-chain toxin were interconverted by chemical reduction or oxidation but not by the thioredoxin system. It is concluded that a) a thioredoxin system in brain tissue reduces the interchain disulfide of two-chain tetanus toxin and botulinum neurotoxin A, b) tetanus toxin but not botulinum neurotoxin A consists of two electrophoretically distinct forms which differ by the thiol-disulfide status of their heavy chains, c) the disulfide loop within the heavy chain of tetanus toxin is resistant to the thioredoxin system.

A solid-phase enzyme immunoassay for the detection of tetanus toxin using human and murine monoclonal antibodies

Three human and three murine monoclonal antibodies were tested for their reactivity to tetanus toxin and toxoid and used to establish an enzyme immunoassay specific for tetanus toxin. The dissociation constants of the monoclonal antibodies were between 3.91 x 10(-9) and 8.48 x 10(-12). Two human monoclonal antibodies recognized conformation determinants on the toxin, whereas the others reacted to the heavy chain. Only a combination of antibodies of the two species allowed the development of an enzyme immunoassay for the detection of tetanus toxin with a lower detection limit of 1.2 micrograms/l.

Chains and fragments of tetanus toxin. Separation, reassociation and pharmacological properties

Tetanus toxin, as obtained from bacterial culture filtrates, consists of two chains. Since their roles in poisoning are unknown, we have made a detailed study of their preparation, reassociation and pharmacological activity. 1. Two-chain tetanus toxin (pI 6.0) was subjected to isoelectric focussing under reducing conditions in 2M urea. Both light (pI 4.8) and heavy (pI 7.2) chains separated as nearly homogeneous proteins of low toxicities. Upon removal of urea and reoxidation, partial homodimerization by formation of disulfide bonds took place in the purified fractions. The toxin was reconstituted nearly quantitatively by covalent heterodimerization of the complementary chains, as shown by SDS/gel electrophoresis, toxicity studies, inhibition of evoked [3H]noradrenaline release and binding to rat brain membranes. 2. Accordingly, fragment B (pI 5.6) resulting from papain hydrolysis, was separated into a light chain and the N-terminal moiety of the heavy chain, called fragment beta 2 (pI 7.1 and 6.8, two maxima). Removal of urea and reoxidation led to reconstitution of fragment B. Covalent linkage did not occur between the two parts of the heavy chain, or between the light chain and the C-terminal part of the heavy chain. 3. The heavy chain alone inhibited K+-evoked [3H]noradrenaline release from a rat brain homogenate. However, the concentration-response ratio was flat and 10-100-fold higher concentrations were required than with native or reconstituted two-chain toxin. The light chain was inactive. Purified heavy chain but not light chain decreased the [3H]noradrenaline content, whereas the two-chain toxin increased it. Binding to rat brain membranes was assessed by competition with 125I-labelled two-chain toxin. In hypotonic buffer, the heavy chain, the papain fragment C and native and reconstituted two-chain toxin had comparable affinities to membranes. In isotonic buffer the heavy chain displayed an about 1000-fold lower affinity than native or reconstituted two-chain toxin. The light chain did not bind to membranes in either test. Our data indicate that (a) the light chain and the N-terminal part of the heavy chain are held together not only by one disulfide bond but also by hydrogen bonds and ionic forces to yield a two-chain toxin or fragment B and (b) both chains contribute to the actions of the toxin in vivo and in vitro, and to its binding.

Quantitative comparison between tetanus toxin, some fragments and toxoid for binding and axonal transport in the rat

The fragments BIIb and C of tetanus toxin, which contain its binding domain, were quantitatively compared with native toxin and a toxoid with respect to axonal transport from the gastrocnemius muscle to the spinal cord in rats. Against 125I-toxin, the dose-ascent curve of labelled toxoid was shifted by a factor of 3-5 to higher concentrations, whereas the ascent of the labelled binding fragments was at least 50-100 times less. The binding fragments also differed from tetanus toxin by their very low affinity to rat brain membranes buffered to pH 7.5 in saline, but were equivalent with the toxin in buffer of low molarity and low pH. We conclude that additional parts of the toxin molecule have to complement the binding domain for expression of the full binding and transport characteristics of the toxin.