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Thermal stability and structural changes in bacterial toxins responsible for food poisoning

Regenthal, Paulina LU ; Söndergaard Hansen, Jesper LU ; André, Ingemar LU orcid and Lindkvist-Petersson, Karin LU (2017) In PLoS ONE 12(2).
Abstract

The staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) are secreted by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and are the most common causative agent in staphylococcal food poisoning. The staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) has been associated with large staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks, but newer identified SEs, like staphylococcal enterotoxin H (SEH) has recently been shown to be present at similar levels as SEA in food poisoning outbreaks. Thus, we set out to investigate the thermo-stability of the three-dimensional structures of SEA, SEH and staphylococcal enterotoxin E (SEE), since heat inactivation is a common method to inactivate toxins during food processing. Interestingly, the investigated toxins behaved distinctly different upon heating. SEA... (More)

The staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) are secreted by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and are the most common causative agent in staphylococcal food poisoning. The staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) has been associated with large staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks, but newer identified SEs, like staphylococcal enterotoxin H (SEH) has recently been shown to be present at similar levels as SEA in food poisoning outbreaks. Thus, we set out to investigate the thermo-stability of the three-dimensional structures of SEA, SEH and staphylococcal enterotoxin E (SEE), since heat inactivation is a common method to inactivate toxins during food processing. Interestingly, the investigated toxins behaved distinctly different upon heating. SEA and SEE were more stable at slightly acidic pH values, while SEH adopted an extremely stable structure at neutral pH, with almost no effects on secondary structural elements upon heating to 95°C, and with reversible formation of tertiary structure upon subsequent cooling to room temperature. Taken together, the data suggests that the family of staphylococcal enterotoxins have different ability to withstand heat, and thus the exact profile of heat inactivation for all SEs causing food poisoning needs to be considered to improve food safety.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Journal Article
in
PLoS ONE
volume
12
issue
2
article number
e0172445
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:28207867
  • scopus:85013073466
  • wos:000394424500138
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0172445
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d7f4ba54-37da-46c8-aba4-70fd5dafb1f4
date added to LUP
2017-02-20 12:41:41
date last changed
2024-04-14 05:53:42
@article{d7f4ba54-37da-46c8-aba4-70fd5dafb1f4,
  abstract     = {{<p>The staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) are secreted by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and are the most common causative agent in staphylococcal food poisoning. The staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) has been associated with large staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks, but newer identified SEs, like staphylococcal enterotoxin H (SEH) has recently been shown to be present at similar levels as SEA in food poisoning outbreaks. Thus, we set out to investigate the thermo-stability of the three-dimensional structures of SEA, SEH and staphylococcal enterotoxin E (SEE), since heat inactivation is a common method to inactivate toxins during food processing. Interestingly, the investigated toxins behaved distinctly different upon heating. SEA and SEE were more stable at slightly acidic pH values, while SEH adopted an extremely stable structure at neutral pH, with almost no effects on secondary structural elements upon heating to 95°C, and with reversible formation of tertiary structure upon subsequent cooling to room temperature. Taken together, the data suggests that the family of staphylococcal enterotoxins have different ability to withstand heat, and thus the exact profile of heat inactivation for all SEs causing food poisoning needs to be considered to improve food safety.</p>}},
  author       = {{Regenthal, Paulina and Söndergaard Hansen, Jesper and André, Ingemar and Lindkvist-Petersson, Karin}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  keywords     = {{Journal Article}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Thermal stability and structural changes in bacterial toxins responsible for food poisoning}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172445}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0172445}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}