Detection of a novel campylobacter cytotoxin.

The culture filtrates from 10 Campylobacter species were screened for the presence of cytotoxins on a variety of selected tissue culture cell lines. Some Campylobacter jejuni strains showed no effects on tissue culture cell lines compared with other C. jejuni strains, especially C. jejuni 81116, which consistently produced a cytotoxin that was lethal to tissue culture cells. It was observed that CHO cells were the most sensitive cell line in detecting campylobacter cytotoxins. Samples containing the culture filtrate of C. jejuni 81116 prepared at various growth stages were used to determine the subcellular location of the cytotoxin. This C. jejuni 81116 cytotoxin appears to be a heat-stable toxin that is secreted from the cell during stationary phase; cytotoxin activity can be abolished with proteolytic enzymes.