CTXφ immunity: Application in the development of cholera vaccines

CTXφ is a filamentous bacteriophage that encodes cholera toxin, the principal virulence factor of Vibrio cholerae. CTXφ is unusual among filamentous phages because it encodes a repressor and forms lysogens. CTXφ can infect the existing live-attenuated V. cholerae vaccine strains derived from either the El Tor or classical V. cholerae biotypes and result in vaccine reversion to toxinogenicity. Intraintestinal CTXφ transduction assays were used to demonstrate that El Tor biotype strains of V. cholerae are immune to infection with the El Tor-derived CTXφ, whereas classical strains are not. The El Tor CTXφ repressor, RstR, was sufficient to render classical strains immune to infection with the El Tor CTXφ. The DNA sequences of the classical and El Tor CTXφ repressors and their presumed cognate operators are highly diverged, whereas the sequences that surround this “immunity” region are nearly identical. Transcriptional fusion studies revealed that the El Tor RstR mediated repression of an El Tor rstA-lacZ fusion but did not repress a classical rstA-lacZ fusion. Likewise, the classical RstR only repressed a classical rstA-lacZ fusion. Thus, similar to the mechanistic basis for heteroimmunity among lambdoid phages, the specificity of CTXφ immunity is based on the divergence of the sequences of repressors and their operators. Expression of the El Tor rstR in either El Tor or classical live-attenuated V. cholerae vaccine strains effectively protected these vaccines from CTXφ infection. Introduction of rstR into V. cholerae vaccine strains should enhance their biosafety.

RhoA GTPase and Serum Response Factor Control Selectively the Expression of MyoD without Affecting Myf5 in Mouse Myoblasts

MyoD and Myf5 belong to the family of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors that are key operators in skeletal muscle differentiation. MyoD and Myf5 genes are selectively activated during development in a time and region-specific manner and in response to different stimuli. However, molecules that specifically regulate the expression of these two genes and the pathways involved remain to be determined. We have recently shown that the serum response factor (SRF), a transcription factor involved in activation of both mitogenic response and muscle differentiation, is required for MyoD gene expression. We have investigated here whether SRF is also involved in the control of Myf5 gene expression, and the potential role of upstream regulators of SRF activity, the Rho family G-proteins including Rho, Rac, and CDC42, in the regulation of MyoD and Myf5. We show that inactivation of SRF does not alter Myf5 gene expression, whereas it causes a rapid extinction of MyoD gene expression. Furthermore, we show that RhoA, but not Rac or CDC42, is also required for the expression of MyoD. Indeed, blocking the activity of G-proteins using the general inhibitor lovastatin, or more specific antagonists of Rho proteins such as C3-transferase or dominant negative RhoA protein, resulted in a dramatic decrease of MyoD protein levels and promoter activity without any effects on Myf5 expression. We further show that RhoA-dependent transcriptional activation required functional SRF in C2 muscle cells. These data illustrate that MyoD and Myf5 are regulated by different upstream activation pathways in which MyoD expression is specifically modulated by a RhoA/SRF signaling cascade. In addition, our results establish the first link between RhoA protein activity and the expression of a key muscle regulator.