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Inhibitory effect of totarol on exotoxin proteins hemolysin and enterotoxins secreted by Staphylococcus aureus

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Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) causes a wide variety of infections, which are of major concern worldwide. S. aureus produces multiple virulence factors, resulting in food infection and poisoning. These virulence factors include hyaluronidases, proteases, coagulases, lipases, deoxyribonucleases and enterotoxins. Among the extracellular proteins produced by S. aureus that contribute to pathogenicity, the exotoxins α-hemolysin, staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) are thought to be of major significance. Totarol, a plant extract, has been revealed to inhibit the proliferation of several pathogens effectively. However, there are no reports on the effects of totarol on the production of α-hemolysin, SEA or SEB secreted by S. aureus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of totarol on these three exotoxins. Hemolysis assay, western blotting and real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR assay were performed to identify the influence of graded subinhibitory concentrations of totarol on the production of α-hemolysin and the two major enterotoxins, SEA and SEB, by S. aureus in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay showed that the TNF-α production of RAW264.7 cells stimulated by S. aureus supernatants was inhibited by subinhibitory concentrations of totarol. Form the data, we propose that totarol could potentially be used as a promising natural compound in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support for this work came from the following sources: the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 31271951 and No. 31172364), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2013M530142), the Important National Science and Technology Specific Projects (2012ZX10003002), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-09-0434; NCET-13-0245).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Quality and Safety, Jilin University, Changchun, 130062, People’s Republic of China

    Ce Shi, Xingchen Zhao, Wenli Li, Zonghui Liu, Na Guo & Lu Yu

  2. Jilin Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Changchun, 130062, People’s Republic of China

    Rizeng Meng

  3. Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, People’s Republic of China

    Mingyuan Liu

Authors
  1. Ce Shi
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  2. Xingchen Zhao
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  3. Wenli Li
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  4. Rizeng Meng
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  5. Zonghui Liu
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  6. Mingyuan Liu
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  7. Na Guo
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  8. Lu Yu
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Correspondence to Na Guo.

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Shi, C., Zhao, X., Li, W. et al. Inhibitory effect of totarol on exotoxin proteins hemolysin and enterotoxins secreted by Staphylococcus aureus . World J Microbiol Biotechnol 31, 1565–1573 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-015-1905-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-015-1905-3

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