Digalactosyl-containing glycolipids as cell surface receptors for shiga toxin of Shigella dysenteriae 1 and related cytotoxins of Escherichia coli.

Purified glycolipids containing galactose-alpha(1-4)galactose bind with Shiga toxin of Shigella dysenteriae 1 and Shiga-like toxins of Escherichia coli with high specificity in both thin-layer chromatograms and glycolipid-coated microtiter plates. These glycolipids appear to be the natural cell surface receptors for this class of bacterial toxins since artificial glycoconjugates block cytotoxicity as well as binding of 125I-labeled toxin. Cell lines lacking these glycolipids are refractory to toxin action. Assays in which synthetic glycoconjugates and purified glycolipids are used as capture reagents have been developed for the detection of the toxins.