Effects of eliminating a disulfide bridge within domain II of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A.

Cysteines 265 and 287 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA) were substituted by serine, thereby eliminating a disulfide bridge within domain II, the putative membrane insertion-translocation domain. Purified mutant toxin was 80-fold less toxic for mouse L cells than was wild-type ETA while retaining the same specific activity in the ADP-ribosyltransferase reaction as did wild-type toxin. Binding of the nonionic detergent Triton X-114 by mutant ETA occurred at a slightly higher pH than did binding by wild-type ETA, suggesting that the mutant protein more readily undergoes a conformational change exposing hydrophobic regions. Data are presented supporting the notion that the mutant and wild-type toxins enter from the same intracellular compartment. The lower cytotoxicity of the mutant protein could be due to accelerated intracellular degradation or abortive, premature membrane insertion.