Study on the pathogenicity of Clostridium perfringens alpha toxin

Alpha toxin is one of the primary pathogenic factors of Clostridium perfringens and is a metalloenzyme with phospholipase C activity. Currently, the pathogenic mechanism of α toxin is not fully understood. The pathogenicity and significance of α toxin in all toxin-type Clostridium perfringens has not been fully studied. The results of circular dichroism spectroscopy of the α toxin protein at different temperatures in this study showed that the molecular structure of the α toxin protein changed at various temperatures, leading to changes in its biological activity. These findings indicate that the molecular structure of α toxin is essential for maintaining its biological activity. Additionally, recombinant proteins of α toxin, β₁ toxin, β₂ toxin and ε toxin were individually cloned and expressed. Simultaneously, recombinant protein immunization experiments and animal challenge experiments were conducted. The significant role of alpha toxin in the pathogenicity of various types of Clostridium perfringens has been established, providing mechanistic insight into α toxin function and the development of genetic engineering subunit vaccines in the future.