Cytotoxicity of Vibrio vulnificus Cytolysin on Rat Neutrophils

Cytolysin produced by Vibrio vulnificus has been known to be lethal to mice by increasing vascular permeability and neutrophil sequestration in the lung. In the present study, a cytotoxic mechanism of V. vulnificus cytolysin on the neutrophil was investigated. Cytolysin rapidly bound to neutrophils and induced cell death, as determined by the trypan blue exclusion test. V. vulnificus cytolysin caused the depletion of cellular ATP without the release of ATP or lactate dehydrogenase. Formation of transmembrane pores was evidenced by the rapid efflux of potassium and 2-deoxy-D-[³H]glucose from cytolysin-treated neutrophils. It was further confirmed by the rapid flow of monovalent ions in the patch clamp of cytolysin-treated neutrophil membrane. The pore formation was accompanied by the oligomerization of cytolysin monomers on the neutrophil membrane as demonstrated by immunoblot, which exhibited a 210 kDa band corresponding to a tetramer of the native cytolysin of M_r 51,000. These findings indicate that V. vulnificus cytolysin rapidly binds to the neutrophil membrane and oligomerizes to form small transmembrane pores, which induce the efflux of potassium and the depletion of cellular ATP leading to cell death without cytolysis.