An assay for toxicity testing of type C β-toxin.

Introduction: Veterinary vaccines against type C need to be tested for absence of toxicity, as mandated by pharmacopoeias worldwide. This toxicity testing is required at multiple manufacturing steps and relies on outdated mouse tests that involve severe animal suffering. type C produces several toxins of which the β-toxin is the primary component responsible for causing disease.

Shortening the Lipid A Acyl Chains of Enables Depletion of Lipopolysaccharide Endotoxic Activity.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Whole-cell vaccines, which were introduced in the fifties of the previous century and proved to be effective, showed considerable reactogenicity and were replaced by subunit vaccines around the turn of the century. However, there is a considerable increase in the number of cases in industrialized countries. A possible strategy to improve vaccine-induced protection is the development of new, non-toxic, whole-cell pertussis vaccines.