Toxins 2010, 2, 632-648; doi:10.3390/toxins2040632 OPEN ACCESS toxins ISSN 2072-6651 www.mdpi.com/journal/toxins Article The Effects of Cholera Toxin on Cellular Energy Metabolism Rachel M. Snider 1, Jennifer R. McKenzie 1, Lewis Kraft 1, Eugene Kozlov 1, John P. Wikswo 2,3 and David E. Cliffel 1,2,* 1 Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, VU Station B. Nashville, TN 37235-1822, USA; E-Mails:
[email protected] (R.S.);
[email protected] (J.M.);
[email protected] (L.K.);
[email protected] (E.K.) 2 Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235-1809, USA; E-Mail:
[email protected] (J.W.) 3 Departments of Physics, Biomedical Engineering, and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235-1809, USA * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-615-343-3937; Fax: +1-615-343-1234. Received: 11 March 2010; in revised form: 31 March 2010 / Accepted: 6 April 2010 / Published: 8 April 2010 Abstract: Multianalyte microphysiometry, a real-time instrument for simultaneous measurement of metabolic analytes in a microfluidic environment, was used to explore the effects of cholera toxin (CTx). Upon exposure of CTx to PC-12 cells, anaerobic respiration was triggered, measured as increases in acid and lactate production and a decrease in the oxygen uptake. We believe the responses observed are due to a CTx-induced activation of adenylate cyclase, increasing cAMP production and resulting in a switch to anaerobic respiration. Inhibitors (H-89, brefeldin A) and stimulators (forskolin) of cAMP were employed to modulate the CTx-induced cAMP responses.