International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article Specificity of Escherichia coli Heat-Labile Enterotoxin Investigated by Single-Site Mutagenesis and Crystallography Julie Elisabeth Heggelund 1,†, Joel Benjamin Heim 1, Gregor Bajc 2, Vesna Hodnik 2,3,‡, Gregor Anderluh 3 and Ute Krengel 1,* 1 Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Postbox 1033 Blindern, 0315 Oslo, Norway;
[email protected] (J.E.H.);
[email protected] (J.B.H.) 2 Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;
[email protected] (G.B.);
[email protected] (V.H.) 3 Department of Molecular Biology and Nanobiotechnology, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana; Slovenia;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +47-2285-5461 † Current address: Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, Postbox 1068 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway. ‡ Current address: Lek d.d., Kolodvorska 27, 1234 Mengeš, Slovenia. Received: 28 January 2019; Accepted: 31 January 2019; Published: 6 February 2019 Abstract: Diarrhea caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is one of the leading causes of mortality in children under five years of age and is a great burden on developing countries. The major virulence factor of the bacterium is the heat-labile enterotoxin (LT), a close homologue of the cholera toxin. The toxins bind to carbohydrate receptors in the gastrointestinal tract, leading to toxin uptake and, ultimately, to severe diarrhea. Previously, LT from human- and porcine-infecting ETEC (hLT and pLT, respectively) were shown to have different carbohydrate-binding specificities, in particular with respect to N-acetyllactosamine-terminating glycosphingolipids.