The ε-toxin is produced by Clostridium perfringens types B and D. The amino acid sequences that have been deduced for the toxins in these strains are identical except for one amino acid. Of a variety of tissue culture cells tested only Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells were susceptible to the toxin. In these cells, the toxin caused changes in the actin cytoskeleton. An assay for the ε-toxin, using MDCK cells, has been used to demonstrate the presence of a receptor in rat brain, subsequently shown to be a 26 kDa sialoglycoprotein. The MDCK cell assay was also used to show, with site-directed mutants, that histidine or tryptophan residues do not play a key role in activity of the ε-toxin.
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Payne et al. (1997) studied this question.