Reduced pH causes structural changes in the potent mitogenic toxin of Pasteurella multocida

Pasteurella multocida toxin is a potent mitogen that is believed to act intracellularly. On transverse urea gradient gels at pH 8.0 the toxin displayed one major unfolding transition at 4 M urea. However, at pH 6.1 the unfolding transition took place at 3.5 M urea. Circular dichroism spectra also indicated that a structural change took place at acidic pH. In addition it was found that the toxin that had been denatured in 8 M urea refolded in solution with a high recovery of biological activity. These findings are discussed in terms of the likely domain structure of the P. multocida toxin.