Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The symptoms of C. difficile infection are primarily caused by two toxins, toxin A and toxin B. Some strains produce a third known toxin, C. difficile transferase (CDT) toxin; however, its role in virulence remains unclear. I aimed to develop synthetic antibodies using phage display technology to block toxin entry by binding to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the toxins. I first described the generation of anti-toxin A and anti-toxin B Fabs. I presented Fab A3, which bound to the full-length toxin, but did not functionally inhibit toxin entry. In chapter 2, I described the generation of novel anti-CDTb antibodies. I further demonstrated that five of the anti-CDTb antibodies could functionally inhibit CDTb binding in an ELISA-based assay and on cultured cells. These antibodies can be used as tools to understand the toxins’ role in human disease and potentially be used as therapeutics.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Sylvia Wong
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2564596540