Shigella enterotoxin-2 is a type III effector that participates in Shigella-induced interleukin 8 secretion by epithelial cells.

We have previously described a protein termed Shigella enterotoxin 2 (ShET-2), which induces rises in short-circuit current in rabbit ileum mounted in the Ussing chamber. Published reports have postulated that ShET-2 may be secreted by the Shigella type III secretion system (T3SS). In this study, we show that ShET-2 secretion into the extracellular space requires the T3SS in Shigella flexneri 2a strain 2457T and a ShET-2-TEM fusion was translocated into epithelial cells in a T3SS-dependent manner. The ShET-2 gene, sen, is encoded downstream of the ospC1 gene of S. flexneri, and we show that sen is cotranscribed with this T3SS-secreted product. Considering that T3SS effectors have diverse roles in Shigella infection and that vaccine constructs lacking ShET-2 are attenuated in volunteers, we asked whether ShET-2 has a function other than its enterotoxic activity. We constructed a ShET-2 mutant in 2457T and tested its effect on epithelial cell invasion, plaque formation, guinea pig keratoconjunctivitis and interleukin 8 (IL-8) secretion from infected monolayers. Although other phenotypes were not different compared with the wild-type parent, we found that HEp-2 and T84 cells infected with the ShET-2 mutant exhibited significantly reduced IL-8 secretion into the basolateral compartment, suggesting that ShET-2 might participate in the Shigella-induced inflammation of epithelial cells.