High Mobility Group Box1 Protein Is Involved in Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Induced by Clostridium difficile Toxin A

High Mobility Group Box1 (HMGB1), a damage-associated inflammatory factor, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of numerous chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. In this study, the role of the HMGB1 in TcdA-induced ER stress was identified. Clostridium difficile toxin A is one of the major virulence factors of C. difficile infection (CDI) and has been proved to induce apoptotic cell death through ER stress. Our results showed that HMGB1 might play an important role in the TcdA-induced ER stress and unfolded protein response. HMGB1 activated molecular markers and induced the C/EBP homologous protein upregulation (CHOP). This study may provide the essential information for better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in CDI.