Biogenesis of the Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Cytolethal Distending Toxin Holotoxin

Introns in the cytolethal distending toxin gene of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans.

In eukaryotic cells, genes are interrupted by intervening sequences called introns. Introns are transcribed as part of a precursor RNA that is subsequently removed by splicing, giving rise to mature mRNA. However, introns are rarely found in bacteria. Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a periodontal pathogen implicated in aggressive forms of periodontal disease. This organism has been show...

Distending Toxin Cytolethal A. actinomycetemcomitans

Biogenesis of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Cdt holotoxin

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans cytolethal distending toxin (Cdt): evidence that the holotoxin is composed of three subunits: CdtA, CdtB, and CdtC.

We have shown the Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans produces an immunosuppressive factor encoded by the cytolethal distending toxin (cdt)B gene, which is homologous to a family of Cdts expressed by several Gram-negative bacteria. We now report that the capacity for CdtB to induce G(2) arrest in Jurkat cells is greater in the presence of the other Cdt peptides: CdtA and CdtC. Plasmids contain...

Characterization of point mutations in the cdtA gene of the cytolethal distending toxin of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans.

The Cdt is a family of gram-negative bacterial toxins that typically arrest eukaryotic cells in the G0/G1 or G2/M phase of the cell cycle. The toxin is a heterotrimer composed of the cdtA, cdtB and cdtC gene products. Although it has been shown that the CdtA protein subunit binds to cells in culture and in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CELISA) the precise mechanisms by which CdtA intera...