We studied membrane activity of the bacterial peptide TisB involved in persister cell formation. TisB and its analogs form multi-state ion-conductive pores in planar lipid bilayers with all states displaying similar anionic selectivity. TisB analogs differing by ±1 elementary charges show corresponding changes in selectivity. Probing TisB pores with poly-(ethylene glycol)s reveals only restrict...

Recombinant fusion proteins are an expanding, important class of novel therapeutic agents. The designs of these constructs typically involve a cell-targeting motif genetically fused to a highly toxic class of enzymes capable of ruthlessly attacking critical cellular machinery once delivered successfully to the cytoplasm of the target cell. Initial development of this class of constructs typical...

Although several bacterial toxins have been prepared in highly purified form (c.f. Pappenheimer,6 Lamanna et al,,' and Pillemer8), comparatively little effort has been made in this direction with the toxins of the gas gangrene organism C. histolyticurm. Weinberg and Seguinll demonstrated that it could be precipitated with ammonium sulfate, and made the observation that ethanol destroys the toxi...

Many bacterial pathogens secrete potent toxins to aid in the destruction of host tissue, to initiate signaling changes in host cells or to manipulate immune system responses during the course of infection. Though methods have been developed to successfully purify and produce many of these important virulence factors, there are still many bacterial toxins whose unique structure or extensive post...

Many bacterial toxins form proteinaceous pores that facilitate the translocation of soluble effector proteins across cellular membranes. With anthrax toxin this process may be monitored in real time by electrophysiology, where fluctuations in ionic current through these pores inserted in model membranes are used to infer the translocation of individual protein molecules. However, detecting the ...

Fluoroquinolones are very important drugs in the clinical antibacterial arsenal; their success is principally due to their mode of action: the stabilisation of a gyrase-DNA intermediate (the cleavage complex), which triggers a chain of events leading to cell death. Microcin B17 (MccB17) is a modified peptide bacterial toxin that acts by a similar mode of action, but is unfortunately unsuitable ...

“V.G. planned experiments, performed experiments, analyzed data and wrote the manuscript; C.C. planned experiments, analyzed data and critically read the manuscript; C.G. planned and performed the ERG experiments, analyzed data and critically read the manuscript; E.N. provided technical support, analyzed data and critically read the manuscript; C.F. provided fundamental reagents and critically ...

It is of interest to define bacterial toxin biochemical properties to use them as molecular-syringe devices in order to deliver enzymatic activities into host cells. Binary toxins of the AB(7/8)-type are among the most potent and specialized bacterial protein toxins. The B subunits oligomerize to form a pore that binds with high affinity host cell receptors and the enzymatic A subunit. This all...

Protein toxins are important virulence factors contributing to neonatal sepsis. The major pathogens of neonatal sepsis, group B Streptococci, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus, secrete toxins of different molecular nature, which are key for defining the disease. Amongst these toxins are pore-forming exotoxins that are expressed as soluble monomers prior to enga...

The interaction of Mtx toxins from Lysinibacillus sphaericus (formerly Bacillus sphaericus) with Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis Cry toxins and the influence of such interactions on Cry-resistance were evaluated in susceptible and Cry-resistant Culex quinquefasciatus larvae. Mtx-1 and Mtx-2 were observed to be active against both susceptible and resistant mosquitoes; however varying l...