Clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lacking the type III secretion system genes employ a toxin, exolysin (ExlA), for host cell membrane disruption. Here, we demonstrated that ExlA export requires a predicted outer membrane protein, ExlB, showing that ExlA and ExlB define a new active two-partner secretion (TPS) system of P. aeruginosa In addition to the TPS signals, ExlA harbors several ...

The use of pore-forming toxins in the construction of immunotoxins against tumour cells is an alternative for cancer therapy. In this protein family one of the most potent toxins are the actinoporins, cytolysins from sea anemones. We work on the construction of tumour proteinase-activated immunotoxins using sticholysin I (StI), an actinoporin isolated from the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianth...

Clostridium perfringens delta-toxin is a β-pore-forming toxin and a putative pathogenic agent of C. perfringens types B and C. However, the mechanism of cytotoxicity of delta-toxin remains unclear. Here, we investigated the mechanisms of cell death induced by delta-toxin in five cell lines (A549, A431, MDCK, Vero, and Caco-2). All cell lines were susceptible to delta-toxin. The toxin caused rap...

The structurally well-characterized scorpion toxin Agitoxin2 inhibits ion permeation through Shaker K+ channels by binding to the external pore entryway. Scanning mutagenesis identified a set of inhibitor residues critical for making energetic contacts with the channel. Using thermodynamic mutant cycle analysis, we have mapped channel residues relative to the known inhibitor structure. This stu...

Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of community-acquired and nosocomial infections including the life-threatening conditions endocarditis, necrotizing pneumonia, necrotizing fasciitis, and septicemia. Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2, a membrane-bound microbial sensor, detects staphylococcal components, but macrophages lacking TLR2 or both TLR2 and TLR4 remain S. aureus responsive, suggesting tha...

BACKGROUND Group B Streptococcus (GBS) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) are leading causes of bacterial meningitis in neonates and children. Each pathogen produces a pore-forming cytolytic toxin, β-hemolysin/cytolysin (β-h/c) by GBS and pneumolysin by SP. The aim of this study was to understand the role of these pore-forming cytotoxins, in particular of the GBS β-h/c, as potential neurotoxins ...