Beta-toxin is one of the lethal toxins of Clostridium perfringens. It shares sequence homology with the pore-forming alpha-toxin of Staphylococcus aureus and structural homology has been indicated by mutagenesis studies. Human endothelial cells are sensitive to the toxic effect of alpha-toxin and in order to investigate the function of beta-toxin we have looked at the effect of the protein on h...

The past three years have shed light on how the pore-forming toxin aerolysin binds to its target cell and then hijacks cellular devices to promote its own polymerization and pore formation. This selective permeabilization of the plasma membrane has unexpected intracellular consequences that might explain the importance of aerolysin in Aeromonas pathogenicity.

ε-Toxin is a pore forming toxin produced by Clostridium perfringens types B and D. It is synthesized as a less active prototoxin form that becomes fully active upon proteolytic activation. The toxin produces highly lethal enterotoxaemia in ruminants, has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and specifically binds to myelinated fibers. We discovered that the toxin induced a release...

Clostridium perfringens beta-toxin is a key mediator of necrotizing enterocolitis and enterotoxemia. It is a pore-forming toxin (PFT) that exerts cytotoxic effect. Experimental investigation using piglet and rabbit intestinal loop models and a mouse infection model apparently showed that beta-toxin is the important pathogenic factor of the organisms. The toxin caused the swelling and disruption...

We have cloned cDNAs for the shaker potassium channel gene from the spiny lobster Panulirus interruptus. As previously found in Drosophila, there is alternative splicing at the 5' and 3' ends of the coding region. However, in Panulirus shaker, alternative splicing also occurs within the pore-forming region of the protein. Three different splice variants were found within the P region, two of wh...

Cleavage of membrane-associated proteins with the release of biologically active macromolecules is an emerging theme in biology. However, little is known about the nature and regulation of the involved proteases or about the physiological inducers of the shedding process. We here report that rapid and massive shedding of the interleukin 6 receptor (IL-6R) and the lipopolysaccharide receptor (CD...

Many bacterial pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, use a variety of pore-forming toxins as important virulence factors. Staphylococcal alpha-toxin, a prototype beta-barrel pore-forming toxin, triggers the release of proinflammatory mediators and induces primarily necrotic death in susceptible cells. However, whether host factors released in response to staphylococcal infections may incr...

BACKGROUND/AIM Cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs) are pore-forming toxins from Gram-positive bacteria. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of a CDC, intermedilysin, as a drug-delivery system (DDS) for clinical application. MATERIALS AND METHODS Intermedilysin was modified by the addition of a disulfide bridge to regulate pore formation, by swapping domain 4 to provide ...

A chimeric protein (N-PYP-Hla), consisting of staphylococcal pore-forming toxin α-hemolysin (Hla) and photoactive yellow protein (PYP), exhibited photoresponsive hemolytic activities, where visible light irradiation gave rise to retardation of hemolysis at 25 °C.

Objective(s): Current therapeutic strategies for cancer are associated with side effects and lack of specificity in treatments. Biological therapies including monoclonal antibodies and immune effectors have been the subject of multiple research projects. Pore-forming proteins may become the other biological strategy to overcome the problems associated with current treatments. But detailed mecha...