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Bacterial protein toxins penetrate cells via a four‐step mechanism
Author(s) -
Montecucco Cesare,
Papini Emanuele,
Schiavo Giampietro
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(94)00449-8
Subject(s) - endocytosis , intracellular , cytosol , microbiology and biotechnology , toxin , cell membrane , bacteria , cell , protein subunit , glycoprotein , biology , vesicle , microbial toxins , chemistry , biochemistry , membrane , enzyme , genetics , gene
Bacteria produce several protein toxins that act inside cells. These toxins bind with high affinity to glycolipid or glycoprotein receptors present on the cell surface. Binding is followed by endocytosis and intracellular trafficking inside vesicles. Different toxins enter different intracellular routes, but have the common remarkable property of being able to translocate their catalytic subunit across a membrane into the cytosol. Here, a toxin modifies a specific target with ensuing cell alterations, necessary for the survival and diffusion strategies of the toxin producing bacterium.