title: Enhancement of cell-mediated cytotoxicity by Clostridium difficile toxin A: an in vitro study.
abstract: Cells from the immune system exhibiting cytotoxic activity are able to kill tumor or infected cells in a major histocompatibility complex-restricted (cytotoxic lymphocytes) or non-restricted (natural killer cells) manner. In order to exert such a cytotoxicity they have to bind the target cell and release cytotoxic factors able to induce target cell death. Treatment of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells with toxin A from Clostridium difficile induced an enhancement of the cytotoxic efficiency of these effector cells. Morphological analysis of effector/target cell pairs seems to suggest that this could be related to an increased ability of cytotoxic effectors to establish close and intertwined contacts with target cells. These contacts involve adhesion molecules and lead to the formation of a "closed chamber" which probably improves the efficacy of lytic factors and results in an increased cytotoxicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrastructures, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Malorni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paradisi
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Dupuis
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fiorentini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramoni
mesh_terms: D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002460:Cell Line; D016360:Clostridioides difficile; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D004768:Enterotoxins; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; C041348:tcdA protein, Clostridium difficile