title: Shiga toxin: purification, structure, and function.
abstract: Shiga toxin is a potent toxin produced by Shigella dysenteriae type 1 strains. The toxin has three biologic activities--cytotoxicity, enterotoxicity, and neurotoxicity--and one known biochemical effect: inhibition of protein synthesis. It consists of two polypeptide chains, an A chain (molecular weight, 32,225) and a B chain (molecular weight, 7,691). These two peptides associate with a stoichiometry of one A and five B subunits to form the holotoxin. The A chain is responsible for the biochemical effect of the holotoxin: cleavage of the N-glycosidic bond of adenine at nucleotide position 4324 in the 28S rRNA of the 60S ribosomal subunit. The B chain mediates binding of toxin to cell surface receptors. Shiga toxin is the prototype of a family of toxin molecules that have been termed Shiga-like in terms of both structural and functional analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02111.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donohue-Rolfe
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Acheson
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Keusch
mesh_terms: D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D022603:Shiga Toxins; D012762:Shigella dysenteriae; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003603:Cytotoxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D022603:Shiga Toxins