title: Potent membrane-permeabilizing and cytocidal action of Vibrio cholerae cytolysin on human intestinal cells.
abstract: Many strains of Vibrio cholerae non-O1 and O1 El Tor that cause diarrhea do not harbor genes for a known secretogenic toxin. However, these strains usually elaborate a pore-forming toxin, hitherto characterized as a hemolysin and here designated V. cholerae cytolysin, whose action on intestinal cells has not yet been described. We report that V. cholerae cytolysin binds as a monomer to Intestine 407 cells and then assembles into detergent-stable oligomers that probably represent tetra- or pentamers. Oligomer formation is accompanied by generation of small transmembrane pores that allow rapid flux of K+ but not influx of Ca2+ or propidium iodide. Pore formation is followed by irreversible ATP depletion and cell death. Binding of fewer than 10(4) toxin molecules per cell in vitro is lethal. The possibility is raised that production of this toxin by bacteria that are in close contact with intestinal cells is rapidly cytocidal in vivo, and death of intestinal cells may be a cause of diarrhea.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Microbiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zitzer
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Wassenaar
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Walev
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhakdi
mesh_terms: D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017136:Ion Transport / Q000187:drug effects; D009685:Nuclear Envelope / Q000187:drug effects; D014734:Vibrio cholerae
chemical_list: D003603:Cytotoxins