title: mazEF: a chromosomal toxin-antitoxin module that triggers programmed cell death in bacteria.
abstract: mazEF is a toxin-antitoxin module located on the Escherichia coli chromosome and that of some other bacteria, including pathogens. mazF specifies for a stable toxin, MazF, and mazE specifies for a labile antitoxin, MazE, that antagonizes MazF. MazF is a sequence-specific mRNA endoribonuclease that initiates a programmed cell death pathway in response to various stresses. The mazEF-mediated death pathway can act as a defense mechanism that prevents the spread of bacterial phage infection, allowing bacterial populations to behave like multicellular organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. hanita@cc.huji.ac.il
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Engelberg-Kulka
authors.forename: Ronen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hazan
authors.forename: Shahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amitai
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000378:metabolism; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004722:Endoribonucleases; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C422954:MazE protein, E coli; C422955:MazF protein, E coli; D004722:Endoribonucleases