title: Bacterial protein toxins and lipids: role in toxin targeting and activity.
abstract: All bacterial toxins, which globally are hydrophilic proteins, interact first with their target cells by recognizing a surface receptor, which is either a lipid or a lipid derivative, or another compound but in a lipid environment. Intracellular active toxins follow various trafficking pathways, the sorting of which is greatly dependent on the nature of the receptor, notably lipidic receptor or receptor embedded into a distinct environment such as lipid microdomains. Numerous other toxins act locally on cell membrane. Indeed, phospholipase activity is a common mechanism shared by several membrane-damaging toxins. In addition, many toxins active intracellularly or on cell membrane modulate host cell phospholipid pathways. Unusually, a few bacterial toxins require a lipid post-translational modification to be active. Thereby, lipids are obligate partners of bacterial toxins.
authors.affiliation: Unité des Bactéries Anaérobies et Toxines, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
authors.forename: Blandine
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Geny
authors.forename: Michel R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Popoff
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000378:metabolism; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000502:physiology; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000378:metabolism; D010740:Phospholipases / Q000378:metabolism; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000502:physiology; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D010743:Phospholipids; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D010740:Phospholipases