title: To translocate or not: that is the problem.
abstract: The botulinum toxins (BoNTs) enter the cytosol of host cells by translocation across the limiting membrane of acidic endosomes. In this issue, Sun et al. (2011) show that BoNT binding to one of its cell surface receptors renders it susceptible to pH-dependent conformational changes required for translocation and cellular toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, MA 02115, USA. wayne.lencer@childrens.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Wayne I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Lencer
authors.forename: Rodney K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Tweten