title: Autophagy and toxins: a matter of life or death.
abstract: Bacterial protein toxins are important virulence factors. A particular class of toxins, the pore-form toxins (PFTs), shares the toxigenic mechanism of forming pores in the membrane of target cells. The relationship between autophagy and bacterial PFTs has been described for several toxin-secreting pathogens and in this review we have recapitulated the more recent findings on this issue. A common outcome is that the target cell, by a yet non-completely defined mechanism, senses the toxin attack and builds up complex responses as a protective mechanism for host survival. However, in some cases, this cellular response is beneficial to the microorganism by supplying an intracellular niche or by promoting host-cell death, which facilitates pathogen spreading.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biologia Celular y Molecular- Instituto de Histologia y Embriologia, Facultad de Ciencias Medicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo-CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Mestre
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Colombo
mesh_terms: D001343:Autophagy / Q000235:genetics*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000235:genetics; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006367:HeLa Cells; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D010588:Phagosomes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors