Damage of eukaryotic cells by the pore-forming toxin sticholysin II: Consequences of the potassium efflux.
Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) form holes in membranes causing one of the most catastrophic damages to a target cell. Target organisms have evolved a regulated response against PFTs damage including cell membrane repair. This ability of cells strongly depends on the toxin concentration and the properties of the pores. It has been hypothesized that there is an inverse correlation between the size of the pores and the time required to repair the membrane, which has been for long a non-intuitive concept and far to be completely understood. Moreover, there is a lack of information about how cells react to the injury triggered by eukaryotic PFTs. Here, we investigated some molecular events related with eukaryotic cells response against the membrane damage caused by sticholysin II (StII), a eukaryotic PFT produced by a sea anemone. We evaluated the change in the cytoplasmic potassium, identified the main MAPK pathways activated after pore-formation by StII, and compared its effect with those from two well-studied bacterial PFTs: aerolysin and listeriolysin O (LLO). Strikingly, we found that membrane recovery upon StII damage takes place in a time scale similar to LLO in spite of the fact that they form pores by far different in size. Furthermore, our data support a common role of the potassium ion, as well as MAPKs in the mechanism that cells use to cope with these toxins injury.
Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, Havana University, Street 25 # 455, CP 10400, Havana, Cuba. Electronic address: sheilacabezas@gmail.com.
Sheila
S
Cabezas
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Global Health Institution, Faculty of Life Sciences, Station 15, CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: sylvia.ho@epfl.ch.
Sylvia
S
Ho
Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, Havana University, Street 25 # 455, CP 10400, Havana, Cuba; Interfakultäres Institut für Biochemie, Universität Tübingen, Hoppe Seyler Strasse, 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany. Electronic address: uris.ros@ifib.uni-tuebingen.de.
Uris
U
Ros
Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, Havana University, Street 25 # 455, CP 10400, Havana, Cuba. Electronic address: mlanio@fbio.uh.cu.
María E
ME
Lanio
Center for Protein Studies, Faculty of Biology, Havana University, Street 25 # 455, CP 10400, Havana, Cuba. Electronic address: calvarez@fbio.uh.cu.
Carlos
C
Alvarez
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Global Health Institution, Faculty of Life Sciences, Station 15, CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: gisou.vandergoot@epfl.ch.
F Gisou
FG
van der Goot
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003064:Cnidarian Venoms / Q000633:toxicity*; D006224:Cricetinae; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000187:drug effects; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins / Q000633:toxicity*; D011188:Potassium / Q000378:metabolism*; D012615:Sea Anemones / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000502:physiology
D003064:Cnidarian Venoms; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; C404794:sticholysin II; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D011188:Potassium
Cell damage; Membrane recovery; Pore-forming toxins; Potassium efflux; Sticholysin