Membrane Permeabilization by Bordetella Adenylate Cyclase Toxin Involves Pores of Tunable Size.

ABSTRACT: RTX (Repeats in ToXin) pore-forming toxins constitute an expanding family of exoproteins secreted by many Gram-negative bacteria and involved in infectious diseases caused by said pathogens. Despite the relevance in the host/pathogen interactions, the structure and characteristics of the lesions formed by these toxins remain enigmatic. Here, we capture the first direct nanoscale pictures of lytic pores formed by an RTX toxin, the Adenylate cyclase (ACT), secreted by the whooping cough bacterium Bordetella pertussis. We reveal that ACT associates into growing-size oligomers of variable stoichiometry and heterogeneous architecture (lines, arcs, and rings) that pierce the membrane, and that, depending on the incubation time and the toxin concentration, evolve into large enough "holes" so as t

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Bullon D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6572617 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature