Clostridium and Bacillus Binary Enterotoxins: Bad for the Bowels, and Eukaryotic Being

Bradley Stiles (1) , Kisha Pradhan (1) , Jodie Fleming (2) , Ramar Perumal Samy (3, 4) , Holger Barth (5) , Michel Popoff (6)

1 Wilson College
2 North Carolina Central University [Durham]
3 Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine [Singapore]
4 NUS - National University of Singapore
5 Universität Ulm - Ulm University [Ulm, Allemagne]
6 Bactéries anaérobies et Toxines

Some pathogenic spore-forming bacilli employ a binary protein mechanism for intoxicating the intestinal tracts of insects, animals, and humans. These Gram-positive bacteria and their toxins include Clostridium botulinum (C2 toxin), Clostridium difficile (C. difficile toxin or CDT), Clostridium perfringens (ι-toxin and binary enterotoxin, or BEC), Clostridium spiroforme (C. spiroforme toxin or CST), as well as Bacillus cereus (vegetative insecticidal protein or VIP). These gut-acting proteins form an AB complex composed of ADP-ribosyl transferase (A) and cell-binding (B) components that intoxicate cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis and endosomal trafficking. Once inside the cytosol, the A components inhibit normal cell functions by mono-ADP-ribosylation of globular actin, which induces cytoskeletal disarray and death. Important aspects of each bacterium and binary enterotoxin will be highlighted in this review, with particular focus upon the disease process involving the biochemistry and modes of action for each toxin.

Keywords: Clostridium; Bacillus; protein; binary enterotoxin; receptor; actin

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Toxicology

Bradley Stiles, Kisha Pradhan, Jodie Fleming, Ramar Perumal Samy, Holger Barth, et al.. Clostridium and Bacillus Binary Enterotoxins: Bad for the Bowels, and Eukaryotic Being. Toxins, 2014, Special Issue: Enterotoxins: Microbial Proteins and Host Cell Dysregulation, 6 (9), pp.2626 - 2656. ⟨10.3390/toxins6092626⟩. ⟨pasteur-01797042⟩