Pore-forming proteins and peptides are ubiquitous in living organisms. They play a central role in bacterial pathogenesis, immune response, venomous attack and innate immunity, by which means they are used to attack and eliminate other organisms. They have the extraordinary property of having two stable structural states. One corresponds to the secreted, soluble, diffusible, and usually monomeric form. The other, adopted only upon cellular attack, is a membrane inserted, channel shaped, and usually oligomeric form. Since membrane insertion is self-assisted and does not require a chaperon or dedicated protein machinery, these molecules represent a gold mine for biochemists and biophysicists interested in the molecular steps leading to membrane insertion and channel formation. As self-assembling entities, capable of punching holes of well-defined size in a lipid membrane, they have found a wealth of applications ranging from cell controlled permeabilisation to intracellular drug delivery, and from the creation of chimeric antitumoral immunotoxins to the preparation of sophisticated elements for biosensors of metal ions or genetic material. Pore-forming Peptides and Protein Toxins provides an essential source of information for graduate students and academic and industrial researchers in the fields of biochemistry, biophysics, toxicology and the pharmaceutical sciences.
Author(s): Gianfranco Menestrina, M. Dalla Sera
Series: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxic Action
Edition: 1
Publisher: CRC Press
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 348
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
1 Staphylococcal bicomponent leucotoxins, mechanism of action, impact on cells and contribution to virulence......Page 36
2 The formation of ion-permeable channels by RTX-toxins in lipid bilayer membranes: basis for their biological activity......Page 60
3 Properties of the monomeric and the pentameric Pseudomonas cytotoxin......Page 82
4 Helicobacter pylori vacuolating toxin VacA: channel-forming properties and cell intoxication......Page 93
5 Delta-endotoxin mode of action......Page 109
6 Functional studies of helix......Page 123
7 Colicin channels and protein translocation......Page 135
8 Actinoporins, pore-forming toxins of sea anemones (Actiniaria)......Page 165
9 Structural and charge requirements for antimicrobial peptide......Page 184
10 Pardaxins – pore-forming neurotoxins as pharmacological tools in dissecting neurotransmitter exocytosis and neurotoxicity......Page 211
11 Cecropin–melittin hybrid peptides as versatile templates in the development of membrane-active antibiotic agents......Page 242
12 The syringomycins......Page 293
13 Molecular mechanisms of action of syringopeptins, antifungal peptides from Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae......Page 305
14 The role of amyloid peptide channels in amyloid disease......Page 329
Index......Page 342
