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Structure Function Studies of Large Clostridial Cytotoxins

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Microbial Toxins

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI))

Abstract

The large clostridial toxins (LCTs) are a group of homologous, high molecular weight proteins that include toxin A and toxin B from Clostridium difficile (TcdA and TcdB), the lethal and hemorrhagic toxins from C. sordellii (TcsL and TcsH), α-toxin from C. novyi (Tcnα), and a large cytotoxin from C. perfringens (TpeL). The LCTs share a glycosyltransferase enzymatic activity that results in the inactivation of specific Rho and Ras GTPases, essential signaling proteins and regulators within eukaryotic cells. The importance of these toxins in the context of disease has led many to apply structural and functional approaches to the understanding of LCT mechanism.

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Acknowledgments

Work in the Lacy laboratory is supported by United States Department of Veterans Affairs Award BX002943, Public Health Service grant AI095755 from the National Institutes of Health, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund through an Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Fellowship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical and Physical Biology Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Joseph W. Alvin

  2. Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, A-5301 Medical Center North, 1161 21st Avenue South, 37232-2363, Nashville, TN, USA

    D. Borden Lacy

  3. The Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN, USA

    D. Borden Lacy

Authors
  1. Joseph W. Alvin
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  2. D. Borden Lacy
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Joseph W. Alvin or D. Borden Lacy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, USA

    Brad Stiles

  2. Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine and Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Faculty of Microbiology, University of Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, Costa Rica

    Alberto Alape-Girón

  3. Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada

    J. Daniel Dubreuil

  4. College of Pharmacy, Roseman University of Health Sciences, Henderson, Nevada, USA

    Manas Mandal

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Alvin, J.W., Lacy, D.B. (2018). Structure Function Studies of Large Clostridial Cytotoxins. In: Stiles, B., Alape-Girón, A., Dubreuil, J., Mandal, M. (eds) Microbial Toxins. Toxinology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6449-1_26

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