Molecular docking site of a bacterial toxin identified
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - 08:30
in Health & Medicine
Clostridium difficile is a dangerous intestinal bacterium that can cause severe diarrhoea and life-threatening intestinal infections after long-term treatment with antibiotics. The pharmacologists and toxicologists Prof. Dr. Dr. Klaus Aktories and Dr. Panagiotis Papatheodorou from the University of Freiburg have identified the molecular docking site that is responsible for the C. difficile toxin's being able to bind to its receptor on the membrane of the intestinal epithelium. This docking site functions like an elevator, transporting the toxins into the cell's interior. By binding to the surface receptor, the toxins are able to overcome the cell membrane. Once inside the cell, C. difficile exerts its full lethal effect.