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Staphylococcal β-barrel Pore-Forming Toxins: Mushrooms That Breach the Greasy Barrier

  • Chapter
Electrophysiology of Unconventional Channels and Pores

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Biophysics ((BIOPHYSICS,volume 18))

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus exhibits a myriad of virulence elements, including β-barrel pore-forming toxins (β-PFTs). The primary mission of these protein toxins is to destroy the physical and chemical gradients across the membrane of the targeted cell by generating well-defined transmembrane pores, ultimately causing the cell death. Such a form of biomolecular attack is a ubiquitous membrane-perforation mechanism in numerous organisms, including bacterial systems and eukaryotes. One unusual commonality of the β-PFTs is their amphipathic nature, enabling sophisticated conformational alterations that are required for their transit from the secreting to attacked cell. Intriguingly enough, proteinaceous toxins are secreted as a hydrophilic form. Then, they must navigate within the aqueous phase between the two cells and ultimately breach the hydrophobic barrier posed by the susceptible cell membrane. The archetype of these non-enzymatic staphylococcal β-PFTs is the homoheptameric α-hemolysin (αHL) protein. Moreover, S. aureus has the ability to secrete up to four heteromeric, bi-component β-PFTs. Although the homomeric and heteromeric β-PFTs are related in sequence, homology, and structure, they demonstrate distinct biophysical features.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to members of the Movileanu laboratory for their constructive comments. We realized the challenging nature of writing a chapter about a β-barrel toxin that has transformed the area of nanopore biophysics. Therefore, we regret that due to space limitations we were unable to introduce all exciting publications pertinent to this field. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Grant GM088403 (to L.M.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Syracuse University, 201 Physics Building, Syracuse, NY, 13244-1130, USA

    Jack Fredrick Gugel & Liviu Movileanu

  2. Structural Biology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics Program, Syracuse University, 111 College Place, Syracuse, NY, 13244-4100, USA

    Liviu Movileanu

  3. The Syracuse Biomaterials Institute, Syracuse University, 121 Link Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Liviu Movileanu

Authors
  1. Jack Fredrick Gugel
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  2. Liviu Movileanu
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Correspondence to Liviu Movileanu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Anne H. Delcour

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Gugel, J.F., Movileanu, L. (2015). Staphylococcal β-barrel Pore-Forming Toxins: Mushrooms That Breach the Greasy Barrier. In: Delcour, A.H. (eds) Electrophysiology of Unconventional Channels and Pores. Springer Series in Biophysics, vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20149-8_10

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