Structure and Function of Bacterial Toxins and Receptors
A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacterial Toxins".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 170
Special Issue Editors
Interests: bacterial toxin biology; host–pathogen interactions; bacterial pathogenesis
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Pathogenic bacteria harbor a diverse array of bacterial toxins and effector proteins that collectively play a crucial role in bacterial pathogenesis, host–pathogen interactions, and bacterial survival. These virulence factors have a strong affinity towards host cell membranes as well as cell surface receptors. To date, our understanding of the interactions of these virulence factors and their cognate receptors is poor despite substantial progress within the field in receptro identification. Therefore, a better understanding of their molecular structure, step-by-step mechanism of action, and interactions with cellular receptors would provide key insights into both the biology of infection and host defense mechanisms. Over the past decade, rapid advancements in structural biology, particularly cryo-electron microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, and computational modeling, have revolutionized our understanding and ability to visualize these macromolecular bacterial toxins at near-atomic resolution. Due to these rapid developments, we are now able to visualize these bacterial toxins' interactions with larger receptors and lipid membranes at atomic resolution. These structural and functional insights have opened new avenues for therapeutic intervention, vaccine development, and toxin-inspired biotechnological applications.
This Special Issue aims to highlight recent progress in the structural and functional characterization of bacterial toxins and bacterial effector proteins with their cognate receptors. In this Special Issue, we invite original research articles and reviews that focus on the molecular mechanisms and structural features underlying toxin–receptor recognition, conformational dynamics, and the role of the membrane during toxin interactions. Studies employing structural, biochemical, biophysical, cell biology, microbiology, or computational approaches are particularly welcome.
Topics of interest are highlighted below, but are not limited to, the following:
- Structural and functional characterization of bacterial toxins and toxin–receptor complexes;
- Identification of host cell receptors targeted by bacterial toxins and the principles of toxin–receptor recognition;
- Mechanisms of toxin activation, translocation, and cellular entry;
- Evolution and diversity of toxin–receptor interactions;
- Structure-based inhibitor design and neutralization strategies against bacterial toxins, aimed at developing novel therapeutics to combat pathogenic bacteria.
Through this collection, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the structural and functional insights into bacterial toxins, thereby enhancing our understanding of their roles in infection and immunity.
Prof. Dr. Juliane Bubeck Wardenburg
Dr. Somnath Dutta
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- bacterial toxin
- toxin–receptor
- biophysics
- cryo-EM
- cryo-ET
- structure
- conformational dynamics
- membrane
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