Intracellular Traffic and Transport of Bacterial Protein Toxins

Dear Colleagues,

Bacterial protein toxins which act as enzymes in the cytosol of mammalian cells are the causative agents for a variety of severe human and animals diseases. Significant progress was made in understanding the cellular uptake, the intracellular traffic of bacterial toxins and their interaction with host cell factors including chaperones and folding helper enzymes during transport of their enzymatic active subunits across intracellular membranes into the host cell cytosol. However, for many toxins their cellular receptors as well as the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying their membrane translocation are still not known. Since uptake into the cytosol of target cells is essential for the cytotoxic mode of action of most medically relevant toxins, a targeted pharmacological inhibition of toxin uptake into cells could result in novel therapeutic strategies against toxin-associated diseases. On the other hand, non-toxic portions of bacterial toxins can serve as "Molecular Trojan Horses" for efficient delivery of therapeutic molecules into target cells.

This special issue of Toxins covers new findings about the intracellular traffic and transport of bacterial protein toxins as well as their pharmacological exploitations.

Prof. Dr. Holger Barth
Guest Editor

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