Interfakultäres Institut für Mikrobiologie und Infektionsmedizin, Lehrbereich Mikrobielle Genetik, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Waldhäuser Str. 70/8, Tübingen, Germany.
FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2013 Mar;340(2):73-85. doi: 10.1111/1574-6968.12074. Epub 2013 Jan 24.
Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are small genetic elements found on plasmids or chromosomes of countless bacteria, archaea, and possibly also unicellular fungi. Under normal growth conditions, the activity of the toxin protein or its translation is counteracted by an antitoxin protein or noncoding RNA. Five types of TA systems have been proposed that differ markedly in their genetic architectures and modes of activity control. Subtle regulatory properties, frequently responsive to environmental cues, impact the behavior of TA systems. Typically, stress conditions result in the degradation or depletion of the antitoxin. Unleashed toxin proteins impede or alter cellular processes including translation, DNA replication, or ATP or cell wall synthesis. TA toxin activity can then result in cell death or in the formation of drug-tolerant persister cells. The versatile properties of TA systems have also been exploited in biotechnology and may aid in combating infectious diseases.
毒素-抗毒素 (TA) 系统是在无数细菌、古菌的质粒或染色体上发现的小型遗传元件，可能也存在于单细胞真菌中。在正常生长条件下，毒素蛋白的活性或其翻译被抗毒素蛋白或非编码 RNA 所抵消。已经提出了五种类型的 TA 系统，它们在遗传结构和活性控制方式上有显著差异。微妙的调节特性，经常对环境信号做出响应，影响 TA 系统的行为。通常，应激条件会导致抗毒素的降解或耗尽。释放的毒素蛋白会阻碍或改变细胞过程，包括翻译、DNA 复制或 ATP 或细胞壁合成。TA 毒素的活性随后可能导致细胞死亡或形成对药物有耐受性的持久细胞。TA 系统的多功能特性也已在生物技术中得到利用，并可能有助于对抗传染病。
