Rudkin Justine K, McLoughlin Rachel M, Preston Andrew, Massey Ruth C
School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
PLoS Pathog. 2017 Sep 21;13(9):e1006452. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006452. eCollection 2017 Sep.
The secretion of proteins that damage host tissue is well established as integral to the infectious processes of many bacterial pathogens. However, recent advances in our understanding of the activity of toxins suggest that the attributes we have assigned to them from early in vitro experimentation have misled us into thinking of them as merely destructive tools. Here, we will discuss the multifarious ways in which toxins contribute to the lifestyle of bacteria and, by considering their activity from an evolutionary perspective, demonstrate how this extends far beyond their ability to destroy host tissue.
分泌能损害宿主组织的蛋白质已被确认为许多细菌病原体感染过程中不可或缺的一部分。然而，我们对毒素活性的理解最近取得的进展表明，我们从早期体外实验中赋予它们的特性误导我们认为它们仅仅是破坏性工具。在这里，我们将讨论毒素促进细菌生存方式的多种方式，并从进化的角度考虑它们的活性，证明这远远超出了它们破坏宿主组织的能力。
