Biology:Verocytotoxin

From HandWiki

Verocytotoxin is a Shiga-like toxin produced by the E. coli strain O157, and Shigella type 1. It causes acute renal failure in children, as a result of Haemolytic uraemic syndrome.

The toxin has two parts. The A part damages gut epithelium through inhibiting its protein synthesis, facilitating entry to the blood stream. The 5 B parts are adapted to inserting the A part into epithelial cells.

References

  • Kumar and Clarke, Clinical Medicine, 6th Ed., p636

Further reading

  • Reena Khanna; Laurie Waechter; Jan Sargeant; William F. Clark; Amit X. Garg (March 20, 2008). "Environmental prevention of human disease from verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli". Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (Oxford University Press) 23 (6): 1819–1822. doi:10.1093/ndt/gfn125. ISSN 0931-0509. PMID 18356186. 
  • Michelacci, Valeria; Grande, Laura; Tozzoli, Rosangela; Maugliani, Antonella; Caprioli, Alfredo; Morabito, Stefano (July 2014). "Identification of two allelic variants of toxB gene and investigation of their distribution among Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli". International Journal of Medical Microbiology 304 (5-6): 730–734. doi:10.1016/j.ijmm.2014.05.009.