Tag: Toxin

While rare, botulism can cause paralysis and is potentially fatal. It is caused by nerve-damaging toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum—the most potent toxins known. These toxins are often found in contaminated food (home canning being a major culprit). Infants can also develop botulism from ingesting C. botulinum spores in honey, soil, or dust; the bacterium

Helicobacter pylori, the leading cause of peptic ulcer disease and stomach cancer. One factor important to H. pylori infection is the pore-forming toxin VacA. It is thought to gain entry into host cells by binding to specialized membrane domains called lipid rafts. Using Giant Plasma Membrane Vesicles (GPMVs), Anne Kenworthy, Ph.D., and colleagues studied how