Bacterial Pathogens And Disease 1 - Exotoxins Flashcards
What do antibodies do?
Opsonise
Activate complement
Neutralise
What is a pathogen?
Microorganism capable of causing disease
What is pathogenicity?
The ability of an infectious agent to cause disease
What is virulence?
Quantitative ability of an agent to cause disease
What is toxigenicity?
The ability of a microorganism to produce a toxin that contributes to the development of a disease
What are the mechanisms of virulence?
Adherence
Biofilms
Invasion of host cells and tissues
Toxins
What are endotoxins?
Heterogeneous group of proteins produced and secreted by lining bacterial cells
What type of bacteria are endotoxins produced by?
Both gram positive and negative bacteria
What do endotoxins do?
Cause disease symptoms in host during disease
What are the selective advantages of exotoxins to bacteria?
Train immune response
Enable biofilm formation
Enable attachment to host cells
Escape from phagosomes
What do the advantages of exotoxins to bacteria allow for?
Colonisation, niche establishment and carriage
What do haemolytic toxins do?
Cause cells to lyse by forming pores
What do phenol soluable modulins (PSM) do?
Aggregate lipid bilayer of host cells causing lysis
What chromosomal genes encode C. Difficile?
Ted A and ted B
What toxins are encoded by plasmids?
Bacillus anthracis
Tetanus
What toxins are encoded by lysogenic bacteriophages?
Scarlett fever and diphtheria
What are the types of toxin classification?
Type I, II and III
What are type I toxins?
Membrane acting toxins
What are type II toxins?
Membrane damaging
What are type III toxins?
Intracellular
What are the issues with classifying toxins by activity?
Many toxins have more than one type of activity
The better understood the mechanism, the less sense it makes
Where do type I toxins act from?
Outside the cell
How do type I toxins work?
Interfere with host cell signalling by inappropriate activation of host cell receptors
What do target receptors include?
Guanylyl cyclase
Adenyl cyclase
Rho proteins
Ras proteins
What does guanylyl cyclase do?
Increase intracellular cGMP
What does adenyl cyclase do?
Increase intracellular cAMP
What is the mechanism by which the E. Coli stable heat toxin works?
Increases cGMP Increases chloride and bicarbonate transporters Inhibits sodium reuptake More water out of cells Diarrhoea
How do type II toxins work?
Insert channels into the host cell membrane
What are some examples of beta sheet toxins?
S. Aureus alpha toxin, gamma toxin and PVL
What are some examples of alpha helix toxins?
Diphtheria