Bacterial Pathogens and Diseases I - Exotoxins Flashcards
What is a pathogen?
β A microorganism capable of causing disease
What is pathogenicity?
β The ability of an infectious agent to cause disease
What is virulence?
β The quantitative ability of an agent to cause disease
What is toxigenicity?
β The ability of a microorganism to produce a toxin that contributes to development of disease
what are 4 virulence mechanisms?
β Adherence factors
β biofilms
β invasion of host cells
β toxins
What are endotoxins?
β a heterogenous group of proteins produced and secreted by living bacterial cells
What types of bacteria produce endotoxins?
β gram negative and gram positive
What selective advantages do exotoxins give to the bacteria?
β they cause disease that may help transmission
What are the 4 other actions of toxins?
β Evade immune response
β Enable biofilm formation
β Enable attachment to host cells
β Escape from phagosomes
What do toxins allow for?
β Colonisation
β Niche establishment and carriage
What are the two proteins S.Aureus uses to cause disease?
β Haemolytic toxins
β Phenol soluble modulins (PSM)
What are the 7 haemolytic toxins of S.Aureus?
β Alpha β beta β delta β Panton valentine leukocidin (PVL) β LukAB β LukED β LukMF
What is the effect of haemolytic toxins?
β cause cells to lyse by forming pores
What is the function of phenol soluble modulins?
β aggregate the lipid bilayer of host cells
Where is the majority of S.Aureus?
β asymptomatic carriage in the nose
How does S.aureus remain alive in the cell?
β alpha toxin and PSM prevent the attachment of the lysosome to the phagosome so the bacteria can remain alive in the cell
What does PSM allow S.aureus to do?
β allows S. aureus to slide across surfaces
β because S.aureus is not motile
What toxin enables the attachment of a biofilm?
β Alpha toxin
What toxins enable the growth of a biofilm?
β beta toxin and PSM
What effect does PSM have on the biofilm?
β Allows it to detach and spread
What can toxins be encoded by?
β chromosomal genes
β extrachromosomal genes
β plasmids
βlysogenic bacteriophage
What bacteria have toxins encoded for by plasmids?
β Anthtrax
β tetanus
What are the three classifications of exotoxins?
β Membrane acting toxins - type I
β membrane damaging toxins - type II
β intracellular toxins - type III
What is the main issue with the classification of exotoxins?
β many toxins have more than one type of activity