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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Detection of Toxin Translocation into the Host Cytosol by Surface Plasmon Resonance
Published on: January 3, 2012
Enterotoxin of Clostridium perfringens type A forms ion-permeable channels in a lipid bilayer membrane
N Sugimoto1, M Takagi, K Ozutsumi
1Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Japan.
Abstract:
The enterotoxin of Clostridium perfringens type A was found to form ion-permeable channels in a lipid bilayer. A patch clamp technique was used to detect channel activities in an asolectin bilayer with incorporated enterotoxin. About 20% of the lipid bilayer patches examined showed rectangular or stepwise shift of membrane current. The shifts indicated the gating of ion-permeable channels in the patches. The channels showed high conductance (40-450 pS), no rectification in current-voltage curves and occasional long-lasting events. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the mechanism of action of the toxin.
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