Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Small GTPases - Ras and Rho01:24

Small GTPases - Ras and Rho

5.4K
Ras and Rho are small monomeric GTPases that act downstream of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and regulate various cellular processes. These GTPases switch between active and inactive states by binding to guanine nucleotides.
Three regulatory proteins control their activity:
5.4K
GTPases and their Regulation02:14

GTPases and their Regulation

9.9K
Guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G-proteins), also known as GTPases, are a superfamily of proteins that regulate many cellular processes, such as cell signaling, vesicular transport, and the regulation of cell shape and motility. Mutation or dysfunction of these proteins can lead to disease. There are around 40,000 known G-proteins that can broadly be classified into two groups ‒  small G-proteins consisting of a single domain and large multi-domain G-proteins.
Large G-proteins,...
9.9K
GTPases and their Regulation02:14

GTPases and their Regulation

3.0K
3.0K
Types of Toxins01:36

Types of Toxins

3.7K
Humans continually engage with an environment rich in potentially harmful chemicals. These are introduced to our bodies through inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact. These chemicals exist in various forms, such as air and environmental pollutants, agricultural chemicals, organic solvents, and heavy metals.
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
3.7K
Cell Polarization by Rho Proteins01:21

Cell Polarization by Rho Proteins

3.8K
Cell polarity is the asymmetric distribution of cellular and membrane components, making one side of the cell different from the other. This polarity is essential to many processes such as embryogenesis, axon migration, glucose transport across epithelial cells, and directional cell migration. A migrating cell responds to intracellular or extracellular signals via molecular cascades that reorganize the actin cytoskeleton to establish this polarity. In these cells, the Rho family proteins Cdc42,...
3.8K
Coat Assembly and GTPases01:33

Coat Assembly and GTPases

4.4K
Vesicles incorporate different coat protein subunits in different cell locations, which changes the properties of the coat, such as the shape and geometry of the transport vesicles. Thus, vesicle coat proteins also play a significant role in cargo selection.
Coat assembly depends on the local availability of phosphatidylinositol phosphates or PIPs and GTP-binding proteins. Adaptor proteins, which link the coat proteins to the membrane, bind to these PIPs and play a crucial role in controlling...
4.4K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A brain-penetrant chimeric protein combines direct glioma targeting with myeloid cell-mediated immune reprogramming.

Journal of translational medicine·2026
Same author

Interference of Large Clostridial Glucosyltransferases with the Endolysosomal Pathway: Toxin-Induced Imbalance of Early Endosomes, Functional Lysosomes and Autophagosomes.

Toxins·2026
Same author

Anthrax Toxin: A Pioneer of Targeted Protein Toxins.

Toxins·2025
Same author

Injection of Affibodies by a Self-Organizing Bacterial Syringe to Interfere with Intracellular Signaling.

Toxins·2025
Same author

Some Examples of Bacterial Toxins as Tools.

Toxins·2024
Same author

Antibodies Directed Against GalNAc- and GlcNAc-O-Tyrosine Posttranslational Modifications - a New Tool for Glycoproteomic Detection.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2023

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Detection of Small GTPase Prenylation and GTP Binding Using Membrane Fractionation and GTPase-linked Immunosorbent Assay
13:51

Detection of Small GTPase Prenylation and GTP Binding Using Membrane Fractionation and GTPase-linked Immunosorbent Assay

Published on: November 11, 2018

10.4K

Methods to Study Rho GTPases Using Bacterial Toxins.

Gudula Schmidt1

  • 1Institute for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. gudula.schmidt@pharmakol.uni-freiburg.de.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|August 1, 2018
PubMed
Summary

Bacterial toxins target host cell proteins like Rho GTPases, altering the actin cytoskeleton. These toxins offer methods to study Rho GTPase roles in cell processes and diseases.

Keywords:
ActinBacterial toxinsC3CNF1Rho GTPasesTccC5, artificial toxin transporterToxin B

More Related Videos

Visualization of Bacterial Toxin Induced Responses Using Live Cell Fluorescence Microscopy
14:29

Visualization of Bacterial Toxin Induced Responses Using Live Cell Fluorescence Microscopy

Published on: October 1, 2012

12.5K
Implementation of a Permeable Membrane Insert-based Infection System to Study the Effects of Secreted Bacterial Toxins on Mammalian Host Cells
09:25

Implementation of a Permeable Membrane Insert-based Infection System to Study the Effects of Secreted Bacterial Toxins on Mammalian Host Cells

Published on: August 19, 2016

11.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Detection of Small GTPase Prenylation and GTP Binding Using Membrane Fractionation and GTPase-linked Immunosorbent Assay
13:51

Detection of Small GTPase Prenylation and GTP Binding Using Membrane Fractionation and GTPase-linked Immunosorbent Assay

Published on: November 11, 2018

10.4K
Visualization of Bacterial Toxin Induced Responses Using Live Cell Fluorescence Microscopy
14:29

Visualization of Bacterial Toxin Induced Responses Using Live Cell Fluorescence Microscopy

Published on: October 1, 2012

12.5K
Implementation of a Permeable Membrane Insert-based Infection System to Study the Effects of Secreted Bacterial Toxins on Mammalian Host Cells
09:25

Implementation of a Permeable Membrane Insert-based Infection System to Study the Effects of Secreted Bacterial Toxins on Mammalian Host Cells

Published on: August 19, 2016

11.4K

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Cell Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Bacterial pathogens employ sophisticated strategies to evade eukaryotic host defenses during infection.
  • Key bacterial virulence factors include toxins that target essential eukaryotic proteins, such as actin and Rho GTPases, which regulate the actin cytoskeleton.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe methods utilizing bacterial toxins to investigate the function of Rho GTPases.
  • To illustrate how bacterial toxins can serve as tools for studying cellular processes and disease.

Main Methods:

  • Bacterial toxins are employed to covalently modify Rho GTPases, locking them in constitutively active or inactive states.
  • Analysis of toxin-induced morphological changes in host cells reveals the functional consequences of Rho GTPase dysregulation.

Main Results:

  • Bacterial toxins induce specific rearrangements of the actin cytoskeleton by targeting Rho GTPases.
  • Morphological alterations in toxin-treated cells are dependent on the toxin's substrate specificity and mechanism of action.

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial toxins are valuable tools for dissecting the roles of Rho GTPases in fundamental cellular processes.
  • Understanding toxin-host interactions provides insights into host cell biology and potential therapeutic targets for infectious diseases.