Bacterial Toxins Escape the Endosome by Inducing Vesicle Budding and Collapse

Bacterial protein toxins autonomously enter the cytosol of the target cell where they modify the activities of host components to exert their toxic effects. Many of the toxins enter the host cell by endocytosis followed by endosomal escape. However, their mechanism of endosomal escape remains unresolved. We show herein that diphtheria toxin (DT) and NleC of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli exit the endosome by inducing budding and collapse of small toxin-enriched vesicles from the endosomal membrane.