Cholera toxin induces changes in the ion permeability of intestinal brush border membranes

Cholera toxin can alter the ion permeability of brush border membrane vesicles from rabbit small intestine. This alteration is reflected by differences in membrane potential-stimulated, Na-dependent, D-[3H]glucose transport by these vesicles, as well as by an enhancement in the accumulation of the lipophilic cation [3H]tetraphenylphosphonium in response to an artificially imposed membrane potential. Analogous effects were observed when the intact tissue was treated with the toxin and the vesicles subsequently obtained. An important implication of this finding is that cholera toxin does not need to activate adenylate cyclase to induce permeability changes in the cell membrane since the experiments were carried out in conditions where neither ATP nor cyclic AMP was present.