Clostridioides difficile toxins: mechanisms of action and antitoxin therapeutics
Open accessAbstract
Clostridioides difficile is a Gram-positive anaerobe that can cause a spectrum of disorders that range in severity from mild diarrhoea to fulminant colitis and/or death. The bacterium produces up to three toxins, which are considered the major virulence factors in C. difficile infection. These toxins promote inflammation, tissue damage and diarrhoea. In this Review, we highlight recent biochemical and structural advances in our understanding of the mechanisms that govern host-toxin interactions. Understanding how C. difficile toxins affect the host forms a foundation for developing novel strategies for treatment and prevention of C. difficile infection.
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An internal Cys protease domain activates the Clostridioides difficile toxin resulting in downstream effects on host cells.
“An internal Cys protease domain activates the toxin resulting in downstream effects on host cells.84”
From The emerging roles of bacterial proteases in intestinal diseases (2023) · cites this paper as [84]
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References 175 · Cited by 204
- Authors
- Kordus, S. L., Thomas, A. K., & Lacy, D. B.
- Affiliations
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lacy, D. Borden
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Microbiology
- Published
- 2021-11-26
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 285-298
- ISSN
- 1740-1526 (ISSN-L)
- 1740-1534
- PMC
- PMC9018519
- OpenAlex
- W3215599992
- Cited by
- 204
- References
- 175
- Citations by year
- 2026: 48 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 22
- FWCI
- 3.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Nature Reviews Microbiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 BX002943)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (F32GM139303)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI095755, R37AI095755)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Endocrinology › Escherichia coli research studies
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Toxin Mechanisms and Immunotoxins
- Keywords
- Clostridium difficile, C. difficile toxin, toxin mechanism of action, colitis, virulence factors, inflammation
- MeSH terms
- Antitoxins, Bacterial Proteins, Bacterial Toxins, Diarrhea, Humans, Clostridioides difficile
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