Research

At the Institute of Toxicology, various families of bacterial protein toxins are researched with regard to their structure and mode of action:

• the glucosylating toxins from Clostridium difficile and Clostridium sordellii
• the neurotoxins with protease activity from Clostridium botulinum and Clostridium tetani
• the exoenzymes with ADP-ribosyltransferase activity from Clostridium botulinum and other bacterial species

The glucosylating toxins (molecular mass 250-307 kDa) and the neurotoxins (molecular mass 140-150 kDa) have a multidomain structure:
In addition to the enzymatically active domain, the toxins have domains for receptor binding to the target cell and for translocation through endosomal membranes to reach the intracellular.

These different steps, which mediate the toxin effect, are being intensively researched at the Institute.