Role in Apoptosis
Recently, studies have shown that alpha-toxin plays a role in inducing apoptosis in certain human immune cells. Incubation of T-cells, monocytes, and peripheral blood lymphocytes with either purified alpha-toxin or S. aureus cell lysate resulted in the induction of apoptosis via the intrinsic death pathway. This activity was inhibited when two different anti-alpha-toxin antibodies were introduced. In the same study, alpha toxin was shown to activate caspase 8 and caspase 9, which in turn activate caspase 3, which causes massive DNA degradation and apoptosis. This activity was shown to be independent of the death receptor pathway.
Read more about this topic: Staphylococcus Aureus Alpha Toxin
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