Cholera toxin B subunit induces local curvature on lipid bilayers

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

The B subunit of the bacterial cholera toxin (CTxB) is responsible for the toxin binding to the cell membrane and its intracellular trafficking. CTxB binds to the monosialotetrahexosyl ganglioside at the plasma membrane of the target cell and mediates toxin internalization by endocytosis. CTxB induces a local membrane curvature that is essential for its clathrin-independent uptake. Using all-atom molecular dynamics, we show that CTxB induces local curvature, with the radius of curvature around 36 nm. The main feature of the CTxB molecular structure that causes membrane bending is the protruding alpha helices in the middle of the protein. Our study points to a generic protein design principle for generating local membrane curvature through specific binding to their lipid anchors.

Original languageEnglish
JournalFEBS Open Bio
Volume7
Issue number11
Pages (from-to)1638-1645
Number of pages8
ISSN2211-5463
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2017
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • endocytosis, ganglioside, peripheral proteins, CLATHRIN-INDEPENDENT ENDOCYTOSIS, MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS METHOD, MEMBRANE INVAGINATIONS, FORCE-FIELD, BINDING, GROMACS, GM1, INTERNALIZATION, IMPLEMENTATION, SIMULATIONS

ID: 316867723