The pore-forming haemolysins of bacillus cereus: a review

Toxins (Basel). 2013 Jun 7;5(6):1119-39. doi: 10.3390/toxins5061119.

Abstract

The Bacillus cereus sensu lato group contains diverse Gram-positive spore-forming bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal diseases and severe eye infections in humans. They have also been incriminated in a multitude of other severe, and frequently fatal, clinical infections, such as osteomyelitis, septicaemia, pneumonia, liver abscess and meningitis, particularly in immuno-compromised patients and preterm neonates. The pathogenic properties of this organism are mediated by the synergistic effects of a number of virulence products that promote intestinal cell destruction and/or resistance to the host immune system. This review focuses on the pore-forming haemolysins produced by B. cereus: haemolysin I (cereolysin O), haemolysin II, haemolysin III and haemolysin IV (CytK). Haemolysin I belongs to the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (CDC) family whose best known members are listeriolysin O and perfringolysin O, produced by L. monocytogenes and C. perfringens respectively. HlyII and CytK are oligomeric ß-barrel pore-forming toxins related to the α-toxin of S. aureus or the ß-toxin of C. perfringens. The structure of haemolysin III, the least characterized haemolytic toxin from the B. cereus, group has not yet been determined.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bacillus cereus / metabolism*
  • Bacterial Toxins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Toxins / metabolism*
  • Hemolysin Proteins / chemistry
  • Hemolysin Proteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Conformation

Substances

  • Bacterial Toxins
  • Hemolysin Proteins