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Photolabelling of cholera toxin subunits during membrane penetration

Nature volume 289, pages 319–321 (1981)Cite this article

Abstract

There has been much speculation about the mechanism by which cholera toxin exerts its effect on the cytoplasmic side of the membranes with which it interacts1–4. After the pentamer of B subunits (5B) binds to membrane receptors, particularly the monosialylganglioside GM1, the disulphide-linked dimer A1SSA2 (which together with 5B constitutes the complete toxin) is thought to penetrate the membrane, perhaps through a channel formed by 5B and become reduced so that A1SH units reach the cytoplasm and stimulate adenylate cyclase. Evidence for this mechanism is circumstantial1,4,5. If it is correct, a compound which will specifically label intramembranous sections of the toxin should label the channel-forming B subunits but not the channel-contained A1 subunit. We have tested this prediction with a photoreactive glycolipid compound6,7 and have obtained the opposite result. Therefore, we propose that only the A1 subunit enters the membrane and we provide here data on the kinetics of that process.

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Author notes

  1. John S. Bramhall

    Present address: Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, 94305

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and The Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024

    Bernadine J. Wisnieski & John S. Bramhall

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  1. Bernadine J. Wisnieski
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  2. John S. Bramhall
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Wisnieski, B., Bramhall, J. Photolabelling of cholera toxin subunits during membrane penetration. Nature 289, 319–321 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/289319a0

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