Megan L. Mayer

Pyroptolysins are versatile, sterol-sensing bacterial toxins

Gasdermin pores mediate cellular self-sacrifice for the immune defense pyroptosis. Here we describe how the gasdermin fold was repurposed during evolution into a membrane targeting bacterial toxin. These proteins, which we call pyroptolysins, are chimeras of gasdermins and cholesterol-dependent cytolysins. Like the cyt...