Dear Colleagues,

Exotoxins are proteins that are produced and secreted by living bacteria. The exotoxins must be transported across one membrane in the case of Gram-positive and across two membranes in case of Gram-negative bacteria by sophisticated mechanisms in order to be released from the producing bacteria and to exhibit their cytotoxic effects on target cells. AB-type exotoxins act inside their target cells, i.e. the proteins must again cross at least one membrane barrier. To this end, AB-toxins hijack protein trafficking pathways and mechanisms of their host cells, incuding the endocytic machinery and in some cases also host cell chaperone macheries to deliver their enzymatically active (A) subunit into the cytosol. The intracellular trans-membrane transport of many toxins includes pore formation in cell membranes, which serve as translocation channels for the enzyme subunits of the toxins. This Special Issue will focus on the molecular mechanisms underlying the transport of protein toxins across membrane barriers. This includes trans-membrane transport during toxin secretion from the producing organisms, as well as the intracellular trans-membrane transport of toxins in mammalian target cells.

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• bacterial exotoxins
• membrane transport
• toxin secretion
• trans-membrane pores
• toxin translocation in host cells