Aerolysin
Family:
Pore-forming Toxins
Description:
Members of this family are proteins/peptides, synthesized by one cell and secreted for insertion into the membrane of another cell where they form transmembrane pores. Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are the most common bacterial cytotoxic proteins and are required for virulence in a large number of important pathogens.
Subgroups:
Over 100 subgroups belong to the "Pore-forming Toxins" family, including amongst others:
- The α-Hemolysin Channel-forming Toxin (αHL) Family
- The Aerolysin Channel-forming Toxin (Aerolysin) Family
- The Botulinum and Tetanus Toxin (BTT) Family
- The Pertussis Toxin (PTX) Family
- The Crystal Protein (Cry) Family
Aerolysin Background Information
Overview:
The aerolysins are a closely related group of channel-forming toxins secreted by members of the family Aeromonas, important human and animal pathogens. They are activated by host and bacterial proteases which remove a C-terminal fragment of about 40 amino acyl residues. The activated monomeric toxin then binds to a receptor glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein on the surface of the target cell.
Data Sheet:
Gene:
aerA
Protein
UniProt: P09167 (Aeromonas hydrophila)
Topology:
Homodimer in solution; homoheptamer in the host membrane.
Function:
The mature toxin binds to eukaryotic cells and aggregates to form holes (approximately 3 nm in diameter) leading to the destruction of the membrane permeability barrier and osmotic lysis. Proteolytic cleavage and subsequent release of the propeptide trigger a major conformation change, leading to the formation of a heptameric pre-pore that then inserts into the host membrane.
Assays:
Bilayer Recordings on the Orbit Product family
Reviews and Links
Recommended Reviews:
Transporter classification database:
UniProt:
Posters
2016 - Parallel and automated formation of lipid bilayers on microstructured chips for ion channel and nanopore recordings
Orbit 16 poster 
(1.4 MB)
Kindly provided by Ionera Technologies
Publications
2022 - A Two-Step Calibration Method for Evaluation High Bandwidth Electrochemical Instrument
Orbit 16 publication in Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry (2022)
Authors:
Zhang L.L., Zhong C.B., Li J.G., Niu H.Y., Ying Y.L., Long Y.T.
2020 - Electrical recognition of the twenty proteinogenic amino acids using an aerolysin nanopore
Orbit 16 publication in Nature Biotechnology (2020)
Authors:
Ouldali H., Sarthak K., Ensslen T., Piguet F., Manivet P., Pelta J., Behrends J.C., Aksimentiev A., Oukhaled A.
2020 - Aerolysin nanopores decode digital information stored in tailored macromolecular analytes
Orbit mini publication in Science Advances (2020)
Authors:
Cao C., Krapp L.F., Al Ouahabi A., König N.F., Cirauqui N., Radenovic A., Lutz J.F. Dal Peraro M.
2019 - A comparison of ion channel current blockades caused by individual poly(ethylene glycol) molecules and polyoxometalate nanoclusters
Orbit 16 publication in The European Physical Journal E (2019)
Authors:
Wang H., Kasianowicz J.J., Robertson J.W.F., Poster D.L., Ettedgui J.
2018 - Size-dependent interaction of a 3-arm star poly(ethylene glycol) with two biological nanopores
Orbit 16 publication in The European Physical Journal E (2018)
Authors:
Talarimoghari M., Baaken G., Hanselmann R., Behrends J.C.
2016 - Probing driving forces in aerolysin and α-hemolysin biological nanopores: electrophoresis versus electroosmosis
Orbit 16 publication in Nanoscale (2016)
Authors:
Boukhet M., Piguet F., Ouldali H., Pastoriza-Gallego M., Pelta J., Oukhaled A.
2015 - High-Resolution Size-Discrimination of Single Nonionic Synthetic Polymers with a Highly Charged Biological Nanopore
Orbit 16 and 
Vesicle Prep Pro publication in American Chemical Society Nano (2015)
Authors:
Baaken G., Halimeh I., Bacri, Pelta J., Oukhaled A., Behrends J.C.