Anthrax toxin protective antigen integrates poly-γ-D-glutamate and pH signals to sense the optimal environment for channel formation.

Many toxins assemble into oligomers on the surface of cells. Local chemical cues signal and trigger critical rearrangements of the oligomer, inducing the formation of a membrane-fused or channel state. Bacillus anthracis secretes two virulence factors: a tripartite toxin and a poly-γ-d-glutamic acid capsule (γ-DPGA).

Effects of butanol isomers on dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes.

Differential scanning calorimetry and (31)P-NMR were used to study the effects of butanol isomers on the thermotropic phase behavior of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers. The threshold concentration for the onset of interdigitation for each isomer was determined by the disappearance of the pretransition and the onset of a large hysteresis between the heating and cooling scans of the gel-to-liquid main transition. The threshold concentration was found to correlate with increased solubility of the isomers in the aqueous phase, led by tert-butanol.