Construction of a fusion protein carrying antigenic determinants of enteric clostridial toxins.

Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens type A are infectious agents of enteric diseases. The main virulence factors of these microorganisms include toxins A and B of C. difficile (ToxA and ToxB) and enterotoxin of C.

Actin machinery of phagocytic cells: universal target for bacterial attack.

Uptake of microorganisms by eukaryotic cells depends on proper functioning of the actin machinery. It creates a driving force for the cell membrane deformations necessary for ingestion and killing of microbes by phagocytes. Therefore, specific alterations in the activity of the actin apparatus could be favorable for pathogenic bacteria, representing an efficient mechanism in their virulence.