Title: Structural and functional features of Streptolysin O

Authors: Ashfaq Ahmad; Ghosia Lutfullah; Roshan Ali

Addresses: Centre of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Khyber Pukhtun Khwa, Pakistan. ' Centre of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Khyber Pukhtun Khwa, Pakistan. ' Centre of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Khyber Pukhtun Khwa, Pakistan

Abstract: Streptolysin O, a 63 kDa exotoxin coded by slo gene, is a well-characterised thiol-activated cytolysin, which damages cholesterol-containing membranes resulting in disruption and lysis of the target cell. On the basis of homology model and secondary structure analysis, the toxin has four domains of which domain 4 is of particular importance and is directly linked to domain 2 by a glycine linker and remained consistent in initial membrane recognition. Domain 4 reduces the hydrophobic ratio when compared with its template, which would affect the activity of the toxin at low pH.

Keywords: thiol-activated cytolysins; Streptolysin O; Perfringolysin O; Streptococcus pyogenes; homology modelling; secondary structure predictions; undecapeptide; Pyolysin; cholesterol; exotoxins; bioinformatics; glycine.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBRA.2011.043772

International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications, 2011 Vol.7 No.4, pp.427 - 444

Received: 08 Nov 2010
Accepted: 05 Jan 2011
Published online: 24 Jan 2015 *

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