Question

Compare and contrast cytotoxins, AB toxins and Superantigen toxins. What are similarities/differences?

Answer 1

A toxin is a harmful compound produced by a living organism which is primarily composed of proteins or lipopolysaccharides.

Cytotoxins	AB toxins	Superantigen toxins
Most of the cytotoxins are proteins which has a direct destructive effect on the target cell by inducing apoptosis or by creating pores in the cell membrane. It is primarily produced by cytotoxic T cells to kill the host cells infected by viruses or intracellular pathogens.	AB toxins are made up of two components (A and B) while the component B helps to adhere to the target cell, A component having enzymatic activity mediates the toxicity on getting inside the target cell's cytoplasm. These are mostly produced by pathogenic bacteria to kill the host cells	This toxins turns the host immune system against it by excessively activating it which causes harm to the host cells. These toxins does this by binding strongly to a large number of T cells thereby, eliciting the T cell proliferation and cytokine production in an abnormal manner even with a small concentration.
Examples are nephrotoxin and neurotoxin	Examples are Shiga toxin, Tetanus exotoxin, Botulism exotoxin, etc..,	Examples are Streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxins, Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, etc..,