1.C.3.1.1
α-Hemolysin (alpha haemolysin; Hly; Hla; α-toxin). Fragments (13-293 aas) form heptamers like the native full length protein, but a fragment with aas 72-293 formed heptamers, octamers and nonamers. All formed Cl^- permeable β-barrel channels (Vécsey-Semjén et al., 2010). The 3-d structure is available (PDB#7AHL). Both symmetry and size of cyclodextrin inhibitors and the toxin pore are important for effective inhibition (Yannakopoulou et al., 2011).  Oxoxylin A inhibits hemolysis by hindering self assembly of the hepatmeric pore in which two β-strands are contributed by each subunit (Song et al. 1996; Dong et al. 2013).  Applications of pore-forming α-haemolysin include small- and macromolecule-sensing, targeted cancer therapy, and drug delivery (Gurnev and Nestorovich 2014). Sugawara et al. 2015 studied pore formation. Structural comparisons among monomer, prepore and pore revealed a series of motions in which the N-terminal amino latch released upon oligomerization destroys its own key hydrogen bond betweem Asp45 and Try118. This action initiates the protrusion of the prestem. A Y118F mutant and the N-terminal truncated mutant markedly decreased the hemolytic activity, indicating the importance of the key hydrogen bond and the N-terminal amino latch for pore formation. A dynamic molecular mechanism of pore formation was proposed (Sugawara et al. 2015). Release of ATP from cells may occur directly through transmembrane pores formed by α-toxin (Baaske et al. 2016). The amino latch of staphylococcal alpha-hemolysin functions in pore formation via an co-operative interaction between the N terminus and position 217 (Jayasinghe et al. 2006). PLEKHA7 and other junctional proteins are host factors mediating death by S. aureus alpha-toxin. ADAM10 is docked to junctions by its transmembrane partner Tspan33, whose cytoplasmic C-terminus binds to the WW domain of PLEKHA7 in the presence of PDZD11. ADAM10 is locked at junctions through binding of its cytoplasmic C terminus to afadin. Junctionally clustered ADAM10 supports the efficient formation of stable toxin pores. Disruption of the PLEKHA7-PDZD11 complex inhibits ADAM10 and toxin junctional clustering. This promotes toxin pore removal from the cell surface through an actin- and macropinocytosis-dependent process, resulting in cell recovery from initial injury and survival. Thus, a dock-and-lock molecular mechanism targets ADAM10 to junctions, providing a paradigm for how junctions may regulate transmembrane receptors through their clustering (Shah et al. 2018).