Microbial toxins and the glycosylation of Rho family GTPases

Large clostridial cytotoxins act on cells by glycosylating low molecular mass GTPases using nucleotide-sugars as the sugar donor. These toxins are important virulence factors in human and animal diseases, but are also valuable cell biology tools. Recent findings shed some light on their mode of action and provide new insights into the structure/activity relationship of these bacterial toxins.