Dismantling a Toxin to Disarm a Superbug

Abstract

Clostridium difficile (Clostridioides difficile) is a toxin-producing, multidrug-resistant bacterium. Inhibiting the effects of toxins, which are responsible for the symptoms of disease, is viewed as a promising non-antibiotic approach to treat C. difficile infection (CDI). By inducing premature activation of toxins, Ivarsson and colleagues (Cell Chemical Biology 2018; http://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2018.10.002) uncover a clever new strategy to block toxin action.