Evolution of the PFT Field

The concept of membrane damage as an effector mechanism of bacterial exotoxins arose during the 1970s, mainly through the work on alpha-toxin by Freer, Arbuthnott and Bernheimer (Bernheimer, 1974 Freer et al., 1968) and, subsequently, Thelestam and Mollby (1975). These studies gave rise to the idea that staphylococcal alpha-toxin produced permeability defects in membranes. However, it was 

Aktories (Ed.), Bacterial Toxins. Chapman Hall, Weinheim, 1997. ISBN 3-8261 -0080-8 241 

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