Bacterial toxin activation and deployment: Context-dependent links to host immune remodeling.

Protein-level activation and deployment of bacterial toxins are linked to three broad immune outcomes, with effects varying by host niche, cell type, receptor repertoire, trafficking route, and timing.

• Why it matters: The field lacks clear boundaries between how toxins become active and how those steps translate into immune remodeling, especially when effects are indirect and context dependent.
• What they did: This review separates protein-level activation mechanisms (e.g., proteolytic maturation, reductive subunit release, metabolite-triggered autoprocessing, host-factor-dependent catalysis) from uptake, trafficking, translocation, vesicle delivery, and toxin expression control.
• The result: Across representative systems, these context-dependent processes shape effector competence, availability, and localization, and are associated with disrupted inflammatory signaling, impaired humoral defenses, and cell injury or regulated cell death.

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