Leukocidin/Hemolysin toxin | |||||||||
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Identifiers | |||||||||
Symbol | Leukocidin | ||||||||
Pfam | PF07968 | ||||||||
Pfam clan | CL0636 | ||||||||
InterPro | IPR036435 | ||||||||
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Hemolysins or haemolysins are lipids and proteins that cause lysis of red blood cells by disrupting the cell membrane. Although the lytic activity of some microbe-derived hemolysins on red blood cells may be of great importance for nutrient acquisition, many hemolysins produced by pathogens do not cause significant destruction of red blood cells during infection. However, hemolysins are often capable of lysing red blood cells in vitro.
While most hemolysins are protein compounds, some are lipid biosurfactants.[1]