1st class ticket to class I: protein toxins as pathfinders for antigen presentation

A number of bacterial toxins have evolved diverse strategies for crossing membrane barriers in order to reach their substrates in the mammalian cytosol. Recent studies show that this property can be exploited for the delivery of fused antigens into the major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted presentation pathway, with the goal of eliciting a specific immune response. Here we discuss the peculiarities of the trafficking pathways of a variety of toxins, and how these may allow the toxins to be used as delivery vehicles for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes.