ArticleCell research2015
Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 functions as the cellular receptor for Clostridium difficile toxin B.
Article in Cell research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 122 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
122 citing papers in PubMed, 173 citations in OpenAlex.
- From colonization to infection: Genomic evolution of Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis.Cell reports · 2026Review
- Substance P receptor blockade is associated with increased survival of patients withbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Balancing act of cytokines in controlling the severity ofInfection and immunity · 2026Review
- Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting Bacterial Infections: A Broad Review of the Field.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2026Review
- Humanized and Charge-Optimized CSPG4-Specific CAR-T Cells show Enhanced Efficacy against Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- CSPG4 Mediates Inflammatory, Cell Death, and Senescence Responses in Enteric Glia Exposed to Clostridioides difficile Toxins.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026Article
- Development of Peptide Glucosyltransferase Inhibitors With Comprehensive Coverage Across Clostridioides difficile Toxin B Sub-Types.Biotechnology and bioengineering · 2026Article
- Global burden and trends of theAnnals of medicine · 2025Observational
- CD44 is a macrophage receptor for TcdB fromGut microbes · 2025Article
- A targeted cell lysis mechanism facilitates toxin release in Clostridioides difficile.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The interplay between host immunity andmBio · 2025Review
- The role of the enteric nervous system in the pathogenesis of Clostridioides difficile infection.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Review
- Clostridioides difficile meets the adenosine system: the art of manipulating host homeostasis.Journal of biomedical science · 2025Review
- Design, performance, processing, and validation of a pooled CRISPR perturbation screen for bacterial toxins.Nature protocols · 2025Review
- Small but Mighty: Nanobodies in the Fight Against Infectious Diseases.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- MappingmBio · 2025Article
- Article
- Mechanisms ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
- Zebrafish (International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- A sequence invariable region in TcdB2 is required for toxin escape fromJournal of bacteriology · 2024Article
62 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
As a gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacillus, Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is responsible for severe and fatal pseudomembranous colitis, and poses the most urgent antibiotic resistance threat worldwide. Epidemic C. difficile is the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea globally, especially diarrhoea due to the emergence of hypervirulent strains associated with high mortality and morbidity. TcdB, one of the key virulence factors secreted by this bacterium, enters host cells through a poorly understood mechanism to elicit its pathogenic effect. Here we report the first identification of the TcdB cellular receptor, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4). CSPG4 was initially isolated from a whole-genome human shRNAmir library screening, and its role was confirmed by both TALEN- and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene knockout in human cells. CSPG4 is critical for TcdB binding to the cell surface, inducing cytoskeleton disruption and cell death. A direct interaction between the N-terminus of CSPG4 and the C-terminus of TcdB was confirmed, and the soluble peptide of the toxin-binding domain of CSPG4 could protect cells from the action of TcdB. Notably, the complete loss of CSPG4/NG2 decreased TcdB-triggered interleukin-8 induction in mice without significantly affecting animal mortality. Based on both the in vitro and in vivo studies, we propose a dual-receptor model for TcdB endocytosis. The discovery of the first TcdB receptor reveals a previously unsuspected role for CSPG4 and provides a new therapeutic target for the treatment of C. difficile infection.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.