Pertussis toxin is an equilibrium between the folded and unfolded states. When the protein is unfolded, it is susceptible to degradation by the 20S proteasome, which can degrade only unfolded proteins. Pertussis toxin Pertussis toxin (PT) is a protein-based AB-type exotoxin produced by the bacterium "Bordetella pertussis", which causes whooping cough. PT is involved in the colonization of the respiratory tract and the establishment of infection. Research suggests PT may have a therapeutic role in treating a number of common human ailments, including hypertension, viral inhibition, and autoimmune inhibition. PT clearly plays a central role in the pathogenesis of pertussis although this
Machado–Joseph disease Abandonment" (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006). Machado–Joseph disease Machado–Joseph disease (MJD), also known as Machado–Joseph Azorean disease, Machado's disease, Joseph's disease or spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), is a rare autosomal dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disease that causes progressive cerebellar ataxia, which results in a lack of muscle control and coordination of the upper and lower extremities. The symptoms are caused by a genetic mutation that results in an expansion of abnormal "CAG" trinucleotide repeats in the ATXN3 gene that results in an abnormal form of the protein ataxin which causes degeneration of cells in the hindbrain. Some symptoms, such