Scientists at La Trobe University have discovered how a diarrhea-causing strain of bacteria uses “molecular scissors” to cut open and destroy gut cells, leading to severe illness and sometimes death.

Published in Gut Microbes, the research reveals for the first time the three-dimensional structure of a toxin secreted by enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) bacteria, and shows how the bacteria use the toxin to invade and destroy the epithelial cells that line the gut.

The toxin, which is an enzyme called EspC, destroys the cells by cutting up their internal protein structure.