Title: enterotoxin
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - enterotoxin
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.13114
Status: current

Definition
Toxin affecting intestinal cells and thus causing food poisoning.

Note
Enterotoxins stimulate many types of T cells by binding to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules and the Vb domain of certain T-cell receptors (TCRs). Enterotoxins have thus been referred to as superantigens.

Related Terms
- T cells: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13724
- T-cell receptors (TCRs): https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13714
- Vb domain: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13773
- major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13432
- superantigens: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13699

Source
- PAC, 2012, 84, 1113. 'IUPAC glossary of terms used in immunotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)' on page 1161 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-06-03)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13114/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13114/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13114/xml

Citation: Citation: 'enterotoxin' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.13114
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Accessed: 2026-08-01T15:05:43+00:00