/sci/ - Science & Math

>>6923750
That's the one. This happy little bugger is cholera toxin, it prevents certain G-protein coupled receptors from deactivating, ultimately leading to massive amounts of water being dumped by the mucus membranes and causing the bloody awful diarrhea you get with cholera. The same GPCR is targeted by pertussis (whooping cough) toxin which does the opposite, thickening the mucus, particularly in the lungs, to the point where it can't be shifted and the bacteria can go hog wild.

Cholera is one of the possible reasons why cystic fibrosis has persisted as a genetic disorder for so long, it gives the affected individual some resilience against cholera because they are less able to move water into their mucus membranes. Therefore, while it may give poor long term prospects, the affected individual can at least potentially survive a cholera infection without shitting themselves to death and go on to reproduce before dying from consumption around age 30.