Shiga-like toxin

Shiga-like toxin is a AB5-type Shiga toxin produced by the bacteria Escherichia coli and also known as verotoxin. In 1977, researchers in Ottawa, Ontario rediscovered the Shiga toxin produced by Shigella dysenteriae in E. coli. The E. coli version was named "verotoxin" because of the ability of the toxic protein to kill Vero cells (African green monkey kidney cells) in culture. Shortly after, the verotoxin was referred to as Shiga-like toxin because of its similarities to Shiga toxin.

As with Shiga toxin, the toxin requires highly specific receptors on the cells' surface in order to attach and enter the cell; species such as cattle, swine, and deer which do not carry these receptors may harbor toxigenic bacteria without any ill effect, shedding them in their feces, from where they may be spread to humans.