What is "hemolysin"

n. (context medicine English) Any substance (often an exotoxin) that damages the membranes of red blood cells and thus releases hemoglobin

n. any substance that can cause lysis (destruction) of erythrocytes (red blood cells) and the release of their hemoglobin [syn: haemolysin, erythrolysin, erythrocytolysin]

Hemolysins or haemolysins are lipids and proteins that cause lysis of red blood cells by destroying their cell membrane. Although the lytic activity of some microbe-derived hemolysins on red blood cells may be of great importance for nutrient acquisition, many hemolysins produced by pathogens do not cause significant destruction of red blood cells during infection. Although hemolysins are capable of doing this for red blood cells in vitro.

As mentioned above, most hemolysins are protein compounds, but others are lipids biosurfactants.