InhaltsangabePart I: Overview of MACPF/CDCs.- Introduction: Brief Historical Overview.- Distribution of MACPF/CDC proteins.- Evolution of the Complement System.- Part II: Structures of MACPF/CDCs.- Structural Features of Cholesterol Dependent Cytolysins and Comparison to other MACPF-domain containing proteins.- Perfringolysin O Structure and Mechanism of Pore Formation as a Paradigm for Cholesterol-Dependent Cytolysins.- Structural Biology of the Membrane Attack Complex.- Part III: Functional aspect.-  Membrane Interactions and Cellular Effects of MACPF/CDC Proteins.- The Biology of Pneumolysin.- Multifaceted Activity of Listeriolysin O, the Cholesterol-Dependent Cytolysin of Listeria monocytogenes.- Perforin - a Key Pore-Forming Protein for Immune Control of Viruses and Cancer.- Perforin and Human Diseases.- The role of MACPF Proteins in the Biology of Malaria and other Apicomplexan Parasites.- Chlamydial MACPF Protein CT153.- Fungal MACPF-Like Proteins and Aegerolysins: Bi-Component Pore-Forming Proteins?.- Fluorescence Imaging of MACPF/CDC Proteins: New Techniques and Their Application.