Membrane damaging toxins exhibit hemolysin or cytolysin activity 'in vitro'.

Venom constituents include compounds such as serotonin, haemolytic phospholipase A, a cardiotoxic protein and a cytolysin.

Lipids having a conical molecular shape alter the energetic state of membrane cholesterol, augmenting the interaction of the sterol with the cholesterol-specific cytolysin.

The Vibrio cholerae cytolysin also forms a heptameric pore, however Staphylococcus aureus γ-hemolysin forms a pore which is octomeric.

SCCmec contains additional genes beyond mecA, including the cytolysin gene psm-mec, which may suppress virulence in hospital-acquired MRSA strains.

These include: Cytolysin which form pores in the phagocyte's cell membranes; streptolysins and leukocidins which cause neutrophils' granules to rupture and release toxic substances, and exotoxins which reduce the supply of a phagocyte's Adenosine triphosphate, needed for phagocytosis.

Cholesterol-binding cytolysin, previously incorrectly known as 'thiol-activated' cytolysins " are toxins produced by a variety of Gram-positive bacteria and are characterised by their ability to lyse cholesterol-containing membranes, their reversible inactivation by oxidation and their capacity to bind to cholesterol.

A plasmid-encoded hemolysin, called the cytolysin, is important for pathogenesis in animal models of infection, and the cytolysin in combination with high-level gentamicin resistance is associated with a five-fold increase in risk of death in human bacteremia patients.