Communications Biology (Apr 2022)
Structures of distant diphtheria toxin homologs reveal functional determinants of an evolutionarily conserved toxin scaffold
Abstract
Toxic proteins are responsible for the disease symptoms accompanying bacterial infections. Sugiman-Marangos et al. report crystal structures of two diphtheria toxin homologs, therefore providing structural insights into this family of toxins and the evolutionary adaptation of these toxins to human hosts.