Diphtheria efficiency

ZIncI Sulphas (sulfate of zinc) A tonic and astringent. Stille reports It to have been very efficient In curing epidemic diphtheria. ... 

In the absence of the G protein, PT is able to catalyze the transfer of the ADP-ribose moiety of NAD"" to a water molecule in a reaction known as NAD "-glycohydrolysis (for review, see Locht and Antoine, 1995). This property is also shared with cholera toxin. In contrast, the NAD "-glycohydrolase activities of diphtheria toxin and exotoxin A are much less efficient. The affinity of PT for NAD is in the micromolar range, as evidenced by fluorescent quenching and determina-... 

Sandvig K, Olsnes S (1986) Interactions between diphtheria toxin and anion transport in Vero cells. IV. Evidence that entry of diphtheria toxin is dependent on efficient anion transport. J Biol Chem 261 1570-1575. 

DNA in intratumoral injections. Intramuscular injections resulted in lower transfertion efficiency for C32 than either PEI or naked DNA. No toxicity was observed with C32 in these injections while PEI displayed considerable toxicity. Researchers went on to show that C32 can deliver a gene encoding diphtheria toxin to the same mouse xenograft prostrate cancer model and observed that 40% of the tested tumors regressed. ... 

We have described an efficient UV-induced reaction in which the nicotinamide moiety of NAD is transferred to the y-methylene group of Glu-148 of diphtheria toxin fragment A, with concomitant decarboxylation of that group. Efficient photolabeling of Pseudomonas exotoxin A has also been observed under the same conditions [3], and we are in the process of determining the site of attachment and the nature of the photoproduct formed with this toxin. 

---