The diphtheria toxin targets cellular machinery, leading to the outcome of:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The A subunit of the diphtheria toxin cleaves the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) molecule into nicotinamide and ADP-ribose. The A subunit attaches ADP-ribose molecules to the elongation factor-2 (EF-2), which is important for joining amino acids during protein synthesis. The attached ADP-ribose molecules inactivate EF-2, which decreases or stops protein synthesis in the target cell, eventually leading to cell death.

The Diphtheria Toxin Targets Cellular Machinery, Leading to the Outcome