Role of Acidic Residues in Helices TH8–TH9 in Membrane Interactions of the Diphtheria Toxin T Domain

The pH-triggered membrane insertion of the diphtheria toxin translocation domain (T domain) results in transferring the catalytic domain into the cytosol, which is relevant to potential biomedical applications as a cargo-delivery system. Protonation of residues is suggested to play a key role in the process, and residues E349, D352 and E362 are of particular interest because of their location within the membrane insertion unit TH8–TH9. We have...