Action of a toxic glycolipid of Corynebacterium diphtheriae on mitochondrial structure and function.

The toxicity for mice of the cord factor of Cornebacterium diphtheriae, trehalose-6,6'-dicorynomycolate, was studied. The diphtherial cord factor showed a delayed lethal toxicity for mice; the median lethal dose was 120 mug. Mouse liver mitochondria were disrupted in vivo under the toxic action of the diphtherial cord factor into fragments deficient in both respiration and phosphorylation. The site of metabolic defect in the mitochondrial electron transport system was located at the region prior to the level of cytochrome c in the livers of cord factor-intoxicated mice. These effects of the diphtherial cord factor on the host-cell mitochondria were essentially similar to those of the cord factor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, trehalose-6,6'-dimycolate.