Botulinum neurotoxin system

Li JY, Jahn R, Dahlstrom A (1994) Synaptotagmin I is present mainly in autonomic and sensory neurons of the rat peripheral nervous system. Neuroscience 63 837-50 Li L, Binz T, Niemann H, Singh BR (2000) Probing the mechanistic role of glutamate residue in the zinc-binding motif of type A botulinum neurotoxin light chain. Biochemistry 39 2399-2405 Ludlow CL, Hallett M, Rhew K, Cole R, Shimizu T et al. (1992) Therapeutic use of type F botulinum toxin. N Engl J Med 326 349-50... 

Synapses of the autonomic nervous system are vulnerable to poisoning by botulinum neurotoxins (Dickson and Shevky, 1923). One of the most frequently used preparation is the superior cervical ganglion (Eccles and Libet, 1961 Mochida efal., 1995). 

Kistner A, Habermann E (1992) Reductive cleavage of tetanus toxin and botulinum neurotoxin A by the thioredoxin system from brain. Evidence for two redox isomers of tetanus toxin. Naunyn. Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmacol. 345 227-34... 

Bozzi, Y., Constantin, L., Antonucci, F., and Caleo, M. 2006. Action of botulinum neurotoxins in the central nervous system antiepileptic effects. Neurotox. Res. 9 197-203. 

Habermann E. Clostridial neurotoxins and the central nervous system Functional studies on isolated preparations. In Simpson LL, ed. Botulinum Neurotoxin and Tetanus Toxin. New York, NY Academic Press, Inc 1989 53-67. 

Ilkhchoui Yl, Ghaly RF, Knezevic NN, Candido KD. Central nervous system toxicity after botulinum neurotoxin irqection. Anesth Pain Med... 

Furthermore, research efforts described herein, have resulted in at least a ten-fold improvement in the detection of Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin using a fiberoptic immunosensor. Additionally, the increased sensitivity of the assay by using affinity purified polyclonal antibodies as both the immobilized capture antibodies and the fluorescently labeled antibodies suggests that the investigation into additional assay systems may be worthwhile. 

The mechanism whereby the bacteria produce the disease with its attendant symptoms is often due to the cells ability to produce specific poisons, toxins or aggressins (Chapter 14). Many of these are tissue-destroying enzymes which can damage the cellular structure ofthe body or destroy red blood cells. Others (neurotoxins) are highly specific poisons ofthe central nervous system, for example the toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum is, weight for weight, one ofthe most poisonous substances known. 

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