Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Tetanus Toxin in Dissociated Spinal Cord Cultures: Long‐Term Characterization of Form and Action

Tetanus Toxin in Dissociated Spinal Cord Cultures: Long‐Term Characterization of Form and Action Abstract: The clinical course of tetanus is notable, in addition to its often dramatic clinical presentation, by the long duration of the neuromuscular symptoms. Survivors may have tetanic manifestations for several weeks after the onset of the disease. In this article we correlate the duration of specific electrophysiologic effects produced by tetanus toxin with the degradation of cell‐associated toxin in primary cultures of mouse spinal cord neurons. From these studies we can conclude that the toxin has a half‐life of 5–6 days. Both the heavy and the light chains of tetanus toxin degrade at similar rates. Labeled toxin, visualized by radioautography, is associated with neuronal cell bodies and neurites, and its distribution is not altered during a 1‐week period following toxin exposure. Blockade of synaptic activity persists for weeks at the concentration of radiolabeled toxin used in these studies. This blockade of transmission is reversed as the toxin is degraded, suggesting that degradation of toxin may be a sufficient mechanism for recovery from tetanus. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Neurochemistry Wiley

Tetanus Toxin in Dissociated Spinal Cord Cultures: Long‐Term Characterization of Form and Action

Download PDF
8 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/tetanus-toxin-in-dissociated-spinal-cord-cultures-long-term-RM0cN9truo

References (44)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0022-3042
eISSN
1471-4159
DOI
10.1111/j.1471-4159.1986.tb00700.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract: The clinical course of tetanus is notable, in addition to its often dramatic clinical presentation, by the long duration of the neuromuscular symptoms. Survivors may have tetanic manifestations for several weeks after the onset of the disease. In this article we correlate the duration of specific electrophysiologic effects produced by tetanus toxin with the degradation of cell‐associated toxin in primary cultures of mouse spinal cord neurons. From these studies we can conclude that the toxin has a half‐life of 5–6 days. Both the heavy and the light chains of tetanus toxin degrade at similar rates. Labeled toxin, visualized by radioautography, is associated with neuronal cell bodies and neurites, and its distribution is not altered during a 1‐week period following toxin exposure. Blockade of synaptic activity persists for weeks at the concentration of radiolabeled toxin used in these studies. This blockade of transmission is reversed as the toxin is degraded, suggesting that degradation of toxin may be a sufficient mechanism for recovery from tetanus.

Journal

Journal of Neurochemistry – Wiley

Published: Sep 1, 1986

There are no references for this article.