Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin

Abstract

In a thorough summary of recent information on the structure and pharmacology of the neurotoxin(s) produced by Clostridium botulinum, the author covers the pathogenic forms of botulism (food poisoning, wound botulism and infant botulism), the relationship between cultures and toxin types, the genetics of toxin production, the assay of Cl. botulinum toxin, the structure antigenicity reconstitution, significance and nomenclature of complexes between the toxins and non-toxic proteins, the biochemical structure, molecular weight and specific toxicity of the types A, B, C, D, E and F toxins and the differences within type B, the intramolecular changes and activation of the neurotoxins and their pharmacology (site and mechanism of action, kinetics, binding and long-term effects). Finally, the molecular structure and pharmacology are compared with those of tetanus toxin.