Botulinum toxin is an injectable neuromodulator derived from neurotoxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which causes botulism. The human face made up of a complex network muscles that work together to create facial expressions and perform essential functions. Clinicians who understand anatomy functional relationships between in neck can use botulinum safely selectively weaken ...

Botulinum toxin is the etiologic agent responsible for the disease botulism, which is characterized by peripheral neuromuscular blockade. Botulism is ordinarily encountered as a form of oral poisoning. The toxin is absorbed from the lumen of the gut to reach the general circulation and is then distributed to peripheral cholinergic nerve endings. However, there is a widespread presumption that b...

The effects of emetine on the association of T-2 toxin with Chinese hamster ovary cells were examined. T-2 toxin-cell association at both 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C was reduced by up to 90% after preincubation of cells with emetine. Emetine-induced reduction in T-2 toxin-cell association was time-, temperature-, and concentration-dependent. A 4-min preincubation with emetine at physiological ...

Beta-toxin is one of the lethal toxins of Clostridium perfringens. It shares sequence homology with the pore-forming alpha-toxin of Staphylococcus aureus and structural homology has been indicated by mutagenesis studies. Human endothelial cells are sensitive to the toxic effect of alpha-toxin and in order to investigate the function of beta-toxin we have looked at the effect of the protein on h...

Insect midgut membrane-anchored aminopeptidases N (APNs) are Zn(++) dependent metalloproteases. Their primary role in dietary protein digestion and also as receptors in Cry toxin-induced pathogenesis is well documented. APN expression in few non-gut hemocoelic tissues of lepidopteran insects has also been reported but their functions are widely unknown. In the present study, we observed specifi...

Anthrax lethal toxin, composed of protective antigen and lethal factor, was tested for cytotoxicity to human melanoma cell lines and normal human cells. Eleven of 18 melanoma cell lines were sensitive to anthrax lethal toxin (IC(50) < 400 pmol/L) and 10 of these 11 sensitive cell lines carried the V599E BRAF mutation. Most normal cell types (10 of 15) were not sensitive to anthrax lethal toxin ...

Protective immunity against anthrax is inferred from measurement of vaccine antigen-specific neutralizing antibody titers in serum samples. In animal models, in vivo challenges with toxin and/or spores can also be performed. However, neither of these approaches considers toxin-induced damage to specific organ systems. It is therefore important to determine to what extent anthrax vaccines and ex...

Electron microscopy was used to map the loci of immunochemically active sites on individual glycoprotein molecules. The positions of specific galactose residues and asparagine-linked carbohydrate chains containing specific mannose residues in epiglycanin, a glycoprotein of extended conformation from the surface of TA3 mouse mammary tumour cells, were observed in complexes with Ricinus communis ...