The question whether general tetanus arises from the independent sum of multiple local tetani or results from the actions of the transynaptic tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) in higher brain centres remains unresolved. Despite the blood-borne dissemination of TeNT from an infected wound, the access to the central nervous system is probably prevented by the blood-brain barrier. However, several long-te...

Axonal retrograde transport is essential for neuronal growth and survival. However, the nature and dynamics of the membrane compartments involved in this process are poorly characterized. To shed light on this pathway, we established an experimental system for the visualization and the quantitative study of retrograde transport in living motor neurons based on a fluorescent fragment of tetanus ...

Tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) is a powerful bacterial protein toxin that cleaves VAMP/synaptobrevin, an essential protein of the synaptic vesicle fusion machinery, and consequently blocks neurotransmission. The extreme neurospecificity of TeNT is determined by the binding of its C-terminal domain (fragment C or H(C)) to neuronal receptors. Whereas polysialogangliosides are known acceptors for the t...

Tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) consists of two protein chains connected by a disulfide linkage: The heavy chain mediates the toxin binding and uptake by neurons, whereas the light chain cleaves synaptobrevin and thus blocks neurotransmitter release.Chemically inactivated TeNT (tetanus toxoid) is utilized for the production of tetanus vaccines. For safety reasons, each toxoid bulk has to be tested fo...

The C fragment of tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT-Hc) with different conformations was observed due to the four cysteine residues within it which could form different intramolecular disulfide bonds. In this study, we prepared and compared three types of monomeric TeNT-Hc with different conformational components: free sulfhydryls (50 kDa), bound sulfhydryls (44 kDa), and a mixture of the two conformati...

Different VAMP/synaptobrevin complexes for spontaneous and evoked transmitter release at the crayfish neuromuscular junction. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 3233-3246, 1998. Although vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP/synaptobrevin) is essential for evoked neurotransmitter release, its role in spontaneous transmitter release remains uncertain. For instance, many studies show that tetanus toxin (Te...

Although European countries differ widely in their approach to psychotrauma and its consequences, with 20 years of European psychotraumatology in the form of the European Society for Traumatic Studies (ESTSS) there is now increasing dissemination of evidence-based care reaching more and more professionals and scholars in Europe. The society has moved forward to become a European umbrella organi...

In this paper, statistical analysis of watermarking schemes based on correlation detection is presented. Statistical properties of watermark sequences generated by piecewise-linear Markov maps are exploited, resulting in superior watermark detection reliability. Correlation/spectral properties of such sequences are easily controllable, a fact that affects the watermarking system performance. A ...