Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and DNA sequence analysis of 26 strains of Group II (nonproteolytic) Clostridium botulinum type B4 showed that 23 strains carried their neurotoxin gene cluster on a 47-63 kb plasmid (three strains lacked any hybridization signal for the neurotoxin gene, presumably having lost their plasmid). Unexpectedly, no neurotoxin genes were found on the chromosome. This ap...

Clostridium botulinum neurotoxins are used to treat a variety of neuro-muscular disorders, as well as in cosmetology. The increased demand requires efficient methods for the production and purification of these toxins. In this study, a new purification process was developed for purifying type B neurotoxin. The kinetics of C.botulinum strain growth and neurotoxin production were determined for m...

We examined the reactivities of Clostridium butyricum neurotoxin to nine monoclonal antibodies against Clostridium botulinum type E neurotoxin which recognize the light chain or the amino-terminal half (H-1 fragment) or the carboxyl-terminal half (H-2 fragment) of the heavy chain of botulinum neurotoxin. Butyricum neurotoxin and its derived chains did not react to two of four monoclonal antibod...

BACKGROUND Botulinum toxin A has been successfully used in a variety of areas to temporarily obliterate muscle mobility for either functional or aesthetic gain. Tissue expander-based breast reconstruction has been plagued with pain and discomfort. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the role of a neurotoxin (Botulinum toxin A) in expander-based breast reconstruction. M...

We have shown previously that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has trophic effects on dopaminergic neurons in vitro. We now examined a mouse neuroblastoma cell line, NB41, for its response to PDGF and studied their phenotypic characteristics following introduction of an antisense PDGF beta-receptor RNA. NB41 cells produce both PDGF-AA and -BB; however, they carry only PDGF beta-receptors, ...

recombinant proteins are tending to be the most favorable vaccine-candidates against botulism. recombinant carboxy-terminal of botulinum neurotoxin serotype e (rbont/e-hcc) has been introduced as an efficient vaccine against botulism type e. in this report, we made an effort to investigate the effect of different ph on protein structure to assess if rbont/e-hcc could be used as a vaccine for or...

background: foodborne botulism (fbb) is a rare paralyzing disease caused by ingestion of foods contaminated with botulinum neurotoxin (bont). it is still a health concern in many countries. this study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of fbb in west azerbaijan province, iran. methods: botulism surveillance data of the health deputy of urmia medical sciences university, northwestern iran was...

Background: Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) complexes consist of neurotoxin and neurotoxin-associated proteins. Hemagglutinin-33 (HA-33) is a member of BoNT type A (BoNT/A) complex. Considering the protective role of HA-33 in preservation of BoNT/A in gastrointestinal harsh conditions and also its adjuvant role, recombinant production of this protein is favorable. Thus in this study, HA-33 was expr...

It has been suggested that an inhibitory ECM containing chondroitin-6-sulfate proteoglycan (C-6S-PG) and tenascin (TN), which appears homogeneously in the core of the OB following afferent fiber arrival, helps position ingrowing olfactory axons in the prospective glomerular layer (GL) (Gonzalez and Silver, 1992; Gonzalez et al., 1993). Later, a similar ECM associated with astrocytes envelopes a...