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Tetanus Toxin in Dissociated Spinal Cord Cultures: Long‐Term Characterization of Form and Action
Author(s) -
Habig William H.,
Bigalke Hans,
Bergey Gregory K.,
Neale Elaine A.,
Hardegree M. Carolyn,
Nelson Phillip G.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1986.tb00700.x
Subject(s) - tetanus , toxin , spinal cord , term (time) , action (physics) , neuroscience , biology , chemistry , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , vaccination , quantum mechanics
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.