ISSN:
1432-1912
Keywords:
Tetanus Toxin
;
Iodine Labelling
;
Central Nervous System
;
Receptors
;
Antitoxin
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary 1. Lyophilized homogenate of rat brain binds 125I-labelled tetanus toxin better than does homogenate from spinal cord. This is in contrast to the in vivo behaviour of the toxin where it is bound only to spinal cord. Liver homogenate does not fix the toxin. 2. Autoradiography of preincubated slices from spinal cord shows that the radioactivity is evenly and nearly exclusively bound to gray matter. 3. Maximally 40% of the labelled material interacts with brain homogenate. The toxicity of the remaining supernatant is much more reduced than is its radio-activity. 125I-toxoid, prepared from labelled toxin by treatment with formol, is bound only very weakly. Thus we assume that our toxin preparation is already partially toxoided, and that binding to CNS matter bears some relevance to toxicity. 4. The fixation of the labelled toxin is reversible. The degree of reversibility depends on the conditions used. Binding can be nearly completely reversed or prevented by treatment with antitoxin, but not more than 50% of the binding is reversed by treatment with unlabelled toxin. Repeated washings also remove the bulk of the initially bound toxin. Thus binding sites with different affinities are to be assumed. 5. A complex between ganglioside and cerebroside binds the labelled toxin more firmly than does brain homogenate. No competition between unlabelled and labelled toxin has been observed for this solid phase. Antitoxin nearly completely prevents and largely reverses the fixation of labelled toxin. 6. On the basis of the selective, competitive reactivity of labelled and unlabelled tetanus toxin with brain matter, a radio receptor assay has been developed. It can be used for the measurement of tetanus toxin down to 5 ng. 7. Gradient centrifugation of sucrose homogenates preincubated with labelled toxin reveals one peak of radioactivity in the fractions where the synaptosomes are to be expected; the larger part of the toxin remains, however, unevenly distributed near the starting volume. 8. Desoxycholate solubilizes the complex between labelled toxin and brain matter with parallel dissolution of brain proteins. 9. Neither brain nor spinal cord homogenates degrade labelled toxin into TCA-soluble fragments at pH 7.5. Partial degradation occurs, however, at pH 3.5.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00499888
