Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin,which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The disease begins with weakness,blurred vision,feeling tired,and trouble speaking. This may then be followed by weakness of the arms,chest muscles,and legs. Vomiting,swelling of the abdomen,and diarrhea may also occur. The disease does not usually affect consciousness or cause a fever.
Botulinum toxin,or botulinum neurotoxin,is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endings at the neuromuscular junction,thus causing flaccid paralysis. The toxin causes the disease botulism. The toxin is also used commercially for medical and cosmetic purposes. Botulinum toxin is an acetylcholine release inhibitor and a neuromuscular blocking agent.
Clostridium botulinum is a gram-positive,rod-shaped,anaerobic,spore-forming,motile bacterium with the ability to produce botulinum toxin,which is a neurotoxin.
Tetanus,also known as lockjaw,is a bacterial infection caused by Clostridium tetani and characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type,the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually lasts for a few minutes. Spasms occur frequently for three to four weeks. Some spasms may be severe enough to fracture bones. Other symptoms of tetanus may include fever,sweating,headache,trouble swallowing,high blood pressure,and a fast heart rate. The onset of symptoms is typically 3 to 21 days following infection. Recovery may take months;about 10% of cases prove to be fatal.
Tetanus toxin (TeNT) is an extremely potent neurotoxin produced by the vegetative cell of Clostridium tetani in anaerobic conditions,causing tetanus. It has no known function for clostridia in the soil environment where they are normally encountered. It is also called spasmogenic toxin,tentoxilysin,tetanospasmin,or tetanus neurotoxin. The LD50 of this toxin has been measured to be approximately 2.5–3 ng/kg,making it second only to the related botulinum toxin (LD50 2 ng/kg) as the deadliest toxin in the world. However,these tests are conducted solely on mice,which may react to the toxin differently from humans and other animals.
The University of Freiburg,officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg,is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau,Baden-Württemberg,Germany. The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the second university in Austrian-Habsburg territory after the University of Vienna. Today,Freiburg is the fifth-oldest university in Germany,with a long tradition of teaching the humanities,social sciences and natural sciences and technology and enjoys a high academic reputation both nationally and internationally. The university is made up of 11 faculties and attracts students from across Germany as well as from over 120 other countries. Foreign students constitute about 18.2% of total student numbers.
Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nerve tissue. Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insults that can adversely affect function in both developing and mature nervous tissue. The term can also be used to classify endogenous compounds,which,when abnormally contacted,can prove neurologically toxic. Though neurotoxins are often neurologically destructive,their ability to specifically target neural components is important in the study of nervous systems. Common examples of neurotoxins include lead,ethanol,glutamate,nitric oxide,botulinum toxin,tetanus toxin,and tetrodotoxin. Some substances such as nitric oxide and glutamate are in fact essential for proper function of the body and only exert neurotoxic effects at excessive concentrations.
A neuromuscular junction is a chemical synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle fiber.
SNARE proteins –"SNAPREceptors" –are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts and more than 60 members in mammalian and plant cells. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to mediate the fusion of vesicles with the target membrane;this notably mediates exocytosis,but can also mediate the fusion of vesicles with membrane-bound compartments. The best studied SNAREs are those that mediate the release of synaptic vesicles containing neurotransmitters in neurons. These neuronal SNAREs are the targets of the neurotoxins responsible for botulism and tetanus produced by certain bacteria.
The University of Konstanz is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg,Germany. Its main campus was opened on the Gießberg in 1972 after being founded in 1966. The university is Germany's southernmost university and is situated on the shore of Lake Constance just four kilometres from the Swiss border. It has been successful in the Excellence Initiative.
The Medical University of Graz is a medical university in Austria that has been in existence since 1 January 2004,and has been a part of the Karl-Franzens University of Graz as a medical faculty since 1863.
Taipoxin is a potent myo- and neurotoxin that was isolated from the venom of the coastal taipan Oxyuranus scutellatus or also known as the common taipan. Taipoxin like many other pre-synaptic neurotoxins are phospholipase A2 (PLA2) toxins,which inhibit/complete block the release of the motor transmitter acetylcholine and lead to death by paralysis of the respiratory muscles (asphyxia). It is the most lethal neurotoxin isolated from any snake venom to date.
BmKAEP is a neurotoxin from the venom of the Manchurian scorpion (Mesobuthus martensii). It is a β-toxin,which shift the activation voltage of sodium channels towards more negative potentials.
György Buzsáki is the Biggs Professor of Neuroscience at New York University School of Medicine.
Astrid Epiney,born Wander is a German-Swiss jurist. She is professor of international law,European law and Swiss public law at the University of Fribourg,and became its first female rector in 2015.
Crotoxin (CTX) is the main toxic compound in the snake venom of the South American rattlesnake,Crotalus durissus terrificus. Crotoxin is a heterodimeric beta-neurotoxin,composed of an acidic,non-toxic and non-enzymatic subunit (CA),and a basic,weakly toxic,phospholipase A2 protein (CB). This neurotoxin causes paralysis by both pre- and postsynaptic blocking of acetylcholine signalling.
Konrad Karl Erich Bodo Wilhelm Dirk Dressler is a German neurologist and psychiatrist. He is Full Professor of Neurology at Hannover Medical School. His research focus is neurological movement disorders and the development and introduction of the botulinum toxin therapy.
Katharina Holzinger is a German political scientist with a focus on international politics. Since 2021,she is the Rector of the University of Konstanz.
Tb1 is a neurotoxin that is naturally found in the venom of the Brazilian scorpion Tityus bahiensis. Presumably by acting on voltage-gated sodium channels,it triggers excessive glutamate release,which can lead to both behavioral and electrographic epileptiform alterations,as well as neuronal injury.
Pseudonajatoxin b,or Pt-b,is a highly potent and lethal long-chain α-neurotoxin found in the venom of the eastern brown snake. While the pharmacodynamics of pseudonajatoxin b are currently undocumented,α-neurotoxins are known to cause neuromuscular paralysis by blocking cholinergic neurotransmission.
