Neurotrophic Effects of Clostridium Toxin C3 (Toxins 2002)

Subject: Neurotrophic Effects of Clostridium Toxin C3 (Toxins 2002)

Date: 6/15/2002

E-MOVE reports from the International Conference 2002: Basic and Therapeutic Aspects of Botulinum and Tetanus Toxins. Poster (P) and page (R) numbers are from Naunyn Schmiederberg's Archives of Pharmacology 2002;365(supplement 2).

Novel neurobiological activity of botulinum C3 exoenzyme and its potential therapeutic use
G Ahnert-Hilger, G Grosse, G Pickert, M Holtje, F Hofmann, I Just
P2; R9

An enzyme from Clostridium botulinum may be neurotrophic, according to this study.

The C3 exoenzyme of C. botulinum does not translocate into cells, and is not thought to be neurotoxic in nature. Nanomolar quantities applied extracellularly to hippocampal cultures increased axon length and sprouting by more than 30%. This effect was also seen with catalytically inactivated enzyme. Growth of hippocampal cells was not stimulated when cells were transfected with the C3 enzyme, indicating the trophic effect is due to extracellular action, possibly as a ligand for a neurotrophic factor. In contrast, glial cell growth and sprouting was stimulated only by active C3, presumably by its normal enzymatic action as an ADP-ribosyltransferase. The authors suggest C3 may be a valuable tool in the development of neurotrophic drugs.

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2002 E-MOVE conference reports are made possible in part through unrestricted educational grants from Elan Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pharmacia Corporation.

E-MOVE Editor: Richard Robinson, NASW, WE MOVE

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