Tetanus Toxin-Induced Effects on Extracellular Amino Acid Levels in Rat Hippocampus: An In Vivo Microdialysis Study

Abstract: Tetanus toxin is a potent neurotoxin that is widely considered to produce its effect through impairment of inhibitory neurotransmission. We report the effect of a single unilateral intrahippocampal injection of tetanus toxin on extracellular levels of neuroactive amino acids in freely moving rats, at times ranging between 1 and 7 days posttreatment. Tetanus toxin treatment did not alter extracellular levels of aspartate, glutamate, and taurine at any time during the study. However, although extracellular GABA levels were unaffected by toxin injection 1, 2, and 3 days after treatment, they were reduced (45 ± 8% of contralateral vehicle-injected level) at day 7. Challenge with a high K⁺ concentration, 7 days after treatment, produced elevations in extracellular levels of taurine and GABA in both vehicle- and toxin-injected hippocampi, with evoked levels of GABA being lower in the toxin-treated side (39 ± 16% of contralateral vehicle-injected level). Aspartate and glutamate levels were not increased by high-K⁺ infusion. These findings are discussed in relation to the possible role that an imbalance in excitatory/inhibitory tone may play in the production of tetanus toxin-induced neurodegeneration.     

Bafilomycin A1 Inhibits the Action of Tetanus Toxin in Spinal Cord Neurons in Cell Culture

Abstract: Tetanus toxin (TeNT) is one of the clostridial neurotoxins that act intracellularly to block neurotransmitter release. However, neither the route of entry nor the mechanism by which these toxins gain access to the neuronal cytoplasm has been established definitively. In murine spinal cord cell cultures, release of the neurotransmitter glycine is particularly sensitive to blockade by TeNT. To test whether TeNT enters neurons through acidic endosomes or is routed through the Golgi apparatus, toxin action on potassium-evoked glycine release was assayed in cultures pretreated with bafilomycin A1 (baf A1) or brefeldin A (BFA). baf A1, which inhibits the vacuolar-type H⁺-ATPase responsible for endosome acidification, diminishes the staining of acidic compartments and interferes with the action of TeNT in a dose-dependent manner. TeNT blockade of evoked glycine release is inhibited by 50 and 90% in cultures pretreated with 50 and 100 n M baf A1, respectively, compared with cultures treated with the inhibitor alone. The effects of baf A1 are fully reversible. In contrast, BFA, which disrupts Golgi function, has no effect on TeNT action. These findings provide evidence that TeNT enters the neuronal cytoplasm through baf A1-sensitive acidic compartments and that TeNT is not trafficked through the Golgi apparatus before its translocation into the neuronal cytosol.     

Tetanus toxin selectively impairs anti-tumoral but not anti-microbial macrophage-mediated effector functions

Abstract The present study was designed to establish the susceptibility of macrophage-mediated effector functions to tetanus toxin (TT). Using the murine macrophage cell line, GG2EE, generated in vitro by v- raf /v- myc oncogenes, we have previously provided evidence that TT selectively inhibits interferon gamma (IFN-γ), but not basal, lysozyme activity. Here we show that while neither phagocytic nor candidacidal activities are affected by TT treatment, antitumoral activity is significantly impaired after exposure to TT. This phenomenon, which is dose-dependent, is fully ascribed to the holotoxin, as heat inactivated TT, C or A-B fragments result ineffective. Furthermore, C but not A-B fragment competes with TT in abrogating its inhibitory effects. Overall, these data indicate that TT is not a broad-spectrum, down-regulating signal on macrophage-mediated functions, thus implying that its toxic action is exerted on specific molecular targets.     

Effect of Tetanus Toxin on Transmitter Release from the Substantia Nigra and Striatum In Vitro

Abstract: The effect of tetanus toxin on the uptake and release of radiolabelled transmitters from slices prepared from substantia nigra (SN) and striatum of rats has been investigated. Tetanus toxin-500–750 mouse lethal doses (MLD)-injected into the SN 6 h before preparing the slices significantly reduced the calcium-dependent, potassium-evoked release of [³H]GABA. Endogenous GABA levels in the SN and [³H]GABA uptake by nigral slices were unaffected by pretreatment with the toxin. Injections of tetanus toxin (1000–2000 MLD) into the striatum significantly reduced the calcium-dependent, potassium-evoked release of [¹⁴C]GABA and also [³H]dopamine, but had no effect on the K⁺-evoked release of [³H]5-hydroxytryptamine or [¹⁴C]acetylcholine. It is concluded that tetanus toxin inhibits GABA release directly and not by interference with synthesis or inactivation processes.     

有机溶剂/去污剂病毒灭活处理对破伤风抗毒素质量的影响

目的 探索用有机溶剂/去污剂(solvent/detergent, S/D)病毒灭活处理对破伤风抗毒素质量的影响。方法 3批破伤风抗毒素样品,每批样品取3等份,向其中2份中分别加入磷酸三丁酯(tri- n -butylphosphate, TNBP)和吐温-80(Tween 80)至终质量分数为0.3%和1%;一份放置在(25±1)℃水浴中振摇6 h后取样,另一份放置在(30±1)℃水浴中振摇4 h后取样;向第3份破伤风抗毒素原液中加入等量的生理盐水混匀后室温放置作为对照。各样品经超滤后检测其效价和蛋白质含量,同时用SDS-PAGE电泳和凝胶过滤色谱柱测定。结果 破伤风抗毒素原液样品经过S/D病毒灭活处理后,其动物效价与对照相比差异无统计学意义( P >0.05),蛋白质含量、分子大小分布无明显变化,多聚体、二聚体及F(ab′) 2含量也无明显变化。结论 S/D病毒灭活处理对破伤风抗毒素的效价,蛋白质含量,分子大小分布,多聚体、二聚体及F(ab′) 2含量均无明显影响,可以作为破伤风抗毒素病毒灭活的候选方法。     

Tetanus Toxin Enhances Protein Kinase C Activity Translocation and Increases Polyphosphoinositide Hydrolysis in Rat Cerebral Cortex Preparations

Abstract: Tetanus toxin (TeTx) has been recently demonstrated to be a Zn²⁺-dependent endopeptidase that cleaves synaptobrevin, a protein in part responsible for neurotransmitter release. Nevertheless, certain aspects of TeTx action, for example, the causal relationship between TeTx and protein kinase C (PKC; EC 2.7.1.37) activity cannot be explained by this cleavage alone. In the present study, primary neurons from fetal rat brain, synaptosomes, and whole slices have been used to examine this issue. Low doses of TeTx (≤ 10^?8M) caused PKC activity translocation in a manner similar to that produced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA). TPA (≤ 10^?7M) caused sustained PKC activity translocation, whereas TeTx produced translocation followed by relocation, depending on the dose and time of exposure. Immunoidentification with a monoclonal antibody recognizing both α and β isoforms revealed that TeTx induced moderate losses of PKC in the cytosolic fraction, without a comparable increase in the particulate fraction. Although moderate losses of activity were also noticed in the cytosolic fraction, the inconsistency with respect to activity translocation may be explained by translocation of additional PKC isoforms that are not identified by the antibody. Comparable levels of water-soluble inositol phosphate-labeled intermediates were obtained after treatment of cerebral cells and/or cortical brain slices with TeTx. Significant increases of 19 and 114% in the water-soluble myo-[2-³H]inositol-labeled inositol phosphate metabolites were found in cerebral cell culture and brain slices, respectively, after treatment with 10^?8M TeTx. TeTx (10^?8M) increased to the same degree the water-soluble inositol phosphate levels as did serotonin (10^?5M) or carbachol (10^?6M). It is suggested that part of the signaling cascade of TeTx consists of a component involving inositol phospholipid hydrolysis, which is associated with PKC activity translocation.     

Collaborative study for the calibration of a replacement International Standard for Tetanus Toxoid Adsorbed

We present the results of a collaborative study for the establishment of a replacement International Standard (IS) for Tetanus Toxoid Adsorbed. Two candidate preparations were included in the study, one of which was established as the 4th IS for Tetanus Toxoid Adsorbed at the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization meeting in October 2010. This preparation was found to have a unitage of 490 IU/ampoule, based on calibration in guinea pig challenge assays. Results from mouse challenge assays suggest that the relative performance of two candidate preparations may differ significantly between guinea pigs and mice. The authors note that the number of laboratories that performed guinea pig challenge assays, which are used to calibrate and assign IU, is much lower than in previous collaborative studies and this may have implications for calibration of replacement standards in the future. The issue of assigning separate units to the IS for guinea pig and mouse assays is discussed. The study also assessed performance of the replacement standard in serological assays which are used as alternative procedures to challenge assays for tetanus potency testing. Results suggest that the replacement standard is suitable for use as the reference vaccine in serological assays.     

Sexual dimorphism in the induction of LTP: critical role of tetanizing stimulation

Numerous studies have suggested that sexual dimorphism may exist in learning and memory, particularly in types involving the hippocampus. In the present study, we examined the effects of two different tetani on the induction of long-term potentiation in the CA1 region of hippocampal slices from adult female and male rats to determine the sexual differences in their responses to tetanizing stimulation. We found that the induction of LTP is sex-dependent, and that there were clear sexual differences in the responses to different tetanus patterns, but not impulse number or stimulation frequency. Multiple trains of tetani were more effective in the indution of LTP in male rats than in female ones. These findings suggest that male rats can react to a broader range of tetanizing stimulation compared with female rats. Based on our results and the findings of other studies, we propose that the interaction of gonadal hormones with Ca2+/NMDAR and the subsequent regulation of the ERK/MAP kinase pathway are critical mechanisms for sexual dimorphism in the induction of LTP.     

Functional impairment of CD4 T cells despite normalization of T cell number in HIV

Using an in vitro model, we demonstrate that when CD4 T cells from HIV infected subjects are enriched from total blood lymphocytes the immune response to antigen is augmented. However, augmentation of this response is confined to HIV infected subjects with relatively preserved CD4 T cell counts. Enriching for CD4 T cells had no effect on antigen responses in patients with low CD4 lymphocyte counts. These findings support the concept that CD4 T cells in late stage HIV have inherent qualitative defects.