Summary
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1.
Botulinum toxin blocks neuromuscular transmission to the abductor superficialis muscle of the goldfish pectoral fin. Since the botulinum-paralysed muscles are still responsive to direct electrical stimulation and to carbachol it is probable that the toxin acts (at least partly) presynaptically. The actions of botulinum and tetanus toxins at this site are similar.
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2.
Tetanus toxin is fixed by nervous tissue and this fixation is due to gangliosides, in particular to those gangliosides containing two sialic acid residues joined to each other by a sialidase-sensitive bond. In contrast, botulinum toxin is not fixed by either nervous tissue or by gangliosides.
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3.
The implication of these findings for the role of the fixation of tetanus toxin by ganglioside in the mode of action of tetanus toxin are discussed.
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Mellanby, J., Thompson, P.A. & Hampden, N. On the similarity of tetanus and botulinum toxins. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 276, 303–310 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00499884
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00499884