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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Tetanus toxin, a member of the family of Clostridial neurotoxins, is one of the most potent toxins known. The crystal structure of the complex of the COOH-terminal fragment of the heavy chain with an analogue of its ganglioside receptor, GT1b, provides the first direct identification and characterization of the ganglioside-binding sites. The ganglioside induces cross-linking by binding to two distinct sites on the Hc molecule. The structure sheds new light on the binding of Clostridial neurotoxins to receptors on neuronal cells and provides important information relevant to the design of anti-tetanus and anti-botulism therapeutic agents.

The crystal structure of tetanus toxin Hc fragment complexed with a synthetic GT1b analogue suggests cross-linking between ganglioside receptors and the toxin.,Fotinou C, Emsley P, Black I, Ando H, Ishida H, Kiso M, Sinha KA, Fairweather NF, Isaacs NW J Biol Chem. 2001 Aug 24;276(34):32274-81. Epub 2001 Jun 19. PMID:11418600^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.