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Function

Clostridium botulinum is a rod-shaped, spore-forming bacteria that is highly pathogenic. These bacteria are prevalent in soils, sediments, and aquatic environments. The botulinum toxins decrease or prevent nerve function which leads to respiratory and muscular paralysis. The spores within the C. botulinum grow an abundance of active bacteria and transform into neurotoxins to produce Botulinum Neurotoxin or Botulinum Toxin- one of the most toxic proteins known to exist. There are four types of botulism that are associated with the bacteria, Clostridium botulinum. These include food, wound, infant botulism, and inhalation botulism.

Disease

How Botox is being used to treat migraines? A migraine is a severe headache that results in throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation on one side of the head. It can last from hours to days and is followed by multiple symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. In recent studies, it was found that Botulinum neurotoxins A or Botox is being used to stop the migraines signals and leading factors to stop a migraine from occurring at all. A medical professional uses Botox to inject into seven specific areas around the head and surrounding the neck. Those areas include the forehead, bridge of the nose, the temples, the neck, the back of the head, and above the shoulder blades in the upper back, leading to around thirty-one injections within each treatment. Typically a person with a migraine would get nearly 4 treatments per year.

How Botox is being used to treat Cervical dystonia? This disease is also known by the name Spasmodic Torticollis in which the neck muscles involuntarily contract. The neck contraction causes the head to twist and move to the side, and tilt forward or backward uncontrollably. Jerking movement could be chin toward the shoulder, ear toward the shoulder, chin straight up, chin straight down. Botox can be a temporary treatment by preventing the nerve signals that cause the spontaneous muscle spasms from getting to the dystonic muscles thus putting a stop to the involuntary spasms.

How Botox is being used to treat Sialorrhea? Sialorrhea is producing excessive saliva or drooling involuntarily. This problem is mostly found in neurologically affected children such as cerebral palsy patients and in adults who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In some cases, excessive salivation may be present in patients who have had a stroke. This is most commonly caused by an inability to have full control of the oral and facial muscles. Botox is injected into the salivary glands to temporarily decrease saliva output.

How is Botox used in the cosmetic world? A greater majority of the time, Botox is inserted into the skin via a syringe. Cosmetic procedures are the most common use of Botox applications. Once the liquid botox is inserted into the skin, the muscle contracts and is unable to move. Botox can be used for facial wrinkles, frown lines, forehead lines, top of the nose (bunny lines), etc. to improve or enhance facial features.

Structural highlights

Consists of a heavy chain (100 kDa) and light chain (50 kDa) which are linked together by a single disulfide bond. It is a 150- kDa molecular weight protein that inhibits the release of acetylcholine by blocking the neuromuscular communications and transmissions on motor and sympathetic nerve terminals. The heavy chain binds at the pre-synaptic surface of cholinergic neurons. They bind one way and are irreversible. Endocytosis allows for the toxin receptor- complex to be sent into the cell after binding. The botulism toxin enters the cytoplasm after the disulfide bond between the two chains is broken. The light chain interacts with SNAP-25 (needed for binding/ attachment and release of ACH from vesicles) specifically at the nerve terminal to prevent binding of acetylcholine vesicles with the cell membrane.

"Botulinum toxin is a that acts on vulnerable cells to cleave polypeptides that are essential for exocytosis"(Simpson)