Scientists finally know how the botulinum neurotoxin used in Botox enters cells. This could help develop an antidote for the paralysis that can be caused by high doses of the toxin
at the University of Queensland in Australia and his colleagues analysed how botulinum neurotoxin type A enters neurons using a technique called single-molecule imaging. This allowed them to capture the movement of molecules labelled with fluorescent dye.The researchers placed the toxin into a dish with neurons from rats. They trained one camera on the neurotoxin and another on receptors in the neuron membranes, also marked with different-coloured dyes.
Previously, it was believed only two receptors, called polysialoganglioside and synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 , were key to the toxin’s entry into cells. But as they tracked SV2’s response to the toxin, they saw it was moving in tandem with another receptor known as synaptotagmin 1 .Get the most essential health and fitness news in your inbox every Saturday.“We basically started to think, ‘oh, that’s bizarre’,” says Meunier.
The same was true when they genetically modified neurons to lack PSG, indicating all three receptors are needed for botulinum neurotoxin type A to infiltrate cells. Future drugs that block the three receptors from binding together could stop the toxin from infecting neurons, says Meunier. “By understanding more about the mechanism of cell entry, we are one step closer to preventing cell entry and preventing botulism,” says
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