Title: Structure and trafficking potentials of Botulinum Neurotoxin in drug delivery

Authors: Nagarajan Thirunavukkarasu, Bal Ram Singh

Addresses: National Botulinum Research Center, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA. ' National Botulinum Research Center, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA

Abstract: Therapeutic options and drug targets for many neurological disorders are very limited. Clinical failure of potentially effective therapeutics, particularly to the CNS, is often not due to lack of potency but rather due to the shortcomings in the drug delivery methods. Clostridial toxins, viz., Tetanus and Botulinum neurotoxins, provide unique opportunities to fulfil some of these unmet requirements in drug delivery. However, clinical application of tetanus-toxin-derived fragments that have been tested in drug delivery, would be potentially limited due to general immunisation. Herein, we describe potential alternative of using non-toxic botulinum neurotoxin serotype A (BoNT/A) derivatives for neuronal drug delivery.

Keywords: botulinum neurotoxin serotype A; neurotherapeutics; neuronal drug delivery; retrograde trafficking; SCI; spinal cord injury; BoNT/A; BoNT; botulism.

DOI: 10.1504/TBJ.2010.039111

The Botulinum Journal, 2010 Vol.1 No.4, pp.349 - 357

Published online: 17 Mar 2011 *

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