Structural Diversity of Botulinum Toxin

肉毒梭菌产生的肉毒神经毒素（BoNT）是最强的毒素之一 疾病控制和预防中心（CDC）已将其归类为潜在的生物武器，A类，因为其极强的效力和致命性，易于生产和运输，并且需要对受影响的人进行长期的重症监护。该项目参与了一项合作，重点是毒素的各种血清型和亚型，总体目标是在DMA和蛋白质水平上表征这些变体，并深入了解神经毒素的作用。我们将重点关注三个主要研究领域：（1）通过确定毒素与细胞识别受体分子复合物的结构，继续加深我们对细胞受体识别和结合过程以及易位过程的理解，（2）详细了解最近开发的抗体（Ab）如何工作以及我们如何改进它们，以及（3）使用基于结构的方法设计下一代广谱诊断抗体（致力于一种抗体识别多种毒素亚型和血清型）。该研究将表征一些BoNT变体，以评估它们对诊断和治疗发展的影响，并了解生物学作用的差异。除了这些结构，该项目还将生产高度纯化的蛋白质样品，这些样品将提供给其合作者和生物防御联盟的其他工作人员。

The botulinum neurotoxins, BoNTs, produced by Clostridium botulinum are among the most potent toxins known to man. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified it as a potential bioweapon, Category A, because of its extreme potency and lethality, its ease of production and transport, and the need for prolonged intensive care among affected persons. This project participates on a collaboration focusing on the various serotypes and subtypes of the toxin with the overall goal of characterizing these variants at the DMA and protein level and developing a deeper understanding of neurotoxin action. We will focus on three major research areas: (1) continuing to deepen our understanding of the cell receptor recognition and binding processes as well as the translocation process by determining the structures of the toxin in complex with cell recognition receptor molecules, (2) developing a detailed understanding on how the recently developed antibodies (Abs), work and how we can then improve them, and (3) using structurebased approaches engineer the next generation broad spectrum diagnostic antibodies (working towards one antibody to recognize multiple toxin subtypes and serotypes). The study will characterize a number of BoNT variants to assess their impact on the development of diagnostics and therapeutics and to understand differences in biological action. In addition to the structures, the project will also produce highly purified protein samples that will be made available to its collaborators and other workers in the biodefense consortium.