Retargeting the Clostridium botulinum C2 toxin to the neuronal cytosol.

ABSTRACT: Many biological toxins are known to attack specific cell types, delivering their enzymatic payloads to the cytosol. This process can be manipulated by molecular engineering of chimeric toxins. Using toxins with naturally unlinked components as a starting point is advantageous because it allows for the development of payloads separately from the binding/translocation components. Here the Clostridium botulinum C2 binding/translocation domain was retargeted to neural cell populations by deleting its non-specific binding domain and replacing it with a C. botulinum neurotoxin binding domain. This fusion protein was used to deliver fluorescently labeled payloads to Neuro-2a cells. Intracellular delivery was quantified by flow cytometry and found to be dependent on artificial enrichment of cells

SUBMITTER: Pavlik BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4812341 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature