Adsorption of Tetanus Toxin by Sub-cellular Fractions of Rabbit Brain Homogenate

Wassermann and Takaki 1 , and others 2 , have reported that brain mince adsorbs tetanus toxin while minces of organs other than brain and spinal cord fail to do so. Van Heyningen 3 elucidated the chemical basis for the adsorption phenomenon by showing that tetanus toxin binds directly to brain gangliosides, provided that carboxyl groups of sialic acid residues in the ganglioside are free to interact with the toxin. Little information is available, however, concerning the specific sub-structures of the neurone and/or glial cell involved in the interaction of brain ganglioside and tetanus toxin in vivo . In view of the fact that the histo-pathological changes in brain and cord cells of tetanus-intoxicated animals are non-specific, and are slight, or frequently absent in humans 4 , any information concerning the binding of the toxic agent to specific cell structures might prove helpful in understanding the mechanism of its neurotoxic action.