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Botulinum neurotoxin serotype C (BoNT/C) is a neuroparalytic toxin associated with outbreaks of animal botulism, particularly in birds, and is the only BoNT known to cleave two different SNARE proteins, SNAP-25 and syntaxin. BoNT/C was shown to be a good substitute for BoNT/A1 in human dystonia therapy because of its long lasting effects and absence of neuromuscular damage. Two triple mutants of BoNT/C, namely BoNT/C S51T/R52N/N53P (BoNT/C α-51) and BoNT/C L200W/M221W/I226W (BoNT/C α-3W), were recently reported to selectively cleave syntaxin and have been used here to evaluate the individual contribution of SNAP-25 and syntaxin cleavage to the effect of BoNT/C in vivo. Although BoNT/C α-51 and BoNT/C α-3W toxins cleave syntaxin with similar efficiency, we unexpectedly found also cleavage of SNAP-25, although to a lesser extent than wild type BoNT/C. Interestingly, the BoNT/C mutants exhibit reduced lethality compared to wild type toxin, a result that correlated with their residual activity against SNAP-25. In spite of this, a local injection of BoNT/C α-51 persistently impairs neuromuscular junction activity. This is due to an initial phase in which SNAP-25 cleavage causes a complete blockade of neurotransmission, and to a second phase of incomplete impairment ascribable to syntaxin cleavage. Together, these results indicate that neuroparalysis of BoNT/C at the neuromuscular junction is due to SNAP-25 cleavage, while the proteolysis of syntaxin provides a substantial, but incomplete, neuromuscular impairment. In light of this evidence, we discuss a possible clinical use of BoNT/C α-51 as a botulinum neurotoxin endowed with a wide safety margin and a long lasting effect.

Botulinum neurotoxins translocate their enzymatic domain across vesicular membranes. The molecular triggers of this process are unknown. Here, we tested the possibility that this is elicited by protonation of conserved surface carboxylates. Glutamate-48, glutamate-653 and aspartate-877 were identified as possible candidates and changed into amide. This triple mutant showed increased neurotoxicity due to faster cytosolic delivery of the enzymatic domain; membrane translocation could take place at less acidic pH. Thus, neutralisation of specific negative surface charges facilitates membrane contact permitting a faster initiation of the toxin membrane insertion., (Copyright © 2013 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Botulinum neurotoxins types B, D, F, and G, and tetanus neurotoxin inhibit vesicular fusion via proteolytic cleavage of VAMP/Synaptobrevin, a core component of the membrane fusion machinery. Thus, these neurotoxins became widely used tools for investigating vesicular trafficking routes. Except for VAMP-1, VAMP-2, and Cellubrevin, no other member of the VAMP family represents a substrate for these neurotoxins. The molecular basis for this discrepancy is not known. A 34 amino acid residue segment of VAMP-2 was previously suggested to mediate the interaction with botulinum neurotoxin B, but the validity of the data was later questioned. To check whether this segment alone controls the susceptibility toward botulinum neurotoxin B, it was used to replace the corresponding segment in TI-VAMP. The resulting VAMP hybrid and VAMP-2 were hydrolysed at virtually identical rates. Resetting the VAMP-2 portion in the hybrid from either end to TI-VAMP residues gradually reduced the cleavability. A hybrid encompassing merely the VAMP-2 segment 71-80 around the Gln76/Phe77 scissile bond was still hydrolysed, albeit at a approximately tenfold lower cleavage rate. The contribution of each non-conserved amino acid of the whole 34-mer segment to the interaction was investigated employing VAMP-2. We find that the eight non-conserved residues of the 71-80 segment are all necessary for efficient cleavage. Mutation of an additional six residues located upstream and downstream of this segment affects substrate hydrolysis as well. Vice versa, a readily cleavable TI-VAMP molecule requires at the least the replacement of Ile158, Thr161, and the section 165-174 by Asp64, Ala67, and the 71-80 segment of VAMP-2, respectively. However, the insensitivity of TI-VAMP to botulinum neurotoxin B relies on at least 12 amino acid changes versus VAMP-2. These are scattered along an interface of 22 amino acid residues in length.

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) induce muscle paralysis by selectively entering cholinergic motoneurons and subsequent specific cleavage of core components of the vesicular fusion machinery. Complex gangliosides are requisite for efficient binding to neuronal cells, but protein receptors are critical for internalization. Recent work evidenced that synaptotagmins I and II can function as protein receptors for BoNT/B (Dong, M., Richards, D. A., Goodnough, M. C., Tepp, W. H., Johnson, E. A., and Chapman, E. R. (2003) J. Cell Biol. 162, 1293-1303). Here, we report the protein receptor for a second BoNT serotype. Like BoNT/B, BoNT/G employs synaptotagmins I and II to enter phrenic nerve cells. Using pull-down assays we show that only BoNT/G, but neither the five remaining BoNTs nor tetanus neurotoxin, interacts with synaptotagmins I and II. In contrast to BoNT/B, interactions with both isoforms are independent of the presence of gangliosides. Peptides derived from the luminal domain of synaptotagmin I and II are capable of blocking the neurotoxicity of BoNT/G in phrenic nerve preparations. Pull-down and neutralization assays further established the membrane-juxtaposed 10 luminal amino acids of synaptotagmins I and II as the critical segment for neurotoxin binding. In addition, we show that the carboxyl-terminal domain of the cell binding fragment of BoNT/B and BoNT/G mediates the interaction with their protein receptor.