L. Coen et al., CONSTRUCTION OF HYBRID PROTEINS THAT MIGRATE RETROGRADELY AND TRANSSYNAPTICALLY INTO THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 94(17), 1997, pp. 9400-9405
The nontoxic proteolytic C fragment of tetanus toxin (TTC peptide) has
the same ability to bind nerve cells and be retrogradely transported
through a synapse as the native toxin, We have investigated its potent
ial use as an in vivo neurotropic carrier, In this work we show that a
hybrid protein encoded by the lacZ-TTC gene fusion retains the biolog
ical functions of both proteins in vivo-i.e., retrograde transynaptic
transport of the TTC fragment and beta-galactosidase enzymatic activit
y. After intramuscular injection, enzymatic activity could be detected
in motoneurons and connected neurons of tile brainstem areas, This st
rategy could be used to deliver a biological activity to neurons from
the periphery to the central nervous system, Such a hybrid protein cou
ld also be used to map synaptic connections between neural cells.