Research on clostridial neurotoxins provides a recent illustration of how medical research can spark fundamental breakthroughs in basic science. Clostridia are anaerobic bacilli that live in dust, soil, vegetation, and the gastrointestinal tract of animals and humans. Most are benign, but the pathogenic species produce potent neural toxins. In addition to their involvement in disease and germ warfare, interest in these toxins has increased within the basic research community with the appreciation that these agents can be used as precise experimental tools for dissecting the molecular basis of synaptic transmission, which is without question the most essential process in the nervous system.
Keywords: Botulinum toxin; Synaptic transmission; Synaptotagmin; Syntaxin; Tetanus toxin; VAMP.