Abstract
Rolling disease has been produced and studied in rats and mice, using the exotoxin of the A strain of Mycoplasma neurolyticum. The primary lesion of the brain consists of spongiform degeneration, associated with vesicle formation in the cortex and underlying white matter of the cerebral hemispheres, and in the molecular layer of the cerebellum. The brains of animals surviving 2 days or longer show extensive necrotizing lesions resembling ischemic necrosis, in both cerebral hemispheres. The brains of rats and mice with rolling disease become deeply stained by intraperitoneally injected trypan blue, indicating early disruption of the blood brain barrier. The toxin appears to be a thermolabile protein with a molecular weight exceeding 200,000. It is only active when injected by vein, and causes no disease when injected intracerebrally, intraperitoneally or subcutaneously, suggesting the existence of specific receptors within the vascular bed of the central nervous system. Protection is afforded by rabbit antibody against the toxin, but only when antibody is injected within less than 3 min after intravenous injection of toxin, indicating rapid fixation to receptors in the brain. The toxin is inactivated by incubation for 10 min at 37°C with suspensions of the sedimentable component of normal brain. The inactivating factor in brain sediment is very thermostable, not affected by trypsin, and eliminated by treatment with periodate. Similar inactivation of toxin is demonstrable with water-soluble gangliosides of brain. A theoretical concept to explain the action of the toxin is proposed.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (942.5 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- ALDRIDGE W. N. Liver and brain mitochondria. Biochem J. 1957 Nov;67(3):423–431. doi: 10.1042/bj0670423. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Aleu F., Thomas L. Studies of PPLO infection. 3. Electron microscopic study of brain lesions caused by Mycoplasma neurolyticum toxin. J Exp Med. 1966 Dec 1;124(6):1083–1088. doi: 10.1084/jem.124.6.1083. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- CHANOCK R. M., HAYFLICK L., BARILE M. F. Growth on artificial medium of an agent associated with atypical pneumonia and its identification as a PPLO. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1962 Jan 15;48:41–49. doi: 10.1073/pnas.48.1.41. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- CLYDE W. A., Jr MYCOPLASMA SPECIES IDENTIFICATION BASED UPON GROWTH INHIBITION BY SPECIFIC ANTISERA. J Immunol. 1964 Jun;92:958–965. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DOBBING J. The blood-brain barrier. Physiol Rev. 1961 Jan;41:130–188. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1961.41.1.130. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gesner B., Thomas L. Sialic acid binding sites: role in hemagglutination by Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Science. 1966 Feb 4;151(3710):590–591. doi: 10.1126/science.151.3710.590. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sabin A. B. IDENTIFICATION OF THE FILTRABLE, TRANSMISSIBLE NEUROLYTIC AGENT ISOLATED FROM TOXOPLASMA-INFECTED TISSUE AS A NEW PLEUROPNEUMONIA-LIKE MICROBE. Science. 1938 Dec 16;88(2294):575–576. doi: 10.1126/science.88.2294.575. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sabin A. B. ISOLATION OF A FILTRABLE, TRANSMISSIBLE AGENT WITH "NEUROLYTI" PROPERTIES FROM TOXOPLASMA-INFECTED TISSUES. Science. 1938 Aug 26;88(2278):189–191. doi: 10.1126/science.88.2278.189. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- TULLY J. G. PRODUCTION AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EXTRACELLULAR NEUROTOXIN FROM MYCOPLASMA NEUROLYTICUM. J Bacteriol. 1964 Aug;88:381–388. doi: 10.1128/jb.88.2.381-388.1964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thomas L., Davidson M., McCluskey R. T. Studies of PPLO infection. I. The production of cerebral polyarteritis by Mycoplasma gallisepticum in turkeys; the neurotoxic property of the Mycoplasma. J Exp Med. 1966 May 1;123(5):897–912. doi: 10.1084/jem.123.5.897. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- VAN HEYNINGEN W. E., MILLER P. A. The fixation of tetanus toxin by ganglioside. J Gen Microbiol. 1961 Jan;24:107–119. doi: 10.1099/00221287-24-1-107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]