Molecular Neurosurgery with Targeted Toxins

The use of targeted cytotoxins to make highly selective neural lesions for both experimental and clinical purposes has already provided important animal models for diseases such as Alzheimer's, and holds great promise for research and clinical application to pain. In Molecular Neurosurgery With Targeted Toxins, pioneers in the field describe their hands-on experience with the experimental use of these toxins. The authors focus on the highly successful use of the immunotoxins, 192 IgG-saporin and ME20.4-saporin, to lesion the cholinergic basal forebrain in order to model the behavior, anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology of Alzheimer's disease in animals. Also discussed are the uses of anti-DBH-saporin immunotoxin to make remarkably selective lesions of catecholaminergic neurons, hypocretin-saporin that can produce narcoleptic animals, and other saporin conjugates, such as neuropeptide-saporin conjugates for pain research and cholera toxin B chain-saporin to produce a model of central nervous system demyelination. Overview perspectives and, in some cases, more practical details are provided that allow the reader to appreciate exactly what is involved in using these agents.
Both practical and theoretical, Molecular Neurosurgery With Targeted Toxins provides readers with not only the background to understand these techniques, but also numerous real-life examples that can be readily adapted to new purposes and an ever-increasing number of new targeted toxins.