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Science 14 May 1971:
Vol. 172. no. 3984, pp. 733 - 736
DOI: 10.1126/science.172.3984.733
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Articles

Destruction of Mammalian Motor Nerve Terminals by Black Widow Spider Venom

Michiko Okamoto 1, Herbert E. Longenecker Jr. 1, Walter F. Riker Jr. 1, and S. K. Song 2

1 Department of Pharmacology, Cornell University Medical College, New York 10021
2 Department of Neuropathology, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York 10029

Black widow spider venom selectively poisons motor nerve endings. A progressive and irreversible failure of neuromuscular transmission occurs in the cat. Electron microscopy of the poisoned nerve-muscle junction shows a sequence of motor nerve ending damage that culminates in disruption of the prejunctional membrane and loss of all organelles, including synaptic vesicles. The postjunctional membrane was morphologically unaffected. After complete poisoning, the contractile response to exogenous acetylcholine was severely impaired, an indication that the prejunctional site is chiefly involved in the contractile response produced by exogenous acetylcholine and that the pre- and postjunctional effects of acetylcholine were separated.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)