In vitro analysis of enriched spinalcord cultures and their sensitivity to botulinum Neurotoxin-A

Botulinum neurotoxin/A cleaves soluble N-ethyl Maleamide sensitive attachment receptor protein (SNAP-25) at the Neuro Muscular Junction, an important molecular protein in exocytosis and neurotransmitter release. This cleavage results in the blockade of the neurotransmission thus causing the flaccid muscle paralysis. Even though, heterogeneous spinal cord cultures provide the sensitive invitro model system to study the mechanism of action, the presence of the other population of cells in them, makes these mixed cultures not very pragmatic for the use of proteomics. The current study aims at addressing this issue of heterogeneity. In the present study motor neurons were enriched from the mixed spinal cord cell populations. Further, these enriched populations both quantitatively and qualitatively assessed for the motor neuron populations. Also, these enriched cultures were tested for the toxin sensitivity at different ages