PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Pirazzini, Marco
AU  - Rossetto, Ornella
AU  - Eleopra, Roberto
AU  - Montecucco, Cesare
ED  - Witkin, Jeffrey M.
TI  - Botulinum Neurotoxins: Biology, Pharmacology, and Toxicology
AID  - 10.1124/pr.116.012658
DP  - 2017 Apr 01
TA  - Pharmacological Reviews
PG  - 200--235
VI  - 69
IP  - 2
4099  - http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/69/2/200.short
4100  - http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/69/2/200.full
SO  - Pharmacol Rev2017 Apr 01; 69
AB  - The study of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) is rapidly progressing in many aspects. Novel BoNTs are being discovered owing to next generation sequencing, but their biologic and pharmacological properties remain largely unknown. The molecular structure of the large protein complexes that the toxin forms with accessory proteins, which are included in some BoNT type A1 and B1 pharmacological preparations, have been determined. By far the largest effort has been dedicated to the testing and validation of BoNTs as therapeutic agents in an ever increasing number of applications, including pain therapy. BoNT type A1 has been also exploited in a variety of cosmetic treatments, alone or in combination with other agents, and this specific market has reached the size of the one dedicated to the treatment of medical syndromes. The pharmacological properties and mode of action of BoNTs have shed light on general principles of neuronal transport and protein-protein interactions and are stimulating basic science studies. Moreover, the wide array of BoNTs discovered and to be discovered and the production of recombinant BoNTs endowed with specific properties suggest novel uses in therapeutics with increasing disease/symptom specifity. These recent developments are reviewed here to provide an updated picture of the biologic mechanism of action of BoNTs, of their increasing use in pharmacology and in cosmetics, and of their toxicology.