Researcher uses botox to study nerves

BRISBANE, Australia, Sep 22, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- An Australian scientist is using Botox to study basic nerve cell processes.

Frederic Meunier of the University of Queensland said his work may eventually lead to treatments for baffling neurological disorders like Alzheimer's disease -- and possibly to new treatments for depression.

Meunier said he is using Botox and other toxins to discover how nerve cells manipulate fats and proteins to communicate with each other.

Botox, derived from the bacterium that causes botulism, has a number of medical uses. Injections smooth out facial wrinkles, and are also used to treat involuntary tics.

Meunier has used Botox to find that a member of the phosphoinositide fat family plays a key role in the process that allows neurotransmitters to send signals outside the nerve cell.

His results have been published in the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell.