Category Ranking

98%

Total Visits

921

Avg Visit Duration

2 minutes

Citations

20

Article Abstract

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) produced by Clostridium botulinum are the most poisonous substances known to humankind. It is essential to have a simple, quick, and sensitive method for the detection and quantification of botulinum toxin in various media, including complex biological matrices. Our laboratory has developed a mass spectrometry-based Endopep-MS assay that is able to rapidly detect and differentiate all types of BoNTs by extracting the toxin with specific antibodies and detecting the unique cleavage products of peptide substrates. Botulinum neurotoxin type E (BoNT/E) is a member of a family of seven distinctive BoNT serotypes (A-G) and is the causative agent of botulism in both humans and animals. To improve the sensitivity of the Endopep-MS assay, we report here the development of novel peptide substrates for the detection of BoNT/E activity through systematic and comprehensive approaches. Our data demonstrate that several optimal peptides could accomplish 500-fold improvement in sensitivity compared with the current substrate for the detection of both not-trypsin-activated and trypsin-activated BoNT/E toxin complexes. A limit of detection of 0.1 mouse LD50/ml was achieved using the novel peptide substrate in the assay to detect not-trypsin-activated BoNT/E complex spiked in serum, stool, and food samples.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4583364PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2014.08.026DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

peptide substrates
12
endopep-ms assay
12
substrates botulinum
8
botulinum neurotoxin
8
sensitivity endopep-ms
8
novel peptide
8
botulinum
5
detection
5
optimization peptide
4
neurotoxin improves
4

Similar Publications

Genetic code expansion (GCE) technology has primarily been devoted to the introduction of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into ribosomally synthesized proteins or peptides. Its potential for modifying nonribosomal natural products remains unexplored. In this study, we introduce a novel strategy that integrates GCE with the directed evolution of cyclodipeptide synthase (CDPS) to engineer a new class of CDPSs capable of biosynthesizing cyclodipeptides containing ncAAs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The cytosolic iron-sulfur cluster assembly (CIA) targeting complex maturates over 30 cytosolic and nuclear Fe-S proteins, raising the question of how a single complex recognizes such a diverse set of clients. The discovery of a C-terminal targeting complex recognition (TCR) peptide in up to 25% of CIA clients provided a clue to substrate specificity, yet the molecular and energetic basis for this interaction remained unresolved. By integrating computational and biochemical approaches, we show that the TCR peptide binds a conserved interface between the Cia1 and Cia2 subunits of the targeting complex, even in the absence of the Fe-S cluster.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dipeptidyl-peptidase (DPP)-IV inhibition by penultimate N-terminus Pro-containing peptides is a promising strategy for Type 2 diabetes (T2D) management, as it prevents the degradation of incretin hormones (DPP-IV substrates) like glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), thereby prolonging their half-life. However, the stability and bio-accessibility of these peptides are crucial to their efficacy in orally administered therapeutics. We previously identified LPCL and TPFLPDE peptides from tilapia viscera by-products hydrolysates, which exhibited significant DPP-IV inhibition in vitro and in situ while effectively preserving active GLP-1 levels after 2 h treatment in STC-1 cells under basal glucose conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In vitro infant fecal fermentation characteristics of bovine milk osteopontin and 2'-fucosyllactose combination.

Food Res Int

November 2025

School of Food Science and Engineering, Overseas Expertise Introduction Center for Discipline Innovation of Food Nutrition and Human Health, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China; Sino-Singapore International Research Institute, Guangzhou 510555, China. Electronic address: zh

Breast milk is rich in bioactive proteins and oligosaccharides, including osteopontin (OPN) and 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL), which are believed to promote the growth of beneficial microbiota and regulate intestinal barrier function. In this study, fermentation substrates including DOPN (digested OPN fragment), 2'-FL and their combinations in varying proportions, were prepared through in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, dialysis and freeze-drying. Changes in gas production, organic acid levels, ammonia N concentration and bacterial population abundance were studied using an in vitro batch fermentation model, with feces inocula from healthy infants.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Proteasomes, multi-subunit proteases, are key actors of cellular protein catabolism and a number of regulatory processes. The detection of subtle proteasome functioning in tumors may contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of cancer development. The current study aimed to identify the role of low molecular mass protein 2 (LMP2), a proteasome immune subunit, in the development of mouse colon 26 (C26) adenocarcinoma.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF