Detection of Ribosomal Inactivating Proteins via Immuno-precipitation and MALDI-TOF MS

摘要

The ability to rapidly test for active ribosomal inactivating proteins (RIP), such as saporin and ricin, is of great interest due to the relative ease of purifying and dispensing the toxins for use in a bioterrorist attack. Researchers have recently tested a mass spectrometry (MS)-based assay that captures ricin from milk, apple juice, serum, and saliva using magnetic beads (Kalb and Barr, CDC). However, the ability to use an immuno-precipitation and MS method has not been evaluated using complex matrices that have varied pHs and textures. Thus, a new detection assay was used to test and optimize detection of a surrogate RIP protein in various matrices.