Analysis of active ricin and castor bean proteins in a ricin preparation, castor bean extract, and surface swabs from a public health investigation

Schieltz, David; McGrath, Sara C.; McWilliams, Lisa G.; Rees, Jon C.; Bowen, Michael D.; Kools, John J.; Dauphin, Leslie A.; Gómez-Saladín, Eduardo; Newton, Bruce N.; Stang, Heather L.; Vick, Michael J.; Thomas, Jerry D.; Pirkle, James L.; Barr, John R.

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.12.013

Cited by 50 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The relative ease in preparing a crude extract and the world-wide availability of the plant has also made ricin a potential agent of bioterrorism. It is therefore listed as category B agent of potential bioterrorism risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [115,116]. Ricin has gained notoriety as the most likely agent used in the assassination of the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in London in 1978 and the attempted murder of Vladimir Kostov in Paris (Table 1; [117]).…”

Section: Ricin a Dual-use Substancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, limited sensitivity and the difficulty to identify ricin out of complex matrices lead to the combination of immunoaffinity enrichment with MS-based detection. This combination has been successfully applied to the detection of ricin out of different complex matrices [115,275,276,277,278,279], yielding a detection limit of down to 0.64 ng/mL [278]. …”

Section: Detection Of Ricin or Ricinus Communismentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ricinus communis Intoxications in Human and Veterinary Medicine—A Summary of Real Cases

Worbs

Köhler

Pauly

et al. 2011

Toxins

198

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accidental and intended Ricinus communis intoxications in humans and animals have been known for centuries but the causative agent remained elusive until 1888 when Stillmark attributed the toxicity to the lectin ricin. Ricinus communis is grown worldwide on an industrial scale for the production of castor oil. As by-product in castor oil production ricin is mass produced above 1 million tons per year. On the basis of its availability, toxicity, ease of preparation and the current lack of medical countermeasures, ricin has gained attention as potential biological warfare agent. The seeds also contain the less toxic, but highly homologous Ricinus communis agglutinin and the alkaloid ricinine, and especially the latter can be used to track intoxications. After oil extraction and detoxification, the defatted press cake is used as organic fertilizer and as low-value feed. In this context there have been sporadic reports from different countries describing animal intoxications after uptake of obviously insufficiently detoxified fertilizer. Observations in Germany over several years, however, have led us to speculate that the detoxification process is not always performed thoroughly and controlled, calling for international regulations which clearly state a ricin threshold in fertilizer. In this review we summarize knowledge on intended and unintended poisoning with ricin or castor seeds both in humans and animals, with a particular emphasis on intoxications due to improperly detoxified castor bean meal and forensic analysis.

show abstract

Section: Ricin a Dual-use Substancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Detection Of Ricin or Ricinus Communismentioning

confidence: 99%

Ricinus communis Intoxications in Human and Veterinary Medicine—A Summary of Real Cases

Worbs

Köhler

Pauly

et al. 2011

Toxins

198

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition and in parallel to the important issue of sample preparation, the development of stand-alone or hyphenated mass spectrometry methods, which should offer more reliable toxin identification and, in the medium term, accurate quantification of biological toxins, will gain increased attention [74,75]. Additionally, MS-based methods offer the technical advantage of providing detailed information on toxin contents, both known and unknown, especially when using scanningmode MS approaches, thereby adding an open view to the diagnostic or forensic workflow [76]. One should keep in mind that more effective sample preparation procedures for the elimination of interfering substances may also remove or reduce the unknown toxins and may therefore be counter-productive when aiming at the detection of unknown compounds.…”

Section: Review and Discussion Of Trends In Analytical Methods For Bimentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological toxins of potential bioterrorism risk: Current status of detection and identification technology

Dorner

Zeleny

Harju

et al. 2016

TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…100 These materials together with swab samples were sent to CDC for analysis. A panel of different tests was performed: real-time PCR, immunoassay with time-resolved fluorescence, cytotoxicity assay, MS-based activity test, and proteomic analysis with trypsin digestion and nano-LC-MS/ MS.…”

Section: Ricinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Spectrometric Detection of Protein-Based Toxins

Åberg

Björnstad

Hedeland

2013

Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, an

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This review focuses on mass spectrometric detection of protein-based toxins, which are among the most toxic substances known. Special emphasis is given to the bacterial toxins botulinum neurotoxin from Clostridium botulinum and anthrax toxins from Bacillus anthracis as well as the plant toxin ricin produced by Ricinus communis. A common feature, apart from their extreme toxicity, is that they are composed of 2 polypeptide chains, one of which is responsible for cell uptake and another that has enzymatic function with the ability to destroy basic cellular functions. These toxins pose a threat, both regarding natural spread and from a terrorism perspective. In order for public health and emergency response officials to take appropriate action in case of an outbreak, whether natural or intentional, there is a need for fast and reliable detection methods. Traditionally, large molecules like proteins have been detected using immunological techniques. Although sensitive, these methods suffer from some drawbacks, such as the risk of false-positives due to cross-reactions and detection of inactive toxin. This article describes recently developed instrumental methods based on mass spectrometry for the reliable detection of botulinum neurotoxins, anthrax toxins, and ricin. Unequivocal identification of a protein toxin can be carried out by mass spectrometry-based amino acid sequencing. Furthermore, in combination with antibody affinity preconcentration and biochemical tests with mass spectrometric detection demonstrating the toxin's enzymatic activity, very powerful analytical methods have been described. In conclusion, the advent of sensitive, easily operated mass spectrometers provides new possibilities for the detection of protein-based toxins.

show abstract

Analysis of active ricin and castor bean proteins in a ricin preparation, castor bean extract, and surface swabs from a public health investigation

Cited by 50 publications

References 32 publications

Ricinus communis Intoxications in Human and Veterinary Medicine—A Summary of Real Cases

Ricinus communis Intoxications in Human and Veterinary Medicine—A Summary of Real Cases

Biological toxins of potential bioterrorism risk: Current status of detection and identification technology

Mass Spectrometric Detection of Protein-Based Toxins

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About