title: Investigation of cell culture media infected with viruses by pyrolysis mass spectrometry: implications for bioaerosol detection.
abstract: Mass spectrometry coupled with a pyrolysis inlet system was used to investigate media from cell cultures infected with viruses. Cell culture media is an intricate mixture of numerous chemical constituents and cells that collectively produce complicated mass spectra. Cholesterol and free fatty acids were identified and attributed to lipid sources in the media (blood serum supplement and plasma membranes of host cells). These lipid moieties could be utilized as signature markers for rapidly detecting the cell culture media. Viruses are intracellular parasites and are dependent upon host cells in order to exist. Therefore, it is highly probable that significant quantities of media needed to grow and maintain viable host cells would be present if a viral agent were disseminated as an aerosol into the environment. Cholesterol was also detected from a purified virus sample, further substantiating its use as a target compound for detection. Implications of this research for detection of viral bioaerosols, using a field-portable pyrolysis mass spectrometer, is described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden 80401, USA.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Madonna
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Voorhees
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Hadfield
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Hilyard
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D000481:Allantoin / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000032:analysis; D006736:Horses; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D006517:Murine hepatitis virus / Q000737:chemistry; D014709:Vero Cells; D014780:Viruses / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D003470:Culture Media; D004279:DNA, Viral; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D000481:Allantoin; D002784:Cholesterol