title: RNA aptasensor for rapid detection of natively folded type A botulinum neurotoxin.
abstract: A surface plasmon resonance based RNA aptasensor for rapid detection of natively folded type A botulinum neurotoxin is reported. Using detoxified recombinant type A botulinum neurotoxin as the surrogate, the aptasensor detects active toxin within 90 min. The detection limit of the aptasensor in phosphate buffered saline, carrot juice, and fat free milk is 5.8 ng/ml, 20.3 ng/ml and 23.4 ng/ml, respectively, while that in 5-fold diluted human serum is 22.5 ng/ml. Recovery of toxin from disparate sample matrices are within 91-116%. Most significant is the ability of this aptasensor to effectively differentiate the natively folded toxin from denatured, inactive toxin, which is important for homeland security surveillance and threat assessment. The aptasensor is stable for more than 30 days and over 400 injections/regeneration cycles. Such an aptasensor holds great promise for rapid detection of active botulinum neurotoxin for field surveillance due to its robustness, stability and reusability.
authors.affiliation: Botulinum Research Center and Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA. Electronic address: pjanardhanan@umassd.edu.
authors.forename: Pavithra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Janardhanan
authors.forename: Charlene M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mello
authors.forename: Bal Ram
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Jianlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: Shuowei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D001628:Beverages / Q000032:analysis*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A / Q000097:blood*; D018552:Daucus carota / Q000737:chemistry*; D017743:Equipment Reuse; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry*; D017510:Protein Folding; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000097:blood; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A
keywords: Aptasensor; Botulinum neurotoxin; RNA aptamer; Surface Plasmon Resonance