title: Inactivation of Ricin Toxin by Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields Including Evidences from Cell and Animal Toxicity.
abstract: Ricin is one of the most toxic and easily produced plant protein toxin extracted from the castor oil plant, and it has been classified as a chemical warfare agent. Here, nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) at 30 kV/cm (pulse durations: 10 ns, 100 ns, and 300 ns) were applied to inactivating ricin up to 4.2 μg/mL. To investigate the efficacy, cells and mice were tested against the ricin treated by the nsPEFs via direct intraperitoneal injection and inhalation exposure. Results showed that nsPEFs treatments can effectively reduce the toxicity of the ricin. Without the nsPEFs treatment, 100% of mice were killed upon the 4 μg ricin injection on the first day, however 40% of the mice survived the ricin treated by the nsPEFs. Compared to injection, inhalation exposure even with higher ricin dose required longer time to observe mice fatality. Pathological observations revealed damages to heart, lung, kidney, and stomach after the ricin exposure, more pronounced for lung and kidney including severe bleeding. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE) and circular dichroism (CD) analyses revealed that although the primary structure of ricin was not altered, its secondary structures (beta-sheet and beta-turn) underwent transition upon the nsPEFs treatment.
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Yating
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zang
authors.affiliation: Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Kaile
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Maosheng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Jue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Jinglin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004560:Electricity; D051379:Mice; D012276:Ricin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D013997:Time Factors; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D012276:Ricin