Abstract

Botulinum poisoning is a serious and well-recognized biothreat. Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) are extremely potent, relatively simple to prepare/disburse, and have already been used as a bioterror agent. There is a vital need for sensitive and specific methods for early detection of BoNT in the blood of exposed individuals before clinical symptoms have progressed to a critical state. The current """"""""gold standard"""""""" for laboratory diagnosis of botulism is the mouse bioassay. While sensitive, it is also slow (2-4 days) and requires a dedicated animal laboratory. This underscores the unmet need for a rapid, sensitive and easy to use BoNT detection technology. The overall goal of the project is to build a sensor for rapid (30~60 minutes) in-vitro detection of BoNT/A and BoNT/B in serum. The sensor will be aimed at use in diagnostic laboratories and public health facilities. The sensor will be built based on a proven waveguide implementation of the surface plasmon resonance technology. It will use enzymatic cleavage assays for BoNT/A and BoNT/B. A peptide substrate will be synthesized, including the cleavage sequences for BoNT/A and BoNT/B. Gold nanoparticles will be attached to the peptide to increase the SPR detection sensitivity. An immuno-affinity based sample protocol will be developed to extract and concentrate the target BoNTs from serum.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project--Cooperative Agreements (U01)
Project #
5U01AI078070-02
Application #
7924013
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAI1-TP-M (J1))
Program Officer
Hall, Robert H
Project Start
2009-09-01
Project End
2012-08-31
Budget Start
2010-09-01
Budget End
2012-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$502,309
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Newton Photonics
Department
Type
DUNS #
102225781
City
Chestnut Hill
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02467