Kalb Suzanne R, Barr John R
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences, 4770 Buford Hwy, NE, Atlanta, GA 30341.
Rev Anal Chem. 2013 Aug;32(3):189-196. doi: 10.1515/revac-2013-0013.
Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) cause the disease botulism, which can be lethal if untreated. There are seven known serotypes of BoNT, A-G, defined by their response to antisera. Many serotypes are distinguished into differing subtypes based on amino acid sequence and immunogenic properties, and some subtypes are further differentiated into toxin variants. Toxin characterization is important as different types of BoNT can respond differently to medical countermeasures for botulism, and characterization of the toxin can aid in epidemiologic and forensic investigations. Proteomic techniques have been established to determine the serotype, subtype, or toxin variant of BoNT. These techniques involve digestion of the toxin into peptides, tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) analysis of the peptides, and database searching to identify the BoNT protein. These techniques demonstrate the capability to detect BoNT and its neurotoxin-associated proteins, and differentiate the toxin from other toxins which are up to 99.9% identical in some cases. This differentiation can be accomplished from toxins present in a complex matrix such as stool, food, or bacterial cultures and no DNA is required.
肉毒杆菌神经毒素（BoNTs）会引发肉毒中毒，若不治疗可能致命。已知BoNT有七种血清型，即A - G型，根据它们对抗血清的反应来定义。许多血清型根据氨基酸序列和免疫原性特性可进一步分为不同的亚型，有些亚型还可进一步细分为毒素变体。毒素特征鉴定很重要，因为不同类型的BoNT对肉毒中毒的医学应对措施反应不同，毒素特征鉴定有助于流行病学和法医调查。已经建立了蛋白质组学技术来确定BoNT的血清型、亚型或毒素变体。这些技术包括将毒素消化成肽段、对肽段进行串联质谱（MS/MS）分析以及通过数据库搜索来鉴定BoNT蛋白。这些技术展示了检测BoNT及其神经毒素相关蛋白的能力，并能将该毒素与其他在某些情况下相似度高达99.9%的毒素区分开来。这种区分可以在粪便、食物或细菌培养物等复杂基质中存在的毒素中完成，且无需DNA。
