Education and Health Center, Federal University of Campina Grande, Rua Aprígio Veloso, 882, Universitário, Campina Grande 58429-900, Brazil.
Postgraduate Program in Therapeutic Innovation, Federal University of Pernambuco, Avenida Professor Moraes Rego, s/n, Cidade Universitária, Recife 50670-901, Brazil.
Toxins (Basel). 2023 Feb 28;15(3):183. doi: 10.3390/toxins15030183.
Mycotoxins are toxic and carcinogenic metabolites produced by groups of filamentous fungi that colonize food crops. Aflatoxin B (AFB), ochratoxin A (OTA) and fumonisin B (FB) are among the most relevant agricultural mycotoxins, as they can induce various toxic processes in humans and animals. To detect AFB, OTA and FB in the most varied matrices, chromatographic and immunological methods are primarily used; however, these techniques are time-consuming and expensive. In this study, we demonstrate that unitary alphatoxin nanopore can be used to detect and differentiate these mycotoxins in aqueous solution. The presence of AFB, OTA or FB inside the nanopore induces reversible blockage of the ionic current flowing through the nanopore, with distinct characteristics of blockage that are unique to each of the three toxins. The process of discrimination is based on the residual current ratio calculation and analysis of the residence time of each mycotoxin inside the unitary nanopore. Using a single alphatoxin nanopore, the mycotoxins could be detected at the nanomolar level, indicating that alphatoxin nanopore is a promising molecular tool for discriminatory analysis of mycotoxins in aqueous solution.
真菌毒素是一组丝状真菌在粮食作物上定殖时产生的有毒和致癌代谢物。黄曲霉毒素 B（AFB）、赭曲霉毒素 A（OTA）和伏马菌素 B（FB）是最重要的农业真菌毒素之一，因为它们会在人类和动物中引发各种毒性过程。为了在最广泛的基质中检测 AFB、OTA 和 FB，主要使用色谱和免疫方法；然而，这些技术既耗时又昂贵。在这项研究中，我们证明了单一的α毒素纳米孔可用于检测和区分水溶液中的这些真菌毒素。纳米孔内存在 AFB、OTA 或 FB 会引起流过纳米孔的离子电流可逆阻断，阻断具有独特的特征，每种毒素都不同。区分过程基于残差电流比的计算和分析每种真菌毒素在单一纳米孔内的停留时间。使用单个α毒素纳米孔，可在纳摩尔水平检测到真菌毒素，表明α毒素纳米孔是一种有前途的分子工具，可用于区分水溶液中的真菌毒素。
