Simultaneous measurement of specific serum IgG responses to five select agents

Select Agents are defined by CDC and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) as biological agents or toxins deemed a threat to public, animal, or plant health, or to animal or plant products. They are classified on the basis of their ease of dissemination, mortality/morbidity rate, and potential for social disruption. A subset of these agents includes Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, ricin toxin (RT), and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). Infection or intoxication with these agents has been shown to elicit an antigen-specific serum IgG response. We describe a fluorescent covalent microsphere immunoassay (FCMIA) for measurement of specific IgG antibodies to seven different antigens from five different select agents; B. anthracis [protective antigen (PA) and lethal factor (LF)], Y. pestis (F1 and V antigens), F. tularensis, RT and SEB simultaneously in human B. anthracis vaccinee sera (containing anti-PA and anti-LF IgG) which had been spiked with animal specific IgG antibodies to the other select agents. Inter-assay and intra-assay coefficients of variation were 6.5 and 13.4%, respectively (N=4). There were no significant differences (P>0.70) between assay responses when the assays were performed individually or multiplexed. When the observed versus expected interpolated concentrations were compared, highly linear relationships were observed (r² values from 0.981 to 0.999, P<0.001). Minimum detectable concentrations (MDC) ranged from 0.3 ng mL^–1 (Y. pestis F1) to 300 ng mL^–1 (RT). Finally, the curves showed responses were linear for most analytes from their MDC to 125 (SEB) to 1,300 (Y. pestis F1)×their MDC. These data indicate that multiplexed FCMIA is a sensitive and accurate method for simultaneous measurement of specific IgG in serum to CDC select agents and may be of value in screening either decontamination workers or the general population for exposure to/infection with these agents.     

Simulation analysis of formycin 5′-monophosphate analog substrates in the ricin A-chain active site

Summary Ricin is an RNA N-glycosidase that hydrolyzes a single adenine base from a conserved loop of 28S ribosomal RNA, thus inactivating protein synthesis. Molecular-dynamics simulation methods are used to analyze the structural interactions and thermodynamics that govern the binding of formycin 5-monophosphate (FMP) and several of its analogs to the active site of ricin A-chain. Simulations are carried out initiated from the X-ray crystal structure of the ricin-FMP complex with the ligand modeled as a dianion, monoanion and zwitterion. Relative changes in binding free energies are estimated for FMP analogs constructed from amino substitutions at the 2- and 2-positions, and from hydroxyl substitution at the 2-position.     

Protein–ligand docking with multiple flexible side chains

In this work, we validate and analyze the results of previously published cross docking experiments and classify failed dockings based on the conformational changes observed in the receptors. We show that a majority of failed experiments (i.e. 25 out of 33, involving four different receptors: cAPK, CDK2, Ricin and HIVp) are due to conformational changes in side chains near the active site. For these cases, we identify the side chains to be made flexible during docking calculation by superimposing receptors and analyzing steric overlap between various ligands and receptor side chains. We demonstrate that allowing these side chains to assume rotameric conformations enables the successful cross docking of 19 complexes (ligand all atom RMSD < 2.0 A) using our docking software FLIPDock. The number of side receptor side chains interacting with a ligand can vary according to the ligand's size and shape. Hence, when starting from a complex with a particular ligand one might have to extend the region of potential interacting side chains beyond the ones interacting with the known ligand. We discuss distance-based methods for selecting additional side chains in the neighborhood of the known active site. We show that while using the molecular surface to grow the neighborhood is more efficient than Euclidian-distance selection, the number of side chains selected by these methods often remains too large and additional methods for reducing their count are needed. Despite these difficulties, using geometric constraints obtained from the network of bonded and non-bonded interactions to rank residues and allowing the top ranked side chains to be flexible during docking makes 22 out of 25 complexes successful.     

蓖麻毒素A链(RTA)功能域突变体构效关系的量子化学研究

结合对蓖麻毒素A链(RTA)功能域氨基酸(Tyr80,Trr123,Gln177,Arg180)点突变后对其生物活性影响的实验研究,利用半经验量子化学AMI方法对RTA功能域及其点突变进行了理论计算.通过分析前线分子轨道性质和能级,从理论上探讨了其功能域点突变对其生物活性的影响,并预测了突变体(Tyr123→TrP)比RTA生物活性高.     

采用毛细管电泳技术筛选特异识别蓖麻毒素适配子的研究

采用指数富集配基的系统进化(SELEX)技术从随机寡核苷酸文库中筛选获得特异识别蓖麻毒素靶分子的适配子. 将毛细管电泳技术作为分离手段引入到SELEX筛选中, 利用毛细管电泳高效的分离能力使得筛选周期大大缩短. 酶联免疫和斑点杂交实验结果表明, 仅经4轮筛选即可获得特异识别蓖麻毒素蛋白的寡核苷酸适配子.     

Antibody Interactions with Ricinus communis Agglutinins Studied by Biolayer Interferometry

Two related agglutinins are present in the seeds of Ricinus communis (castor): ricin, a dichain ribosome-inactivating protein and Ricinus communis agglutinin-1, a much less toxic tetrameric hemagglutinin. The immunochemical analysis of these agglutinins is of special interest because ricin toxicity has resulted in both accidental and intentional poisonings, while it has also provided a potential cancer chemotherapeutic in the form of an immunoconjugate. We previously characterized a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for the analysis of potential contamination with ricin in several food matrices. In this study, an optical sensing technique, biolayer interferometry (BLI), was used to study the binding of two mAbs to the agglutinins. MAbs were immobilized on sensors with amine-reactive, Fc-binding, and streptavidin-coated tips to study the interactions with the agglutinins and with ricin A- and B-chains in solution. The kinetically determined equilibrium dissociation constants generally agreed with the relative binding observed in ELISA, although binding was less predictable for the isolated ricin chains. BLI analysis of kinetic constants for mAb 1797 was not affected by nonfat milk (0.5% by volume). BLI provides a useful method to characterize the binding of antibodies, with the potential for immunodiagnostic applications in food matrices.     

Piezoelectric Detection of Ricin and Affinity-Purified Goat Anti-ricin Antibody

Abstract

Detection of ricin, in a piezoelectric quartz crystal microbalance format, can be accomplished with the use of capture antibody techniques. These techniques allow for the specific attachment of ricin to immobilized capture antibodies on the quartz crystal transducer area. A reversed format can also be used to detect antibody in solution. In this case, the antigen is immobilized and antibody attaches specifically, thus increasing the overall mass and decreasing the resonant frequency. In this report we describe detection of both ricin and anti-ricin antibody using immunological piezoelectric quartz crystal microbalance techniques.