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Rapid analysis of ricin using hot acid digestion and MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Chen Dapeng,
Bryden Wayne A.,
Fenselau Catherine
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 1076-5174
DOI - 10.1002/jms.4257
Subject(s) - chemistry , ricin , mass spectrometry , chromatography , matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization , hydrolysis , acid hydrolysis , enzymatic hydrolysis , peptide , desorption , biochemistry , toxin , organic chemistry , adsorption
Ricin is a protein toxin of considerable interest in forensics. A novel strategy is reported here for rapid detection of ricin based on microwave‐assisted hot acid digestion and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. Ricin samples are subjected to aspartate‐selective hydrolysis, and biomarker peptide products are characterized by mass spectrometry. Spectra are obtained using post source decay and searched against a protein database. Several advantages are offered by chemical hydrolysis, relative to enzymatic hydrolysis, notably speed, robustness, and the production of heavier biomarkers. Agglutinin contamination is reliably recognized, as is the disulfide bond strongly characteristic of ricin.