BIOL 159 |
| Botulinum Neurotoxin is considered to be a possible biochemical threat due to its capability of becoming food borne and its cause of life threatening paralysis. In order to mimic the endosomal internalization of BoNT into a nerve cell, FITC-dextran is encapsulated into liposomes. The pH is adjusted to first mimic the pH of 5 in the endosome to induce the conformational changes of the 150 kDa BoNT and thus the channel formation which allows the FITC-dextran dye to leak out of the liposome into the surrounding buffer. The pH is then back titrated to pH 7.5 to mimic that of the cytosol of the nerve cell. The difference between the fluorescence before and after the induced leakage in the presence of toxin is calculated as the percent release. The method may be used as a screening array for antidotes against botulism. This work was in part supported by NIH Grant AI057159-01 |
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Frontiers in Chemical Biology
5:00 PM-7:00 PM, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster
Division of Biological Chemistry |