Amid national fears of an impending biological terror attack, UW-Madison scientists have developed two new ways to scan for botulinum toxins. The tests could ultimately protect countless thousands of people from the world's most toxic substance.
In a paper published in the Oct. 1 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UW-Madison physiology professor Ed Chapman and postdoctoral fellow Min Dong revealed their discoveries of a rapid-fire test and a cell-based test that work on all seven of the varieties of botulinum toxins.
\The quick test is critical for the treatment of botulism,"" Dong said.
Botulism, an illness caused by a botulinum toxin, is transmitted through tainted food sources such as home-canned food and through unsafe food handling practices. By detecting the toxin faster, doctors will be able to apply treatments more rapidly.
People who use the cosmetic treatment Botox to eliminate wrinkles will also benefit from the quick test, Chapman said.
""If you work in a lab with Botox, you want to test the activity of the toxin, and now you can do it in real-time,"" he said.
Current biochemical tests take two days to determine a sample's toxin levels. But the newly developed quick tests are both fast and sensitive to minute levels of poison. Too much toxin is deadly, while too little is medically ineffective.
Doctors need to be precise when handling the toxin, which is about 6,000 times more poisonous than rattlesnake venom, according to Eric Johnson, UW-Madison professor of toxicology.
""When used in very small doses, Botox can relax a small region of muscles,"" Dong said. ""You can inject this toxin into a certain region, and it will only spread to a very small region from the injection site, making it safe for use [on wrinkles].""
The scientists have also developed a cell-based assay that may suggest prevention measures for some botulinum strains.
""The cell-based test is a tool to find something that can block the action of the toxin,"" Chapman said.
The toxin, once in the bloodstream, blocks chemical signals from reaching the motor neurons that control muscle contraction. This leads to paralysis and possible death because the diaphragm, the muscle needed for breathing, becomes paralyzed.
""If you can test inside the living cells, you have the advantage of finding an inhibitor, and find out if it kills cells, or cannot get into cells,"" Chapman said.
While the Centers for Disease Control has an experimental antibody for botulinum toxins, scientists hope this new cell-based assay will lead to the discovery of more anti-toxins. These anti-toxins could ultimately be used to treat individual infections or on a large scale to cope with a bioterror attack.
