Characterization of Ricin and R. communis Agglutinin Reference Materials.

ABSTRACT: Ricinus communis intoxications have been known for centuries and were attributed to the toxic protein ricin. Due to its toxicity, availability, ease of preparation, and the lack of medical countermeasures, ricin attracted interest as a potential biological warfare agent. While different technologies for ricin analysis have been established, hardly any universally agreed-upon "gold standards" are available. Expert laboratories currently use differently purified in-house materials, making any comparison of accuracy and sensitivity of different methods nearly impossible. Technically challenging is the discrimination of ricin from R. communis agglutinin (RCA120), a less toxic but highly homologous protein also contained in R. communis. Here, we established both highly pure ricin and RCA120 ref

SUBMITTER: Worbs S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4690106 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature