Abstract Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) cause the disease botulism, which can be lethal if untreated. There are seven known serotypes of BoNT, A–G, defined by their response to antisera. Many serotypes are distinguished into differing subtypes based on amino acid sequence and immunogenic properties, and some subtypes are further differentiated into toxin variants. Toxin characterization is important as different types of BoNT can respond differently to medical countermeasures for botulism, and characterization of the toxin can aid in epidemiologic and forensic investigations. Proteomic techniques have been established to determine the serotype, subtype, or toxin variant of BoNT. These techniques involve digestion of the toxin into peptides, tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) analysis of the peptides, and database searching to identify the BoNT protein. These techniques demonstrate the capability to detect BoNT and its neurotoxin-associated proteins, and differentiate the toxin from other toxins that are up to 99.9% identical in some cases. This differentiation can be accomplished from toxins present in a complex matrix such as stool, food, or bacterial cultures and no DNA is required.

中文翻译：

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通过毒素蛋白质组学对肉毒杆菌神经毒素进行质谱鉴定和鉴别

摘要 肉毒杆菌神经毒素 (BoNT) 会导致肉毒中毒，如果不治疗可能会致命。有七种已知的 BoNT 血清型，A-G，由它们对抗血清的反应来定义。许多血清型根据氨基酸序列和免疫原性特性分为不同的亚型，一些亚型进一步分化为毒素变体。毒素表征很重要，因为不同类型的 BoNT 对肉毒杆菌中毒的医学对策可能有不同的反应，毒素的表征有助于流行病学和法医调查。已经建立了蛋白质组学技术来确定 BoNT 的血清型、亚型或毒素变体。这些技术包括将毒素消化成肽、对肽进行串联质谱 (MS/MS) 分析、和数据库搜索以识别 BoNT 蛋白。这些技术证明了检测 BoNT 及其神经毒素相关蛋白的能力，并将毒素与在某些情况下高达 99.9% 相同的其他毒素区分开来。这种区分可以通过复杂基质（如粪便、食物或细菌培养物）中存在的毒素来实现，不需要 DNA。