Journal de recherche médico-légale

Analysis of Botulinum Neurotoxin Detection by Mass Spectrometry in Forensic Samples

Abstract

Harvey J M Hou

Microbial forensics is emerged as a new interdisciplinary field and focuses on the characterization, analysis and interpretation of evidence from the scene of bioterrorism or biocrimes. Mass spectrometry is one of the key techniques in the identification of botulinum neurotoxins, which are among the top six species in the list of bioagents. In this review, I overview the current understanding of structure and function of botulinum neurotoxins, introduce the detection and identification of botulinum neurotoxins, and discuss the progress and the possible strategies of “botulinum neurotoxins signatures” in microbial forensics. The “botulinum neurotoxins signatures” may be obtained using bioanalytical and biophysical methodologies, especially mass spectral proteomics and may provide specific information in detecting and identifying botulinum neurotoxins to combat bioterrorism and biocrimes.