Patent ID: 8999649
Filing Date: 2015-04-07
Classification: A61P,C07K,C12Y,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for detecting a botulinum neurotoxin, the method comprising, a) providing a construct comprising a linker peptide and a fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) pair comprising a donor fluorophore moiety and an acceptor fluorophore moiety, wherein the linker peptide comprises SNAP-25 or a fragment thereof comprising at least a portion of amino acid residues 83-120 of SNAP-25, wherein the linker peptide is cleavable by the botulinum neurotoxin to be detected, and wherein the emission spectrum of the donor fluorophore moiety is detectably different from the excitation spectrum of the acceptor fluorophore moiety; b) contacting the construct to a sample suspected of containing a botulinum neurotoxin under a condition under which the botulinum neurotoxin cleaves the protein substrate; and c) detecting and comparing FRET before and after the construct is contacted to the sample, wherein detecting a decrease in FRET after contacting as compared to a level of FRET detected before contacting indicates the presence of botulinum neurotoxin in the sample.