First report of a direct surface plasmon resonance immunosensor for a small molecule seafood toxin.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX), a small molecular weight neurotoxin, is responsible for poisoning events that traditionally occur from consumption of contaminated puffer fish. Recent studies have shown a growing number of foods contaminated with TTX and a larger number of waters and associated countries where the toxin may occur. The apparent expanding prevalence of TTX supports a growing need for screening assays that can be used to detect potentially harmful food.

First report of the use of a saxitoxin-protein conjugate to develop a DNA aptamer to a small molecule toxin.

Saxitoxin (STX) is a low molecular weight neurotoxin mainly produced by certain marine dinoflagellates that, along with its family of similarly related paralytic shellfish toxins, may cause the potentially fatal intoxication known as paralytic shellfish poisoning. Illness and fatality rates are low due to the effective monitoring programs that determine when toxins exceed the established regulatory action level and effectuate shellfish harvesting closures accordingly. Such monitoring programs rely on the ability to rapidly screen large volumes of samples.