Novel assay for the detection of water-born algae toxins

Ciguatera fish poisoning is an illness suffered by > 50,000 people yearly after consumption of fish containing ciguatoxins (CTXs) or exposure to a harmful algae bloom (HAB). Manufacturing of critical reagents to develop assays to detect ciguatoxin have been elusive due to the constraints in production of viable amounts of the toxin. Thankfully, a significant amount of work has been done to demonstrate the natural binding site for ciguatoxin is the voltage sensitive sodium channel (VSSC). Based on this physiological association, several approaches have been developed to analyze ciguatoxin using receptor binding assays. The binding of ciguatoxins to VSSCs offers versatility from conventional approaches and has opened the door for readily evaluating CTXs. The current assays analyze CTXs impact on cell physiology or binding properties to VSSCs. Because these approaches require expensive and sophisticated methods and equipment they are not used widely for screening. Therefore, advancing assays that simplify CTX screening is important to prevent illness, we propose to develop an easier, faster, field deployable and lower cost assay that will enable visual readouts without the need for expensive equipment or technical training. Similar receptor binding assays have been widely successful for rapidly screening for antibiotics residues in the food industry and are a real-world example of how receptor binding proteins can be successfully leveraged in a commercial setting for analyte detection. We are confident that VSSCs can be adapted in a similar fashion.