RIPpore: A Novel Host-Derived Method for the Identification of Ricin Intoxication through Oxford Nanopore Direct RNA Sequencing |
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Authors: | Yan Ryan Abbie Harrison Hannah Trivett Catherine Hartley Jonathan David Graeme C. Clark Julian A. Hiscox |
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Affiliation: | 1.Institute for Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK; (Y.R.); (A.H.); (H.T.); (C.H.);2.Defence Science Technology Laboratory, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK; |
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Abstract: | Ricin is a toxin which enters cells and depurinates an adenine base in the sarcin-ricin loop in the large ribosomal subunit, leading to the inhibition of protein translation and cell death. We postulated that this depurination event could be detected using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) direct RNA sequencing, detecting a change in charge in the ricin loop. In this study, A549 cells were exposed to ricin for 2–24 h in order to induce depurination. In addition, a novel software tool was developed termed RIPpore that could quantify the adenine modification of ribosomal RNA induced by ricin upon respiratory epithelial cells. We provided demonstrable evidence for the first time that this base change detected is specific to RIP activity using a neutralising antibody against ricin. We believe this represents the first detection of depurination in RNA achieved using ONT sequencers. Collectively, this work highlights the potential for ONT and direct RNA sequencing to detect and quantify depurination events caused by ribosome-inactivating proteins such as ricin. RIPpore could have utility in the evaluation of new treatments and/or in the diagnosis of exposure to ricin. |
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Keywords: | ricin RNA sequencing MinIon ribosome inactivating proteins saporin ribosomes |
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