Abstract:
Bacillus anthracis is a Category A biological threat agent as it has the potential to be used
as a bioweapon. It is also encountered in nature where it can persist in the environment
for decades. Nanotraps are hydrogel microparticles that have been developed to bind a
wide variety of bio-analytes. The use of nanotraps can potentially capture biomarkers
such as proteins or nucleic acids, enabling analytes that were once below detectable limits
to become detectable by various processes such as mass spectrometry. The purpose of
this study was to characterize the ability of magnetic nanotrap particles to capture, enrich
and stabilize Bacillus anthracis biomarkers and bacteria. We have shown that magnetic
nanotraps, functionalized with a Reactive Red 120 affinity bait, are able to capture and
enrich Bacillus anthracis bacteria and proteins. These nanotraps have also been
demonstrated to bind to Bacillus anthracis nucleic acid and protect it from degradation
when incubated with DNase. Magnetic nanotraps can also allow for rapid separation of
biomarkers from complex biological matrices, such as whole blood, performing just as
well as centrifugation in this separation. Overall, this work suggests that nanotraps may
be a useful part of up-stream processing and may improve detection in a workflow to
detect Bacillus anthracis bacteria, proteins or nucleic acids from whole human blood.
