Issue 21, 2013
From the journal:

Analyst

Forensic proteomics of poxvirus production†

David Wunschel,*a   Edan Tulman,b   Heather Engelmann,a   Brian H. Clowers,c   Steven Geary,b   Aaron Robinsond  and  Xiaofen Liaob  

* Corresponding authors

a Chemical and Biological Signature Sciences Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA
E-mail: David.Wunschel@pnnl.gov
Tel: +1 509-371-6851

b Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

c Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

d University of Washington, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

Abstract

The field of microbial forensics has recently sought to develop methods to discern biological signatures to indicate production methods for biological agents. Viral agents have received less attention to date. Their obligate propagation in living cells makes purification from cellular material a challenge. This leads to potential carryover of protein-rich signatures of their production system. Here we have explored a proteomic analysis of vaccinia virus as a model poxvirus system in which to compare samples of virus propagated in different cell lines and subjected to different purification schemes. The proteomic data sets indicated viral, host cell and culture medium proteins. Several layers of data analysis were applied to build confidence in the peptide identification and capture information on the taxonomic utility of each. The analysis showed clear shifts in protein profiles with virus purification, with successive gradient purification steps showing different levels of viral protein enrichment. Peptides from cellular proteins, including those present in purified virus preparations, provided signatures which enabled discrimination of cell line substrates, including distinguishing between cells derived from different primate species. The ability to discern multiple aspects of viral production demonstrates the potential value of proteomic analysis as tool for microbial forensics.

Graphical abstract: Forensic proteomics of poxvirus production

About
Cited by
Related
Download options Please wait...

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C3AN00711A
Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Apr 2013
Accepted
09 Aug 2013
First published
27 Aug 2013

Analyst, 2013,138, 6385-6397

Permissions

Request permissions

Forensic proteomics of poxvirus production

D. Wunschel, E. Tulman, H. Engelmann, B. H. Clowers, S. Geary, A. Robinson and X. Liao, Analyst, 2013, 138, 6385 DOI: 10.1039/C3AN00711A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements