Citation

Botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNTA) is one of seven serotypes produced by Clostridium botulinum (types A thru G) and is the serotype most widely used to treat both cosmetic and medical conditions. Potency for botulinum toxin preparations is expressed in mouse LD50 units. There is a need to develop a non-animal based replacement for this potency assay.,An in vitro potency assay measuring BoNTA activity has been developed that addresses both BoNTA heavy chain binding to its cell receptor SV2C and BoNTA light chain enzymatic activity in cleaving SNAP-25, an intracellular protein essential in neurotransmitter release. This bifunctional assay utilizes a 96 well microtiter format and well defined reagents. Assay characterization determined that the relative standard deviation for intermediate precision was less than 10%.,The assay standard curve covers the range of BoNTA concentrations from 0.0624 to 32 ng/mL. Specificity was demonstrated with purified BoNTA heavy chain which inhibited the activity in a dose dependent manner. A correlation between this bifunctional assay and the mouse LD50 potency assay was demonstrated.