This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

New test uses mass spectrometry to rapidly detect staph infections

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have developed a new laboratory test that can rapidly identify the bacterium responsible for Staph infections.

The findings were published in Molecular and Cellular Proteomics.

The test, according to a news release, takes advantage of unique isotopic labeling combined with specific bacteriophage amplification to rapidly identify Staphylococcus aureus. The test uses mass spectrometry to quantify the number of S. aureus organisms in a large number of samples in a few hours.

“Our method for detecting staph infections using mass spectrometry will be valuable in a variety of situations, but will be crucial when a large number of people need to be tested very quickly, which will ultimately improve treatment,” researcher Facundo Fernandez, PhD, stated in the release.

The test involves injecting a known amount of bacteriophage labeled with nitrogen-15 into a sample. The phages infect only live S. aureus cells, which then multiply and amplify the phage signal. Following a 2-hour incubation, the researchers then break up proteins from the phage shell into component peptides using a trypsin digest technique.

The sample is then analyzed through liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometric detection. By detecting peptides from the protein shell of the phage, the release noted, the researchers can measure the concentration of S. aureus in the sample.

“The strength of this technique is coupling a well-characterized method for identifying bacteria with a modern detection device, such as a mass spectrometer,” researcher John R. Barr, PhD, stated in the release. “By labeling input phage with heavy nitrogen isotopes, we were able to use mass spectrometry to effectively distinguish between the parent and progeny phage — thus enhancing the selectivity of the method.”

Reference:

• Pierce CL, Rees JC, Fernandez Facundo, Barr JR. Viable Staphylococcus aureus quantitation using N-15 metabolically labeled bacteriophage amplification coupled with a multiple reaction monitoring proteomic workflow. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2011. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M111.012849

Follow OrthoSuperSite.com on Twitter