American Chemical Society Weekly PressPac -- Apr...(orted providing the first biochemical de...)

ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Use of Differential Isotopic Labeling and Mass Spectrometry To Analyze Capacitation-Associated Changes in the Phosphorylation Status of Mouse Sperm Proteins"

DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ARTICLE: http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/pr800796j

CONTACT:
Mark D. Platt, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, N.Y. 12180-3590
Phone: 518-276-3273
Fax: 518-276-4887
Email: plattm@rpi.edu

ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Long-awaited new tests for detecting the bioterrorism agent ricin
Analytical Chemistry

In a development that could help safeguard people against potential acts of terrorism involving ricin, two groups of scientists in Georgia and New York are reporting the development of faster, more sensitive tests for detecting the deadly poison. One can detect one billionth of a gram of toxin in a single droplet of fluid in just five minutes, the scientists say. Reports on the tests the most sensitive to date for detecting ricin appear in ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal.

The scientists note in the new studies that ricin, a ribosomal inactivating protein found in castor beans, is one of the agents most likely to be used in acts of aerosol or food-related bioterrorism. Ricin can be obtained easily and quickly causes death when inhaled or eaten in small amounts. There is no known antidote. Quantitation of ricin also has medical applications, since ricin immunoconjugates have been used as anticancer agents. Although earlier researchers have developed tests capable of identifying ricin by protein recognition methods, existin
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