Markers of organophosphate exposure in human serum

The goal of this work is to identify novel serum proteins that are labeled with organophosphates (OPs) and to create a protocol for identification using mass spectroscopy. The use of OP-labeled proteins for identification of exposure is useful because such proteins will remain in circulation for weeks (Van Der Schans et al., 2004). Currently, both butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and albumin have been shown to bind OPs in blood. Peeples et al. (2005) showed that albumin is labeled by OPs, specifically 6-Nbiotinylaminohexyl isopropyl phosphorofluoridate hemihydrate, in living mice. Albumin is the major protein in human serum, and its reaction with OPs tends to overwhelm the identification of other proteins. In vitro studies of human serum require removal of the serum albumin without depleting the less abundant proteins. Following this step, identifying the remaining proteins is simply a matter of labeling the proteins with an OP, separating the labeled from nonlabeled proteins, and using Q-trap mass spectrometry for identification.