Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42188608›Full record

ArticleToxins2026

Development of an Automated Cell-Based Assay for the Detection of the Functional Activity of Saxitoxin.

Rachel Whiting, Isobel Picken, Grace Howells, A Christopher Green, Chris Elliott, Graeme C Clark

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Toxins, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Rachel WhitingDstl-Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK.
Isobel PickenDstl-Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK.ORCID 0009-0000-9142-4594
Grace HowellsDstl-Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK.
A Christopher GreenDstl-Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK.ORCID 0009-0004-6902-0306
Chris ElliottInstitute for Global Food Security, Queens University, Belfast BT9 5DL, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0495-2909
Graeme C ClarkDstl-Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK.

Funding

UK Ministry of Defence PJ100079
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Saxitoxin (STX) is one of the most potent natural neurotoxins known and is the only marine toxin to be declared a chemical weapon. In both marine and freshwater systems filter feeding organisms can accumulate saxitoxin and human consumption of toxin-contaminated food can result in paralytic shellfish poisoning. Here we highlight for the first time a human cell-based assay for the detection and neutralisation of STX activity on an automated patch clamp (APC) system. We demonstrate that a human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell line expressing human Nav1.6 can rapidly and sensitively detect the presence of a range of sodium ion channel blockers including STX. The use of neutralising monoclonal antibody GT13-A and/or saxiphilin was found to confer specificity to the assay by being able to dissociate between STX (along with closely related analogues) and tetrodotoxin. Finally, the application of the functional assay for the detection of STX in complex samples was evaluated during an international exercise led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The neutralisation of STX activity in blinded samples enabled the indirect detection of the toxin in the relevant samples and provided an alternative orthogonal technique to corroborate the findings of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Collectively this work demonstrates the significant potential for functional assays in the analysis of samples suspected of being contaminated with STX and related sodium ion channel targeting toxins; complementing traditional direct identification methods such as high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD), LC-MS or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Indexed as

SaxitoxinHEK293 CellsHumansNAV1.6 Voltage-Gated Sodium ChannelPatch-Clamp TechniquesSodium Channel BlockersNAV1.6 Voltage-Gated Sodium ChannelSaxitoxinSodium Channel Blockersautomated patch clampsaxitoxinvoltage-gated sodium channel

Identifiers

PMID42188608
PMCPMC13211387

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.