Technology To Improve the Robustness of Diagnostic Assays

不需要组织采样的微创诊断分析是检测包括侵袭性病原体在内的多种疾病的理想方法。这些病原体的基于RNA的生物标记物被释放到血液中，成为血液中无细胞RNA池的一部分，使它们在疾病检测中具有前景。然而，这些生物标记物通常只有少量存在，而且特别脆弱。在血液样本的储存条件不在最佳处理条件的情况下，样本的质量会受到影响，从而降低了生物标记物分析的灵敏度和准确性。我们提出了一种新的系统，需要核酸结合聚合物来稳定血液中存在的RNA标记，以防止它们在非最佳温度和处理(时间)条件下降解。可以预见，用稳定剂处理的血液样本和随后的分析可以在不降解样本的情况下进行。在这个项目成功完成后，我们的工业合作伙伴Aquila诊断系统公司预计将推出新的血液采集系统，这将为加拿大带来新的收入来源并增加就业机会。

Minimally invasive diagnostic analyses that do not require tissue sampling is a desirable approach for detectionof wide range of diseases, including invasive pathogens. RNA-based biomarkers from these pathogens arereleased to the bloodstream and become part of the cell free RNA pool in blood, making them promising fordisease detection. These biomarkers, however, usually exist in small amounts and are exceptionally fragile. Insituations where the storage conditions of the blood sample fall outside optimal handling conditions, the qualityof the samples is compromised, thereby decreasing the sensitivity and accuracy of biomarker analysis. We areproposing a novel system that entails nucleic acid binding polymers to stabilize RNA markers present in bloodto prevent their degradation under non-optimal temperature and processing (time) conditions. It is envisionedthat the blood samples treated with the stabilizing agents and subsequent analysis can be carried out withoutsample degradation. Upon successful completion of this project, our industrial partner Aquila DiagnosticSystems Inc. is expected to launch of the new blood collection system that will result in a new source ofrevenue and increase the job creation in Canada.