STTR Phase I: Polyaniline Nanofiber Urinary Tract Infection Biosensor-A Multi-Functional Bioresponsive Material

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。这个小型企业技术转移（STTR）第一阶段项目旨在将聚苯胺纳米纤维开发成一种具有生物反应的多功能材料，通过一种新型的基于沉淀的智能生物传感器平台，作为快速廉价诊断尿路感染（uti）的工具。导电聚合物纳米纤维的整体合成是绿色的和高度可扩展的，产生的产品形成水稳定的胶体悬浮液。导电聚合物具有多种可用于传感的响应，包括比色、电导率和氧化态变化。该项目将为聚苯胺纳米纤维增加一个额外的功能，使它们在特定DNA或RNA序列存在时形成凝胶沉淀，从而快速直观地指示目标的存在，例如来自尿路感染细菌的尿路感染检测。这将通过单链DNA （ssDNA）探针实现聚苯胺纳米纤维的新型功能化。由于该过程旨在直接分析患者样本，而无需额外的样本处理或设备，因此该技术有望成为一种实时测试，其准确性可与更昂贵的当前临床标准相媲美。成功开发尿液培养和细菌抗生素敏感性测试的更广泛影响/商业潜力，可以在几秒钟而不是几天内确定患者感染的存在和类型。该测试还将确定适当的治疗过程。病人的实际病情范围也可能有很大的不同，从引起轻微不便的到引起痛苦和严重疾病的。这种检测不足导致医疗保健系统的需求增加，因为额外的不必要的治疗费用和过度用药的影响，例如耐药细菌的发展。目标是通过使用导电聚合物纳米纤维与多分析物探针用于细菌鉴定和/或靶基因来确定抗生素耐药性，使UTI诊断准确率接近100%。这项技术将能够初步诊断尿路感染，并根据感染细菌的抗生素敏感性在几分钟内确定适当的治疗方案，而不是几天，成本只有几美元。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project seeks to develop polyaniline nanofibers into a biologically responsive multi-functional material for use as a tool for the rapid and inexpensive diagnosis of urinary tract infections (UTIs) through a novel precipitation based smart biosensor platform. The bulk synthesis of conducting polymer nanofibers is green and highly scalable yielding a product which forms water stable colloidal suspensions. Conducting polymers have multiple responses that can be utilized for sensing, including colorometric, conductivity and oxidation state changes. This project will add an additional functionality to polyaniline nanofibers which causes them to form a gel precipitate in the presence of specific sequences of DNA or RNA giving a rapid visual indication of the presence of a target such as from UTI bacteria for the detection of a UTI in a patient. This will be accomplished through a novel functionalization of polyaniline nanofibers with single stranded DNA (ssDNA) probes. Since this process is aimed at direct analysis of patient samples without additional sample handling, or equipment, this technology promises to be a real-time test with accuracy competitive with more expensive current clinical standards.The broader impact/commercial potential of successfully developing a urine culture and antibiotic sensitivity test for bacteria to determine the presence and type of an infection a patient has within seconds rather than days. The test will also determine the proper course of treatment. A patient's actual range of conditions can also vary significantly from those causing mild inconvenience to those causing painful and serious ailments. This testing deficiency results in increased demand on the healthcare system from additional unnecessary costs of treatment and repercussions from overmedication, such as the development of drug resistant bacteria. The goal is a UTI diagnostic accuracy approaching 100% through the use of conducting polymer nanofibers with multiple-analyte probes for bacteria identification and/or target genes to determine antibiotic resistances. This technology will enable the initial diagnosis of the UTI as well as identify the proper course of treatment based on the antibiotic susceptibilities of the infecting bacteria within minutes instead of days at a cost of a few dollars.