Viral Arrays for Biodefense

描述(由申请人提供)：该计划的目标是为公共卫生实验室、医院临床实验室和使用点建立稳定和灵敏的病毒微阵列分析，以便能够对选定的NIAID优先试剂、可能导致可能模仿特定药物感染的症状和体征的试剂以及流感病毒的感染进行鉴别诊断。我们提出了四个具体目标：目标1，建立、实施和验证生物信息学工具和数据库，以支持微阵列的设计和更新；目标2，创建特定病毒剂和流感病毒的检测和物种形成的专门阵列；目标3，建立用于临床材料的阵列方案；以及目标4，在纽约州卫生部、疾病控制中心、香港大学、罗伯特·科赫研究所和加拿大公共卫生局的公共卫生实验室实施检测。将提高项目成功概率的特征包括：(1)申请者在临床微生物学、生物信息学和分子诊断学方面的专业知识；(2)敏感和稳定的微阵列平台；(3)获得选择试剂和流感病毒序列的专有数据库；(4)从受感染的培养细胞、自然和实验感染的动物以及感染特定病毒剂或流感病毒的人类受害者中提取的全面清单；(5)与专门的国际监测网络合作，其中临床样本可以共享用于分析优化、验证和实施，以支持全球公共卫生；以及(6)在诊断试剂的制造、许可和分销方面具有专业知识的商业合作伙伴。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this program is to establish stable and sensitive viral microarray assays for public health laboratory, hospital-based clinical laboratory and point-of-care-use to enable differential diagnosis of infection by select NIAID priority agents, agents that may cause signs and symptoms that may mimic those due to infection with select agents, and influenza viruses. We propose four specific aims: Aim 1, Establish, implement and validate bioinformatics tools and databases to support microarray design and updates; Aim 2, Create specialized arrays for detection and speciation of select viral agents and influenza viruses; Aim 3, Establish array protocols for use with clinical materials; and Aim 4, Implement assays in public health laboratories in the New York State Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, Hong Kong University, the Robert Koch Institute, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Features that will enhance the probability of programmatic success include: (1) expertise of applicants in clinical microbiology, bioinformatics, and molecular diagnostics; (2) a sensitive and stable microarray platform; (3) access to proprietary databases of select agent and influenza virus sequences; (4) a comprehensive inventory of extracts from infected cultured cells, naturally and experimentally infected animals, and human victims of infection with select viral agents or influenza viruses; (5) partnership in a dedicated international surveillance network wherein clinical samples can be shared for assay optimization, validation, and implementation to support global public health; and (6) commercial partners with expertise in manufacture, licensure, distribution of diagnostic reagents.