A peptide microarray for serodiagnosis of exposure to high-threat hemorrhagic fever viruses
This technology is a programmable peptide microarray platform capable of identifying immunoreactive epitopes for high-specificity serodiagnosis of hemorrhagic fever viruses, including Ebola virus. The system enables differentiation between natural infection and vaccine-induced antibody responses.
Unmet Need: An effective way to determine specific viral exposures
In today's globalized environment, the myriad of high-threat viruses, ranging from influenza strains to Ebola, Marburg, Lassa, Reston, and Lloviu viruses, poses a complex challenge to public health due to high pathogenicity, risk of cross-species transfer from wildlife and domestic animals to humans, and lack of established vaccine and therapeutic measures. The constant evolution of these viruses has led to closely related viruses that are cross-reactive, making serodiagnosis difficult. Coupled with their potential for rapid transmission, this underscores the critical need for robust and adaptable serodiagnostic assays to identify and diagnose exposure to these high-threat pathogens.
The Technology: A platform to efficiently diagnose viral exposures
This technology is a robust platform for testing microbial agents with high sensitivity and specificity. It can accommodate up to 6 million distinct linear peptides on a slide, allowing for the identification of immunoreactive peptides for differential serodiagnosis of exposure to a wide range of microbial agents, including filoviruses, Lyssa viruses, Dengue viruses (DENV), yellow fever virus (YFV), West Nile virus (WNV), Selmiki forest virus, Rift valley fever virus (RVF), Measles virus, Mumps virus, Rubella virus, and selective proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella typhi, and Plasmodium falciparum. As such, this technology poses a highly effective diagnostic tool to be used in regions of high viral uptake and medical facilities for quick and accurate diagnoses. Immunoreactive peptides using this platform have been validated by using a biotinylated peptide-based ELISA, low-density peptide microarrays, and a short-peptide phage display for broader use in clinical medicine and public health.
Applications:
- Diagnostics platform for high-threat viral exposures
- Research tool for studying peptide reaction kinetics
- Vaccine efficacy detection device
- Differential diagnostic between post-vaccine immunity and post-infection immunity
- Identification of peptides that can be used for the development of less expensive assays.
Advantages:
- High-throughput platform for detection of exposure to high-threat hemorrhagic fever viruses.
- Efficient
- Assays are not confounded by crossâreactivity between closely related and homologous filoviruses and other endemic viruses
- Discriminates between natural infection and vaccine response to Ebola vaccine
- Compatible with several sample types (serum, plasma, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid)
Lead Inventors:
Patent Information:
Patent Pending (WO/2024/118795)
Related Publications:
Tech Ventures Reference:
IR CU23088
Licensing Contact: Kristin Neuman