This technology is a multiplex real-time PCR assay that can measure the average telomere length of all white blood cells in a peripheral blood sample. The assay can be used to predict the appropriate treatment regime of patients with Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD)
Assessing telomere length is essential for effective care in patients with fibrotic ILD, where immunosuppressants are often used as treatment options. Short leukocyte telomere length (LTL) serves as a biomarker for determining whether patents should be treated with non-immunospressive therapy or immunospressive therapy, clinical outcomes, including patient survival, and rate of disease progression. Currently, the standard method for quantifying LTL is fluorescent in situ hybridization (Flow-FISH) of specific subsets of white blood cells. However, this assay is expensive and only evaluates isolated leukocyte samples rather than aggregate populations.
This platform is a multiplex real-time PCR assay capable of determining telomere length in white blood cell populations. It offers an affordable and high-throughput platform that records average telomere measurements of all leukocytes in a peripheral blood sample. This assay demonstrated comparable outputs to an alternative CLIA-certified platform (Flow-FISH) designed for telomere length testing.
This technology has been validated in human genomic DNA samples obtained from 108 patients at the Columbia University Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic.
Christine Kim Garcia, M.D., Ph.D.
Patent Pending
IR CU24245
Licensing Contact: Sara Gusik