Clinical management of Interstitial Lung Disease using a multiplex real-time PCR assay to quantify leukocyte telomere length

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)

Unmet Need: Affordable and high-throughput platform for assessing telomere length

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.

The Technology: Cost-effective and comprehensive PCR assay for measuring leukocyte telomere length

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.

Applications:

• Predict the appropriate treatment regime of patients with Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) *Predictive assay to determine the progression of ILD
• Patient management tool for assessing response to immunosuppressive drugs
• Research tool for the discovery of new genetic variants
• Functional genomic platform that targets telomere gene expression

Advantages:

• High-throughput platform for telomere length measurements
• Cost-effective
• Targets aggregate cell populations
• Guides effective patient management strategies and treatment outcomes
• Comparable results to gold-standard CLIA-certified Flow-FISH method

Lead Inventor:

Christine Kim Garcia, M.D., Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Pending

Related Publications:

• Zhang D, Eckhardt CM, McGroder C, Benesh S, Porcelli J, Depender C, Bogyo K, Westrich J, Thomas-Wilson A, Jobanputra V, Garcia CK. “Clinical Utility of Telomere Length Testing for Interstitial Lung Disease.” Chest. Under Review..

Tech Ventures Reference:

• IR CU24245

• Licensing Contact: Sara Gusik