Method for monitoring sun damage and predicting skin cancer risk
This technology consists of a panel of ultraviolet (UV) biomarkers that can be used on patient skin samples to assess UV damage and predict skin cancer risk in individuals.
Unmet Need: Sensitive array for accurate evaluation of skin UV damage
The current method for evaluating UV radiation damage relies on the minimal erythema dose to elicit visible skin redness. However, this method is insensitive to the molecular and cellular damages that occur at sub-erythema doses that may still pose a skin cancer risk. As such, there is a need to use more sensitive biomarkers to accurately assess sun damage and to test the ability of sunscreens that can prevent sun damage and reduce skin cancer risks.
The Technology: Biomarker array to detect UV radiation induced gene expression
This technology consists of a method to obtain skin samples from subjects and an array of UV-responsive biomarkers identified through comprehensive gene expression profiling studies. By assessing a wide variety of genes that span multiple biological pathways, this technology provides a more accurate and sensitive evaluation of UV damage to human skin. This technology can be used to develop new gene arrays and high throughput screening systems to detect abnormal UV-induced gene expression in patient samples. Moreover, this biomarker array can be used to test the efficacy of sunscreens and help healthcare providers to assess excessive sun exposure and skin cancer risk.
This technology has been validated with different skin types using both bioinformatics and experimental approaches.
Applications:
- Diagnostic assays for UV damage and skin cancer risks
- Screening tools for testing the efficacy of sunscreens and related products
- Research tools for studying UV-induced damage and repair systems
Advantages:
- High-throughput platform to evaluate multiple biomarkers from different samples
- Consistent responses to UV radiation across different skin types
- Improves sensitivity and accuracy by evaluating multiple gene expressions
- UV-induced expression changes in the genes persist long after radiation
Lead Inventor:
Patent Information:
Related Publications:
- Shen Y, Stanislauskas M, Li G, Zheng D, Liu L. "Epigenetic and genetic dissections of UV-induced global gene dysregulation in skin cells through multi-omics analyses" Scientific Reports. 2017 Jan; 7(1): 42646.
- Shen Y, Kim AL, Du R, Liu L. "Transcriptome Analysis Identifies the Dysregulation of Ultraviolet Target Genes in Human Skin Cancers" PLosOne. 2016 Sep 19; 11(9):e0163054.
Tech Ventures Reference:
IR CU16127, CU17230, CU20051
Licensing Contact: Sara Gusik