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.
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.
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.
IR CU16127, CU17230, CU20051
Licensing Contact: Sara Gusik
