Projektbeschreibung
Ein sensitiver Hormontest zur Behandlung von Adipositas
Mehr als 10 % der Weltbevölkerung leiden an Adipositas, doch eine zielgenaue Behandlung gibt es nicht. Es besteht also dringender Bedarf an neuen diagnostischen und prognostischen Biomarkern. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt DNAsensPROT hat eine DNA-Methode auf Basis von Aptameren entwickelt, um Proteine in biologischen Proben quantitativ zu messen. Dieses Verfahren soll jetzt zur Messung von Leptin eingesetzt werden, einem Hormon in der Magenschleimhaut, das Appetit und Gewicht reguliert und in direkt proportionalem Zusammenhang mit der Körperfettmasse steht. Lässt sich diese Methode patientennah umsetzen, stünde ein ultrasensitiver Test für die Diagnose von Problemen der Appetitkontrolle zur Verfügung, wie sie bei Adipositas und Magersucht auftreten.
Ziel
The life expectancy in both EU and US fell in 2015. A third of premature deaths could be preventable and large part is due to obesity – a major risk factor for many chronic diseases including diabetes. Worldwide about 40% of adults are overweight and 13% obese. Regulation of food metabolism is becoming one of the main issues relevant to human health today. Obesity is preventable, however there are no currently available non-invasive and cost-effective obesity treatments, pointing to the need of novel diagnostic and prognostic tests. Leptin, a gut-hormone protein, has been shown to be crucial in regulating appetite and weight. Its concentration is proportional to the body fat mass, and changes at a greater rate compared to weight loss, therefore it can be used as a key measure of diet efficiency. Strong correlation between plasma and salivary leptin levels allows monitoring leptin in saliva, and provides point-of-care (PoC) personalised insight into the success of individual weight loss programs.
During our ERC Synergy Grant we have developed an aptamer based approach to perform quantitative detection of protein molecules using nucleic acid amplification to overcome the complexities of current methods to enable PoC detection. The key idea (patent pending) is to amplify and quantify DNA displaced from DNA-aptamer complexes by Leptin molecules with real-time Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification. We will use an Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistor lab-on chip arrays. Now we need funds to further develop this technology and create a PoC platform to provide linear label-free ultrasensitive protein detection, reducing complexity, time-to-result and cost of the assay. Furthermore, the development of this novel molecular method will enable quantification of a broader number of protein targets and create one of the most sensitive PoC techniques for protein quantification, with applications far beyond appetite control (obesity, anorexia etc) management.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesnucleic acids
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsDNA
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutritionobesity
Programm/Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantGastgebende Einrichtung
SW7 2AZ LONDON
Vereinigtes Königreich