Descripción del proyecto
Un kit de diagnóstico pionero mide los niveles de un novedoso biomarcador oncológico
Los análisis de sangre constituyen un método universalmente aceptado para medir las concentraciones de determinados componentes de la sangre. Los resultados de estas pruebas se comparan con el intervalo de valores fisiológicos de cada medición. Mientras que la mayoría de nosotros da por sentado esos valores «sanos», para determinar esos intervalos, son necesarios estudios científicos donde se evalúa la correlación entre las diversas concentraciones y las enfermedades. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos M6AQuantKit ha desarrollado el kit MAZTER-seq para cuantificar la concentración de N6-metiladenosina (m6A), una forma modificada de adenosina cuya regulación inadecuada está vinculada con cánceres humanos. El kit, que contiene una herramienta de análisis de datos, permitirá analizar múltiples muestras a partir de pequeñas cantidades de material de muestra. Su utilización para el estudio y la supervisión de muestras de pacientes en investigación académica y farmacéutica, biotecnología y aplicaciones clínicas debería impulsar el desarrollo de nuevos diagnósticos del cáncer y terapias dirigidas contra el cáncer.
Objetivo
N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) plays fundamental roles in regulation of metabolism, stem cell self-renewal, and metastasis. Consistently its dysregulation is implicated in a variety of human cancers including leukemia, glioblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. Consequently, the potential of m6A both as a novel cancer diagnostic and as a drug target has raised immense interest in scientific community and industry. For unravelling m6A functions, for the development of therapeutics and for prioritizing diseases and disease states most likely to benefit from therapeutic targeting of the methylation complex, it is thus of crucial importance to be able to measure the levels at which m6A is present. In our ERC project we addressed this challenge and developed MAZTER-seq, a methodology for quantifying m6A levels relying on a methylation-sensitive ribonuclease (RNase), representing the first systematic approach for quantitative interrogating of m6A levels.
The goal of the project is to advance our approach as commercializable kit for quantitative profiling of m6A. In the PoC, we will develop multiplexed protocol of MAZTER-seq that allows the simultaneous processing and interrogation of multiple samples from low amounts of sample material. The kit, coupled with streamlined data analysis tool, addresses a major market need and exhibits significant added value for academic labs and the biotech & pharma industries targeting the methylation machinery, e.g. for creating novel RNA based therapeutics. Our readout from low-input material makes m6A monitoring amenable to patient samples, representing an unmet challenge across all our target market. Thus, our goal is to create a startup which harnesses the vast market potential. In the PoC, the commercialization considerations are advanced through actions such as, seeking market feedback, strengthening the IP position, defining the business strategy and planning business execution.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotInstitución de acogida
7610001 Rehovot
Israel