Biosensor for the Detection of Antibodies and Small Molecules

BACKGROUND 

Researchers at the University of Calgary have created a point-of-care (POC) biosensor platform for any small molecule or biological samples. This biosensor relies on cognate enzyme complementation and produces glucose as a final product. The resultant glucose can be easily measured using common or custom-build glucometers. This new method provides a way to detect a wide range of analytes in various biological samples, including blood and colostrum, with a high degree of specificity and sensitivity.

AREAS OF APPLICATION

Verified in clinical samples:

• Small molecule detection – bovine serum calcium test for hypocalcaemia diagnosis¹.
• Antibody detection – sera antibody test against bovine leukemia virus (BLV)^2,3.
• Immunoglobulin detection:
  • Serum IgG concentration test in various animal species⁴.
  • Colostrum IgG concentration test⁵.
• Genetic targets, after amplicons by PCR or isothermal amplification (LAMP)⁶.
• Protein aggregation detection³.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

• High sensitivity and specificity demonstrated on various clinical samples.
• Portable, inexpensive, and simple to use – direct use on biological samples, no purification or processing needed.
• Fast – test results can be available within 10 minutes.
• The inventor has access to large animal resources for clinical trials.

PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES

• Patent publication: US10900960B2
• Journal publications:
  1. Fu Y et al. (2022). Development of a blood calcium test for hypocalcemia diagnosis in dairy cows. Res Vet Sci 147: 60-67.
  2. Mukherjee S & De Buck J. (2021). Autotransporter-based surface expression and complementation of split TreA fragments utilized for the detection of antibodies against bovine leukemia virus. J Immunol Methods 495: 113084.
  3. Drikic M & De Buck J. (2018). Split trehalase as a versatile for a wide range of biological analytes. Biotechnol Bioeng 115(5): 1128-1136.
  4. Drikic M et al. (2019). Detecting total immunoglobulins in diverse animal species with a novel split enzymatic assay. BMC Vet Res 15(1): 374.
  5. Drikic M et al. (2018). Determining the IgG concentrations in bovine colostrum and calf sera with a novel enzymatic assay. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology 9(69).
  6. Zhuohan M. (2022). Development of a gram-type specific method for detection of bovine mastitis pathogens by combining loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and split trehalase technologies. University of Calgary.
• Researcher profile: Jeroen De Buck
• Lab website: De Buck Lab