Description of Invention:
Osteoarthritis is chronic, often progressive and substantially disabling condition that becomes more common with advanced age. Osteoarthritis commonly involves the knees, hands, hips, neck and back resulting in pain and limitations of movement.
Unfortunately clinically available tests are neither capable of detecting osteoarthritis early in its development, nor sensitive enough to adequately assess disease progression. A better means of diagnosing early osteoarthritis and its progression that can be used to assess the response to therapeutic treatments is needed. The currently available laboratory techniques are highly sensitive but either lack specificity or require large volumes of sample. Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA) is new technology that precisely localizes unique signals arising from single reporter molecules. RCA has been incorporated into antibody-based microarray system protein chips that enable testing with high sensitivity and specificity for hundreds of proteins simultaneously, using small sample volumes.
This invention describes a method of using RCA technology for detecting the expression of serum proteins that are perturbed in osteoarthritis patients. The results of this testing can be used to identify proteins associated with osteoarthritis presence, prediction of osteoarthritis development and prognosis, predict response to osteoarthritis treatment and potentially also identify future anti-osteoarthritic drugs.
Inventors:
Shari M. Ling et al. (NIA)
Patent Status:
DHHS Reference No. E-354-2004/0 --
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/602,334 filed 18 Aug 2004
PCT Application No. PCT/US2005/028871 filed 12 Aug 2005, which published as WO 2006/023412 on 02 Mar 2006
U.S. Patent Application No. 11/573,711 filed 14 Feb 2007
Licensing Status: In addition to licensing, the technology is available for further development through collaborative research opportunities with the inventors.
For Additional Information Please Contact: Charlene A. Sydnor Ph.D.
NIH Office of Technology Transfer
6011 Executive Blvd, Suite 325
Rockville, MD 20852-3804
Phone: 301/435-4689
Email: sydnorc@mail.nih.gov
Fax: 301/402-0220
