Stroke diagnosis: fast, simple and convenient
In stroke therapy, every minute is precious, but at the current level, the diagnosis of this disease requires at least three hours. Researchers at Cornell University, working under the guidance of Associate Professor Alex Travis, have developed a technique that allows you to diagnose a stroke in less than 10 minutes using a tiny drop of blood.
The authors believe that in the future, biomarkers contained in the blood will be used to diagnose stroke – a condition in which there is a blockage or restriction of blood flow in any of the regions of the brain. Their proposed technology for detecting such biomarkers is based on the use of enzymes attached to nanoparticles that emit light waves when interacting with molecular biomarkers.
The effectiveness of the new approach was demonstrated on neuron-specific enolase, a compound whose high concentrations are contained in the blood of patients with heart attack and other conditions. By measuring the intensity of light emitted by different samples, the researchers determined the amount of neuron-specific enolase contained in the sample. At the same time, amplification of the emitted signal made it possible to detect even the smallest amount of connection.
According to the authors, the idea of such use of enzymes was inspired by enzymes attached to the surface of the tails of spermatozoa. These enzymes effectively convert carbohydrates into energy, which ensures the movement of flagella and, accordingly, the movement of spermatozoa. The fact that the enzymes are attached to the tail of the sperm, and not dissolved in solution, allows them to transfer the substrate from one point to another, thereby ensuring the most complete use of the carbohydrate molecule.
In the near future, the researchers plan, in cooperation with one of the private companies, to develop a technique for diagnosing stroke, conduct its clinical studies and, eventually, introduce it into clinical practice. However, in addition to this, they hope to use the new approach as the basis of diagnostic systems for detecting other diseases. Currently, they are experimenting on the use of enzymatic detection of biomarkers in the diagnosis of traumatic brain injuries in athletes engaged in various martial arts. Taylor states that the preliminary results obtained are very impressive and hopes to publish them in the near future. He also notes that the technique can be used for simultaneous registration of multiple markers, which ensures the accuracy of diagnosis. Moreover, it has two very valuable qualities – the small size of the devices and simplicity, the combination of which means the possibility of using the technique at the patient's bedside.
Article by Roy Cohen et al. The Use of Tethered Enzymes as a Platform Technology for Rapid Analyte Detection is published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
03.12.2015