scholarly journals Design, development, and validation of a strand-specific RT-qPCR assay for GI and GII human Noroviruses

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 245
Author(s):  
Katja Marie Kjara König ◽  
Aminu S. Jahun ◽  
Komal Nayak ◽  
Lydia N. Drumright ◽  
Matthias Zibauer ◽  
...  

Human noroviruses (HuNoV) are the major cause of viral gastroenteritis worldwide. Similar to other positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, norovirus RNA replication requires the formation of a negative strand RNA intermediate. Methods for detecting and quantifying the viral positive or negative sense RNA in infected cells and tissues can be used as important tools in dissecting virus replication. In this study, we have established a sensitive and strand-specific Taqman-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay for both genogroups GI and GII HuNoV. This assay shows good reproducibility, has a broad dynamic range and is able to detect a diverse range of isolates. We used tagged primers containing a non-viral sequence for the reverse transcription (RT) reaction and targeted this tag in the succeeding qPCR reaction to achieve strand specificity. The specificity of the assay was confirmed by the detection of specific viral RNA strands in the presence of high levels of the opposing strands, in both RT and qPCR reactions. Finally, we further validated the assay in norovirus replicon-bearing cell lines and norovirus-infected human small intestinal organoids, in the presence or absence of small-molecule inhibitors. Overall, we have established a strand-specific qPCR assay that can be used as a reliable method to understand the molecular details of the human norovirus life cycle.

2020 ◽  
Vol 154 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S92-S92
Author(s):  
M S Shapiro ◽  
X Wang ◽  
D R Mendu ◽  
A Firpo

Abstract Introduction/Objective Mount Sinai Hospital has received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) antibody testing using ELISA. This serological assay detects and titrates the presence of circulating antibodies to COVID-19. Other platforms have aimed to achieve the credentials of the ELISA instrument, including the multiplex assays of Luminex. The platform is known to have a greater throughput (384 wells vs. 96 wells per microplate) and faster processing speed (8 hours vs. 17 hours). Methods Luminex utilizes beads that couple to the same COVID-19 antigens (mRBD and mSpike) which were utilized for the ELISA assay. The beads are read determining the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI). In order to compare the two methods, our study included 61 patients with COVID-19 at Mount Sinai Hospital, to screen and titrate their sera using Luminex, and to correspond the MFI values with the ELISA titers. Results The Luminex assay has achieved the same level of confidence as ELISA. The 61 patients, representing 30 negatives and 31 positives, are consistently identified as such on both platforms. Our data highlights 32% of patients with a low titer (<1:160), 42% of patients with a high titer (1:160 ~ 1:320), and 26% of patients with a very high titer level (>1:320). These titers correlated well with the MFI values. Based on a cutoff of 80,000 MFI, the sensitivity and specificity of the assay is 98% and 85%, respectively, with no overlapping of MFI between positive and negative results. Conclusion Overall, the study has demonstrated that the Luminex is a strong alternative for the ELISA platform. The Luminex highlights the broad dynamic range with no overlapping between positives and negatives. Migration from ELISA to Luminex, a platform with faster and greater throughput, is therefore, highly desirable.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexia Bordigoni ◽  
Anne Motte ◽  
Hervé Tissot-Dupont ◽  
Philippe Colson ◽  
Christelle Desnues

AbstractHuman papillomaviruses (HPV) play a key role in promoting human anogenital cancers. Current high-risk HPV screening or diagnosis tests involve cytological or molecular techniques mostly based on qualitative HPV DNA detection. Here, we describe the development of a rapid quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) detection test of HPV16 and HPV18 oncogenes (E6 and E7) normalized on human gene encoding GAPDH. Optimized qPCR parameters were defined, and analytical specificities were validated. The limit of detection was 101 for all genes tested. Assay performances were evaluated on clinical samples (n = 96). Concordance between the Xpert HPV assay and the triplex assay developed here was 93.44% for HPV16 and 73.58% for HPV18. HPV co-infections were detected in 15 samples. The systems developed in the present study can be used in complement to traditional HPV tests for specifically validating the presence of HPV16 and/or HPV18. It can also be used for the follow-up of patients with confirmed infection and at risk of developing lesions, through the quantification of E6 and E7 oncogene expression (mRNA) normalized on the GAPDH expression levels.


Author(s):  
Fanda Meng ◽  
Weisong Huo ◽  
Jie Lian ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Xizeng Shi ◽  
...  

AbstractWe report a microfluidic sandwich immunoassay constructed around a dual-giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor array to quantify the heart failure biomarker NT-proBNP in human plasma at the clinically relevant concentration levels between 15 pg/mL and 40 ng/mL. The broad dynamic range was achieved by differential coating of two identical GMR sensors operated in tandem, and combining two standard curves. The detection limit was determined as 5 pg/mL. The assay, involving 53 plasma samples from patients with different cardiovascular diseases, was validated against the Roche Cobas e411 analyzer. The salient features of this system are its wide concentration range, low detection limit, small sample volume requirement (50 μL), and the need for a short measurement time of 15 min, making it a prospective candidate for practical use in point of care analysis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Jordan ◽  
Jenna Chandler ◽  
Joshua S. MacCready ◽  
Jingcheng Huang ◽  
Katherine W. Osteryoung ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Cyanobacteria are emerging as alternative crop species for the production of fuels, chemicals, and biomass. Yet, the success of these microbes depends on the development of cost-effective technologies that permit scaled cultivation and cell harvesting. Here, we investigate the feasibility of engineering cell morphology to improve biomass recovery and decrease energetic costs associated with lysing cyanobacterial cells. Specifically, we modify the levels of Min system proteins in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942. The Min system has established functions in controlling cell division by regulating the assembly of FtsZ, a tubulin-like protein required for defining the bacterial division plane. We show that altering the expression of two FtsZ-regulatory proteins, MinC and Cdv3, enables control over cell morphology by disrupting FtsZ localization and cell division without preventing continued cell growth. By varying the expression of these proteins, we can tune the lengths of cyanobacterial cells across a broad dynamic range, anywhere from an ∼20% increased length (relative to the wild type) to near-millimeter lengths. Highly elongated cells exhibit increased rates of sedimentation under low centrifugal forces or by gravity-assisted settling. Furthermore, hyperelongated cells are also more susceptible to lysis through the application of mild physical stress. Collectively, these results demonstrate a novel approach toward decreasing harvesting and processing costs associated with mass cyanobacterial cultivation by altering morphology at the cellular level. IMPORTANCE We show that the cell length of a model cyanobacterial species can be programmed by rationally manipulating the expression of protein factors that suppress cell division. In some instances, we can increase the size of these cells to near-millimeter lengths with this approach. The resulting elongated cells have favorable properties with regard to cell harvesting and lysis. Furthermore, cells treated in this manner continue to grow rapidly at time scales similar to those of uninduced controls. To our knowledge, this is the first reported example of engineering the cell morphology of cyanobacteria or algae to make them more compatible with downstream processing steps that present economic barriers to their use as alternative crop species. Therefore, our results are a promising proof-of-principle for the use of morphology engineering to increase the cost-effectiveness of the mass cultivation of cyanobacteria for various sustainability initiatives.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Tabakman ◽  
Lana Lau ◽  
Joshua T. Robinson ◽  
Jordan Price ◽  
Sarah P. Sherlock ◽  
...  

Measurement ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Le ◽  
Vijay Vaidyanathan ◽  
Shailesh Vidhate ◽  
Jaycee Chung ◽  
Nandika D’Souza

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (28) ◽  
pp. 6145-6148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Meier ◽  
Johann M. B. Simbürger ◽  
Tero Soukka ◽  
Michael Schäferling

A FRET system composed of a europium chelate and carboxynaphthofluorescein enables ratiometric pH sensing with an exceptionally broad dynamic range.


1995 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Thompson ◽  
Marcia W. Patchan

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 103-108
Author(s):  
Enno Sabelberg ◽  
Maria Cardenas ◽  
Reinhold Kneer ◽  
Wilko Rohlfs

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 382-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Kibbee ◽  
Natalie Linklater ◽  
Banu Örmeci

Due to contaminant Escherichia coli DNA present in recombinant Taq polymerase reagents, it is not possible to reliably detect low levels of E. coli in samples using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay. Native Taq polymerase was successfully used in this study to detect five uidA gene copies (5 fg of genomic DNA) of the uidA gene.


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