Amyloid Beta Peptide Detection via Protein Solubilizing Agent
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current immunoassays lack sufficient sensitivity to reliably detect amyloid beta peptides, particularly Aβ42, in the plasma of sporadic Alzheimer's disease patients due to low concentrations and high degradation, limiting early diagnosis and therapeutic interventions.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the dilution of plasma with a protein solubilizing agent to release amyloid beta peptides from proteins and components, allowing for comprehensive quantification of free and bound peptides, enhancing detection sensitivity and accuracy for diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional immunoassays are used to detect amyloid beta peptides in plasma, then the assay procedure is simple, but the detection sensitivity is insufficient due to low peptide concentrations and high degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by adding a protein solubilizing agent to the plasma sample before the immunoassay procedure. This pre-treatment step releases amyloid beta peptides from bound states and prevents degradation, ensuring that the peptides are in a detectable form before the actual measurement begins. This resolves the contradiction by preparing the sample in advance to enhance detection sensitivity without complicating the core assay procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a protein solubilizing agent as an intermediary substance between the plasma sample and the detection system. This intermediary agent facilitates the release of amyloid beta peptides from protein complexes and protects them from degradation during the assay process. By using this mediator, the patent achieves higher detection sensitivity while maintaining a relatively simple overall procedure.
2Quantity of substance
If plasma is not pre-treated, then the assay procedure is straightforward, but amyloid beta peptides remain bound to proteins and are degraded, reducing detectable levels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by adding the protein solubilizing agent to release amyloid beta peptides from bound states before measurement. This pre-treatment ensures that maximum quantities of peptides are in a free, detectable form, directly addressing the need to increase detectable peptide levels while adding only a simple mixing step to the procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by altering the chemical environment of the plasma sample through the addition of a protein solubilizing agent. This changes the binding parameters between amyloid beta peptides and plasma proteins, releasing the peptides into a detectable state. The parameter change is achieved through a simple reagent addition that dramatically increases detectable peptide quantities.
3Measurement precision
If high sensitivity detection is achieved through multiple processing steps, then detection limit is improved, but processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses preliminary action to achieve high sensitivity detection in a single mixing step. By adding the protein solubilizing agent beforehand, the peptides are released and protected from degradation before measurement, achieving detection limits suitable for sporadic AD patients without requiring multiple sequential processing steps. This dramatically reduces processing time while maintaining the necessary detection sensitivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly increases detectable levels of Aβ peptides, providing a more precise measure of total amyloid beta levels in plasma, enabling earlier detection and differentiation of neurodegenerative diseases from pre-disease stages.
Implementation Method 1
contacting said sample with a protein solubilising agent under conditions adequate to promote dissociation of the amyloid beta peptide or peptides from the components present in the sample
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to methods for the diagnostic of a neurodegenerative disease, for the detection of a stage prior to a neurodegenerative disease or for distinguishing neurodegenerative disease from a stage prior to a neurodegenerative disease based on the level of certain pools of amyloid beta peptides which are either bound to plasma components or bound to blood cells as well as on certain calculated parameters which are obtained by an arithmetic combination of one or more of the amyloid peptide levels. The invention relates as well to kits for carrying out the above method.