Decarboxylated Folate Derivatives for Sensitive Immunoassays

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current non-radioisotopic folate immunoassays lack sufficient sensitivity, particularly in detecting low folate concentrations in clinical and agri-food samples, making them inadequate for reliable folate quantification.

Innovation Solution

The development of decarboxylated folate derivatives with an aliphatic hydrocarbon chain, which are used in non-radioisotopic competition immunoassays to enhance analytic sensitivity by forming covalent bonds with proteins, allowing for more precise folate detection.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional non-radioisotopic folate immunoassays are used, then the assay avoids radioactivity safety issues, but the sensitivity is insufficient for detecting low folate concentrations

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovesafetyVSAvoiddetection sensitivity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent modifies the chemical structure of folate by decarboxylating the glutamate moiety and introducing aliphatic hydrocarbon chains at the N5 position. These parameter changes in the molecular structure enhance the compound's ability to form stable covalent bonds with proteins, thereby improving detection sensitivity without requiring radioisotopic labeling

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The invention creates composite structures by conjugating modified folate derivatives with proteins through covalent bonding. This forms a folate-protein composite material that combines the specificity of folate with the stability and detectability of protein markers, achieving high sensitivity in non-radioisotopic assays

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

2Measurement precision

If folate derivatives with enhanced sensitivity are developed, then detection precision improves, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedetection sensitivityVSAvoidassay complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The folate derivatives are pre-synthesized with decarboxylated glutamate moieties and aliphatic hydrocarbon chains attached, ready to form covalent bonds with proteins during the assay. This preliminary structural preparation eliminates the need for complex in-situ modification steps, maintaining assay simplicity while achieving enhanced sensitivity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

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

These derivatives significantly improve the sensitivity of folate assays, enabling accurate detection of low folate concentrations in biological and food samples, addressing the limitations of existing methods.

Implementation Method 1

which are used in non-radioisotopic competition immunoassays to enhance analytic sensitivity by forming covalent bonds with proteins

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectCovalent bonding: Chemical Bonding

Data Source

PatentUS11535620B2Folate derivatives, useful in particular in the context of the folate assay

Publication Date: 2022.12.27 BIOMERIEUX SA

AI summary

Use of a folate derivative to assay in vitro the folate in a sample such as a biological sample.