Urinary Microbiomic Profiling With Iron-Chelator Preservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for identifying and treating urinary disorders lack effectiveness in determining the presence of specific microbial imbalances in the urinary tract and do not provide adequate solutions for microbiome supplementation or treatment.
Innovation Solution
The use of a preservation mixture containing an iron chelator, such as Enterobactin, along with other components like EDTA, poly-L-lysine, and antimicrobials, to preserve nucleic acid molecules in urine samples and prevent microbial growth, allowing for accurate microbial analysis and potential treatment through microbiome supplementation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional urine sample preservation methods are used, then microbial growth may occur during storage, but nucleic acid degradation also occurs, making it difficult to maintain both sample integrity and prevent microbial proliferation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes iron ions from the urine sample by adding an iron chelator, which binds to free iron and removes it from the environment. This extraction of the harmful element (iron) prevents both nucleic acid degradation and microbial growth that depend on iron, resolving the contradiction between maintaining nucleic acid integrity and preventing microbial proliferation.
Solution Approach 2:
The iron chelator acts as an intermediary substance that mediates between the harmful effects of free iron. It binds to iron ions, creating a stable complex that eliminates iron's harmful effects on nucleic acids and microbes without directly attacking the nucleic acids or microbes themselves, thus preserving sample integrity while preventing microbial growth.
2Stability of the object's composition
If iron chelators are added to preserve nucleic acids and prevent microbial growth, then sample stability improves, but the complexity of the preservation mixture increases
Solution Approach 1:
The iron chelator performs multiple functions simultaneously: it preserves nucleic acids by preventing iron-dependent degradation, inhibits microbial growth by removing essential iron, and stabilizes the overall sample composition. This multi-functionality achieves high sample stability without requiring multiple separate additives, thus limiting the increase in preservation mixture complexity.
3Measurement precision
If multiple preservation components are used to maintain nucleic acid integrity, then sequencing accuracy improves, but the cost and complexity of the preservation system increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent identifies and extracts the root cause of sample degradation - free iron ions - using a specific iron chelator. By removing this single harmful element, the patent achieves improved sequencing accuracy without needing to add multiple different preservation agents, thus improving measurement precision while limiting the increase in system complexity.
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 enables the identification of urinary disorders based on microbial abundance with high sensitivity and specificity, and provides a method for treating these disorders by supplementing the urinary tract microbiome with specific microbes.
Implementation Method 1
an iron chelator, wherein said preservation mixture is configured to preserve nucleic acid molecules in a urine sample and prevent growth of microbes in said sample
Implementation Method 2
preserve nucleic acid molecules in a urine sample
Implementation Method 3
a volume-excluding polymer that is present in an amount from about 10% to about 50% by weight of said composition
Implementation Method 4
an osmotic agent present in an amount of about 1% to about 20% by weight of said composition
Implementation Method 5
an enzyme inhibitor present in an amount from about 1% to about 30% by weight of said composition
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for identifying and/or treating urinary disorders are provided. The methods and systems generally operate by obtaining a urine sample from a subject, identifying (such as by using nucleic acid sequencing) an abundance of a first set of one or more microbes (such as one or more bacteria or viruses) in the urine sample, and determining whether the subject suffers from a urinary disorder based on the abundance of the first set of one or more microbes. In some cases, the methods and systems further operate by identifying a second set of microbes to supplement a microbiome in the urinary tract of the subject. In some instances, the methods and systems further operate by treating the urinary disorder using the second set of microbes. In some instances a preservation solution is utilized.