Urinary Microbiomic Profiling With Iron-Chelator Preservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for identifying and treating urinary disorders lack effective means to preserve nucleic acid molecules in urine samples while preventing microbial growth, which hampers accurate microbial profiling and treatment strategies.
Innovation Solution
A preservation mixture comprising an iron chelator, such as Enterobactin or Deferoxamine Mesylate, along with other components like EDTA, poly-L-lysine hydrobromide, and D-alpha-tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate, is used to preserve nucleic acid molecules and inhibit microbial growth in urine samples, enabling better sequencing and microbial profiling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional preservation methods are used, then microbial growth is prevented, but nucleic acid sequencing coverage and accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the preservation medium by using iron chelators (which bind iron ions) combined with specific antimicrobial agents. This parameter change allows the medium to prevent microbial growth while maintaining nucleic acid integrity and sequencing quality, resolving the contradiction between reliability and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a composite preservation mixture containing iron chelators, antimicrobial agents, and buffering components. This composite formulation achieves both microbial growth prevention and nucleic acid preservation, simultaneously improving reliability and measurement precision without the trade-off present in conventional single-component methods.
2Measurement precision
If iron chelators are used to preserve nucleic acid molecules, then sequencing coverage improves, but the complexity of the preservation mixture increases
Solution Approach 1:
The iron chelator serves multiple functions: it preserves nucleic acid molecules by chelating iron, prevents microbial growth through iron deprivation, and maintains pH stability. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby improving sequencing coverage while limiting the increase in mixture complexity.
3Reliability
If multiple preservation components are added, then nucleic acid preservation improves, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring microbes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and isolates the iron chelation function from complex conventional preservation formulations. By using iron chelators as the core active component with minimal additional additives, the method simplifies the chemical environment for microbial detection while maintaining excellent nucleic acid preservation, thereby improving both reliability and reducing measurement difficulty.
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
The preservation mixture enhances nucleic acid sequencing coverage and accuracy, allowing for sensitive and specific identification of urinary disorders with a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of at least 90%, and supports effective treatment strategies.
Implementation Method 1
a preservation mixture comprising 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
the preservation mixture further comprises EDTA
Implementation Method 3
the preservation mixture further comprises poly-L-lysine hydrobromide
Implementation Method 4
the preservation mixture further comprises D-alpha-tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate
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.