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DNA PROBES FOR DIAGNOSIS OF GONOCOCCAL DISEASE

Award Information
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Branch: N/A
Contract: N/A
Agency Tracking Number: 7877
Amount: $50,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 1988
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
10125 Metropolitan
Austin, TX 78758
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 () -
Business Contact
Phone: () -
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFICACIOUS AND COST-EFFECTIVE DIAGNOSTIC TEST FOR NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE INFECTION IS THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT. ALTHOUGH CURRENT DIAGNOSTIC METHODS ARE SENSITIVE AND SPECIFIC, THEY ARE TIME CONSUMING AND COSTLY. BECAUSE OF THE ENORMOUS MORBIDITY OF GONOCOCCAL INFECTION IN THE U.S., THE POTENTIAL FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF SUCH A TEST IS EXCELLENT. THIS PHASE I PROPOSAL EXAMINES THE FEASIBILITY OF TWO DNA "PROBES" AS DIAGNOSTIC REAGENTS. ONE WILL BE BASED ON THE DNA SEQUENCE OF A 26 BASEPAIR REPETITIVE ELEMENT FOUND IN THE GENOMES OF NEISSERIA SPP. A 21 BASE OLIGONUCLEOTIDE WILL BE COMMERCIALLY SYNTHESIZED AND ENZYMATICALLY BIOTINYLATED. THE SECOND PROBE WILL BE A SINGLE STRANDED DNA FRAGMENT OF THE GONOCOCCAL OUTER MEMBRANE PROTEIN III GENE. THIS PROBE WILL BE BIOTINYLATED CHEMICALLY. A RESTRICTION FRAGMENT OF THIS GENE DEMONSTRATING THE BEST SPECIES SPECIFICITY WILL BEDETERMINED BY HYBRIDIZATION ANALYSIS WITH GENOMIC DNA FROM SEVERAL NEISSERIA SPP. BOTH PROBES WILL BE EXAMINED FOR SENSITIVITY USING PURIFIED GONOCOCCAL DNA AND HYBRIDIZATION ANALYSIS ON NITROCELLULOSE. BIOTINYLATED DNA PROBES WILL BE DETECTED WITH COMPLEXES OF STREPTAVIDIN AND BIOTINYLATED ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE OR UREASE. PROBES WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT (PHASE II), IF THEIR LEVEL OF SENSITIVITY ALLOWS DETECTION OF LESS THAN TEN THOUSAND GONOCOCCI WITH INSIGNIFICANT BACKGROUND "NOISE".

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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