Prof. Marcus: What we have developed is best termed an enabling technology. The use of urine rather blood as a sampling medium has obvious advantages. Proteins in urine are very efficiently collected for subsequent survey and quantitative analysis in terms of identifying potential biomarkers. In the case of sample-limited analysis, single nanomolar concentrations of spiked proteins can be extracted and detected by MALDI-MS from 1 microliter certified urine sample volumes. Sensitivity can obviously be improved using larger volumes.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Prof. Marcus: Our group is looking for substantive collaborations with clinicians who are looking to expand their portfolio of urine-based biomarkers. There are certainly other methods (which we have in-house), for adding molecular selectivity to the protein capture step. There are any number of additional detection methods that can be applied following C-CP fiber capture, including ESI-MS, LC-coupled mass spectrometry, fluorescence, and indeed immunoassay approaches. Collaboration and development agreements with sample preparation/clinical diagnostic supply companies is also of interest as there are existing patents that cover the underlying intellectual property.