Unlocking the Potential of Low-cost RNA-based Technology to Measure Biomarkers
Protein biomarkers are essential in the diagnosis of a wide range of acute and chronic diseases, from arthritis to cancer and bacterial infections. Conventional tests to detect and measure these biomarkers could cost between $100 to more than $1,000, making them inaccessible to many people. Fortunately, researchers at Penn State have developed a low-cost RNA-based technology to detect and measure biomarkers, making it possible to perform the same measurement for only about a dollar.
How the RNA-based Technology Works?
The technology is a combination of a cell-free expression system and engineered RNA-based sensors called riboswitches, designed to bind to a specific biomarker protein and regulate the activation or repression of an observable signal. The riboswitch itself is produced within the cell-free expression system, costing about a dollar per reaction. The biggest challenge, however, is in discovering the best DNA instructions to generate the most sensitive protein sensors.
New RNA-based Technology Shows Significant Promise
Penn State researchers tested their RNA-based technology to detect three proteins: MS2, a small protein found on a bacterial phage, as a proof of principle, and the medically relevant biomarkers human monomeric C-reactive protein and human interleukin-32 gamma. They designed 32 riboswitches, most of which successfully detected their target proteins. The researchers claimed that RNA-based sensors can be designed to detect human biomarker proteins, indicating the possibility of using these sensors to develop devices for diagnostic testing.
Potential Benefits of Low-cost RNA-based Technology
Howard Salis, the associate professor of biological engineering, chemical engineering, and biomedical engineering, asserts that measuring multiple biomarkers periodically over several weeks can help doctors diagnose patients better. This new technology helps reduce the costs associated with medical testing, making it more affordable and available to more people. The Penn State team’s new RNA-based technology significantly reduces the cost and makes the monitoring of multiple protein biomarkers more feasible, leading to a more accurate diagnosis of acute and chronic diseases.
The Future of RNA-based Technology
While there are complexities and challenges that must be addressed, there is optimism that RNA-based technology can unlock the potential of affordable biomarker testing and improve our health outcomes. The RNA-based technology could also be used to develop easy-to-use devices that allow researchers and clinicians to test multiple biomarkers cost-effectively. By leveraging computational modeling and design, we could even design low-cost protein sensors that can be freeze-dried and rehydrated, bypassing some of the storage and distribution challenges currently being faced. The future of RNA-based technology is bright and bears watching.
Summary
Penn State researchers have developed a low-cost RNA-based technology to detect and measure biomarkers, making it possible to perform the same measurement for only about a dollar, reducing the cost and making monitoring multiple protein biomarkers more feasible. The technology is a combination of a cell-free expression system and engineered RNA-based sensors called riboswitches, designed to bind to a specific biomarker protein and regulate the activation or repression of an observable signal. According to researchers at Penn State, RNA-based sensors can be designed to detect human biomarker proteins, indicating the possibility of using these sensors to develop devices for diagnostic testing. However, challenges need to be addressed, and analysis shows that the future of RNA-based technology is bright.
Unlocking the Potential of Low-cost RNA-Based Technology to Measure Biomarkers
While protein biomarkers are essential in the diagnosis of acute and chronic diseases, conventional tests to detect and measure these biomarkers are expensive, making them inaccessible to many people. Fortunately, researchers at Penn State have developed a low-cost RNA-based technology to detect and measure biomarkers, making it possible to perform the same measurement for about a dollar.
How Does the RNA-Based Technology Work?
Penn State researchers combined a cell-free expression system and engineered RNA-based sensors called riboswitches to develop the low-cost RNA-based technology. Riboswitches are designed to bind to a specific biomarker protein and regulate the activation or repression of an observable signal. The riboswitch itself is produced within the cell-free expression system, costing about a dollar per reaction. However, discovering the best DNA instructions to generate the most sensitive protein sensors was a challenge that the team had to address.
RNA-Based Technology Shows Significant Promise
Penn State researchers tested their RNA-based technology to detect three proteins: MS2, a small protein found on a bacterial phage, as a proof of principle, and the medically relevant biomarkers human monomeric C-reactive protein and human interleukin-32 gamma. They designed 32 riboswitches, most of which successfully detected their target proteins. RNA-based sensors can be designed to detect human biomarker proteins, indicating the possibility of using these sensors to develop devices for diagnostic testing.
Benefit of Low-cost RNA-Based Technology
Howard Salis, the associate professor of biological engineering, chemical engineering, and biomedical engineering, believes that measuring multiple biomarkers periodically over several weeks can help doctors diagnose patients better. The new technology helps reduce the costs associated with medical testing, making it more affordable and available to more people. The Penn State team’s new RNA-based technology significantly reduces the cost and makes the monitoring of multiple protein biomarkers more feasible, leading to a more accurate diagnosis of acute and chronic diseases.
The Future of RNA-Based Technology
There is optimism that RNA-based technology can unlock the potential of affordable biomarker testing and improve our health outcomes. The RNA-based technology could also be used to develop easy-to-use devices that allow researchers and clinicians to test multiple biomarkers cost-effectively. Computational modeling and design could even aid the design of low-cost protein sensors that can be freeze-dried and rehydrated, bypassing some of the storage and distribution challenges currently being faced. The future of RNA-based technology is bright, and the potential benefits to health outcomes are enormous.
Additional Piece: A Closer Look at Low-cost Biomarker Testing
Biomarker testing is an essential tool for modern medicine, offering a non-invasive and accurate way to diagnose medical conditions. Measuring biomarker concentrations in the body, such as proteins or nucleic acid sequences, can indicate the presence of a particular disease or a response to a specific treatment. Traditional biomarker testing, however, is often expensive, time-consuming, and requires specialized equipment and significant technical expertise. This limits the availability and accessibility of diagnostics to many patients who need them.
Low-cost biomarker testing has the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry, making diagnostics more affordable, available, and efficient. RNA-based technology provides a promising approach to create affordable diagnostic tests, allowing doctors to better diagnose patients with acute or chronic conditions such as heart disease and arthritis, and interleukin-32 gamma, a signaling protein for acute infections such as viruses or bacterial infections.
The low-cost RNA-based technology development by the Penn State researchers is a significant breakthrough, addressing cost and accessibility challenges. RNA-based technology unlocks the potential for biomarker testing through computational modeling and design, which makes designing low-cost protein sensors possible. Moreover, RNA-based technology is efficient in detecting multiple biomarkers periodically over several weeks, providing doctors with more accurate diagnoses.
Overall, the potential benefits of low-cost biomarker testing are enormous, and with the RNA-based technology, we can bridge reliance on expensive conventional biomarker testing methods. Wider availability and accessibility of diagnostic tests could help save lives by detecting and preventing the spread of deadly diseases and enhancing treatment outcomes by allowing much more targeted care. Advancements in RNA-based technology bring hope to a more affordable and efficient healthcare industry, opening up more opportunities to provide better care for those affected by acute or chronic diseases.
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Penn State researchers have developed a low-cost RNA-based technology to detect and measure biomarkers, which can help decode the body’s physiology. The presence of protein biomarkers can indicate chronic or acute conditions, from arthritis to cancer and bacterial infections, for which conventional tests can cost anywhere from $100 to more than $1,000. New technology can perform the same measurement for about a dollar.
The team published their results in nature communications, combining the efforts of Howard Salis, associate professor of biological engineering, chemical engineering, and biomedical engineering; Grace Vezeau, who earned a Ph.D. in biological engineering from Penn State in 2021; and Lipika Gadila, who earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Penn State in 2018.
The results demonstrate that RNA-based sensors can be designed to detect human biomarker proteins, including monomeric C-reactive protein, which is involved in chronic inflammatory conditions such as heart disease and arthritis, and interleukin-32 gamma, a signaling protein. for acute infections. such as viruses or bacterial infections. According to Salis, such sensors could be used to develop devices for diagnostic testing.
“These tests can help a doctor diagnose a patient, but it is more informative to measure multiple biomarkers periodically over several weeks,” Salis said. “Right now, a test can be expensive, and it adds up. With our new RNA-based technology, it’s now possible to do the same measurements for much less.”
The technology is a combination of a cell-free expression system and engineered RNA-based sensors called riboswitches. Cell-free expression systems contain cellular machinery to read DNA and make proteins, but are not restricted by cell membranes and allow bulky proteins to enter freely. Riboswitches are designed to bind to a biomarker protein and regulate the activation or repression of an observable signal. The riboswitch itself is produced within the cell-free expression system from the instructions of the DNA. In total, the cost of these materials is about a dollar per reaction.
According to Salis, this is the first time that researchers have designed a riboswitch sensor to detect biomarker proteins. The challenge, she said, is to discover the best DNA instructions to generate the most sensitive protein sensors.
“Previous efforts to design such riboswitch sensors have largely relied on trial-and-error experimentation, for example, building and characterizing large random libraries to identify riboswitch variants, the genetic blueprints and aptamers, that work best,” Salis said. “Using a combination of thermodynamic modeling and computational optimization, we rationally designed new riboswitches that are predicted to be excellent protein sensors, and then tested them. Our design algorithm is called the Riboswitch Calculator.”
Salis and the researchers tested their new technology to detect three proteins: MS2, a small protein found on a bacterial phage, as proof of principle; and the medically relevant biomarkers human monomeric C-reactive protein and human interleukin-32 gamma. The researchers designed 32 riboswitches, most of which successfully detected their target proteins.
“Today’s assays require expensive detection reagents, expensive and bulky instruments, cold chain storage and distribution of samples, and trained personnel,” Salis said. “By applying computational modeling and design, we designed low-cost protein sensors that can be freeze-dried and rehydrated. The next step is to develop an easy-to-use device that allows researchers and clinicians to use this new technology.”
Salis is also affiliated with the Penn State Institutes of Energy and Environment.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research supported this research.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230601155931.htm
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