Somagenics, Inc. — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: Our goal in this proposal is to develop a novel method for the direct detection of miRNAs
Somagenics, Inc. — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Health and Human Services.
- Amount
- $225,000
- Agency
- Department of Health and Human Services · National Institutes of Health
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Solicitation
- PA13-088
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- CA
- Period
- —
Description
Our goal in this proposal is to develop a novel method for the direct detection of miRNAs in serum and plasma without requiring isolation of total RNA. Distinct expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) have recently been associated with cancer and other diseases, implying that miRNAs could serve as diagnostic biomarkers for these diseases. Effective biomarkers could facilitate early detection of cancer, leading to improved therapeutic outcomes, and aid in monitoring progression and response to therapy. TheRT-qPCR assays currently employed to quantify circulating miRNAs are hampered by problems associated with their requirement for isolating total RNA from plasma or serum prior to miRNA quantification. RNA is typically isolated by spin-column purification or phenol extraction and ethanol precipitation. Both methods suffer from inconsistent miRNA recovery and the lack of an internal reference miRNA for data normalization. Moreover, current RNA isolation procedures do not completely remove inhibitors of enzy