APTAMATRIX, INC. SBIR Phase II Award, September 2020

AbstractAptamers made from DNA, RNA and other nucleic acids that have chemical modifications can be engineered to bind tightly to biomolecules like the proteins that circulate in blood.The primary goal of this project is to develop a kit of aptamer reagents to enable simultaneous measurement of protein abundance profiles, focusing especially on significant differentially abundant proteins in blood. This will aid in cancer diagnostics and in monitoring protein populations over the course of disease and therapeutic intervention. The intended product is an Aptamer Proteomics kit (AP-kit) that can be used by researchers and clinicians to comprehensively profile the differences between healthy individuals and those afflicted with cancer. The kits will be validated in-house and tested with carefully curated samples focused on prostate cancer.The AP-kits will give cancer scientists new tools that lead to breakthroughs in the understanding of cancer types and to create new and more effective treatments and preventions. Physicians will be enabled to diagnose tumors earlier, reducing the burden of radiation treatments and chemotherapy on cancer patients. AP-assays will aid in monitoring the progress of cancer therapies and allow treatments to be customized for individual patients. These outcomes will increase quality of life and substantially decrease the burden of cancer on society.NarrativeThis project aims to provide kits for research scientists and clinicians to make comprehensive surveys of the identities and levels of proteins in blood. The outcome will be a rapid clinical test to distinguish differences in the profiles of proteins from healthy human subjects and those who have cancer.