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Base Pair has been collaborating with Dr. Misaki Wayengera of Makerere (TMA2015CDF1545) University in Uganda to explore aptamers for the development of simpler, more sensitive assays for the diagnosis of Ebolavirus.

Ebolavirus is a filovirus that causes severe hemorrhagic fever with a high rate of mortality. Believed to originate with the fruit bat, the virus can be transferred from infected animals and insects and also through the transfer of blood, mucus, or interaction with infected materials. On August 1, 2018, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa declared a new outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the North Kivu Province. As of June 9, 2019, there have been 1,968 confirmed cases and 1,296 confirmed deaths. An experimental vaccine is being administered and a clinical trial for a new therapeutic is underway. 

GP1 glycoprotein appears as spikes on the surface of the Ebolavirus virion. The glycoprotein is a heterodimer consisting of a GP1 and GP2 subunit. The glycoprotein forms a trimer consisting of three heterodimers on the virion surface. The GP1 subunit is involved in attachment to host cells and includes a receptor-binding domain. The smaller GP2 subunit includes a fusion peptide, a transmembrane domain and a short cytoplasmic tail. Glycoprotein residues involved in host entry are highly conserved between Zaire, Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire and Reston species of Ebolavirus.

https://www.basepairbio.com/elasa-aptamer-based-elisa/

Read more about Scientific Leadership, the EDCTP integrated Fellowship programme, the EDCTP Alumni Network and hear from some of our EDCTP Fellows on the impact these grants are having on their careers!

Wellcome is exploring how best to support public health and clinical interventions to improve global health. They are looking forward to what the next 10 years of global health trials might look like and want to hear your biggest and boldest ideas!

Wellcome want to know which health interventions you think have the potential to truly transform the health of people living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)? They are looking for large-scale evaluations of interventions that are in development but have not yet been formally evaluated (whether these are a product such as a diagnostic tool, drug, or vaccine, or a behavioural intervention, and whether they are targeted at individuals, communities or a combination of the two).

Wellcome are also interested in understanding how they can support more efficient evaluations that can provide definitive evidence and be much better linked with parallel policy work to allow faster uptake of evidence into practice.

Interventions should:

• be at late stage of development that evaluate efficacy or effectiveness (equivalent to pivotal Phase II or Phase III/IV)
• address the major causes of mortality and morbidity in LMICs
• have clear pathways to changing policy and guidelines
• address the issues of scalability and sustainability
• be evaluated at a large scale (either multi-country or multi-site)

To complete the survey visit: http://bit.ly/wellcome-global-health-survey

If you have any questions about the survey please contact Elena Netsi, Portfolio Manager Population Health at Wellcome, e.netsi@wellcome.ac.uk

Background

Access to an accurate diagnostic test for Buruli ulcer (BU) is a research priority according to the World Health Organization. Nucleic acid amplification of insertion sequence IS2404 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the most sensitive and specific method to detect Mycobacterium ulcerans (M. ulcerans), the causative agent of BU. However, PCR is not always available in endemic communities in Africa due to its cost and technological sophistication. Isothermal DNA amplification systems such as the recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) have emerged as a molecular diagnostic tool with similar accuracy to PCR but having the advantage of amplifying a template DNA at a constant lower temperature in a shorter time. The aim of this study was to develop RPA for the detection of M. ulcerans and evaluate its use in Buruli ulcer disease.

Methodology and principal findings

A specific fragment of IS2404 of M. ulcerans was amplified within 15 minutes at a constant 42°C using RPA method. The detection limit was 45 copies of IS2404 molecular DNA standard per reaction. The assay was highly specific as all 7 strains of M. ulcerans tested were detected, and no cross reactivity was observed to other mycobacteria or clinically relevant bacteria species. The clinical performance of the M. ulcerans (Mu-RPA) assay was evaluated using DNA extracted from fine needle aspirates or swabs taken from 67 patients in whom BU was suspected and 12 patients with clinically confirmed non-BU lesions. All results were compared to a highly sensitive real-time PCR. The clinical specificity of the Mu-RPA assay was 100% (95% CI, 84–100), whiles the sensitivity was 88% (95% CI, 77–95).

Conclusion

The Mu-RPA assay represents an alternative to PCR, especially in areas with limited infrastructure.