University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have developed a groundbreaking new diagnostic technique that will allow for faster and more accurate detection of neurodegenerative diseases that affect humans, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and similar diseases that affect animals, such as chronic wasting disease (CWD) and mad cow disease. Credit: Sang-Hyun Oh Research Group, University of Minnesota
A revolutionary new diagnostic method developed by researchers will allow for faster and more accurate disease identification.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have made a significant breakthrough in the field of diagnosis by creating a revolutionary new diagnostic method that promises to rapidly and accurately detect neurodegenerative diseases. This approach holds great promise for providing earlier treatment and reducing the impact of diseases such as
“Testing for these neurodegenerative diseases in both animals and humans has been a major challenge to our society,” said Peter Larsen, senior co-author of the paper and an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences. “What we’re seeing now is this really exciting time when new, next-generation diagnostic tests are emerging for these diseases. The impact that our research has is that it’s greatly improving upon those next-generation tests, it’s making them more sensitive, and it’s making them more accessible.”
Reference: “Nanoparticle-Enhanced RT-QuIC (Nano-QuIC) Diagnostic Assay for Misfolded Proteins” by Peter R. Christenson, Manci Li, Gage Rowden, Peter A. Larsen and Sang-Hyun Oh, 26 April 2023, Nano Letters.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c01001
The research was funded by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR); the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Rapid Agricultural Response Fund; and the Minnesota Agricultural, Research, Education, Extension and Technology Transfer (AGREETT) program.
“Minnesotans value science and support basic and applied research. As legislators, we have invested Environmental Trust Fund dollars to provide solutions for complex problems like chronic wasting disease,” said Representative Rick Hansen, chair of the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Committee and co-chair of the LCCMR. “I am proud of the work of the LCCMR and the legislature in supporting this research and will continue to advocate for funding to research and prevent future problems affecting our wildlife and ourselves.”
Larsen and Oh lead the University’s Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach (MNPRO) molecular diagnostic research and development team, which leverages this government funding to conduct research on protein misfolding diseases that greatly impact the state of Minnesota.
In addition to Oh and Larsen, the team involved in this paper included University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers Peter Christenson (lead author and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering), Manci Li (Ph.D. candidate in the Comparative and Molecular Biosciences Program), and Gage Rowden (researcher in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences).
