{"id":5072,"date":"2022-01-10T14:56:36","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T21:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/center-health-equity-research\/?p=5072"},"modified":"2024-07-02T11:45:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T18:45:42","slug":"single-test-for-full-viral-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/blog\/single-test-for-full-viral-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladner develops method to detect complete history of viral exposures with a single test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Jason<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Funding for a Pilot Project Program<\/a> through Northern Arizona University\u2019s Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative<\/a> (SHERC) allowed Jason Ladner<\/strong>, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, to develop a unique \u201ctechnological toolbox\u201d that can identify and characterize antibodies against many different viruses simultaneously rather than only one at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Called PepSeq, for peptide sequencing, Ladner\u2019s technological toolbox was developed in close collaboration with John Altin<\/strong>, assistant professor in the Pathogen and Microbiome Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute<\/a>, or TGen, along with a team of researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PepSeq is being applied to many viral antibody response projects already, including those involving SARS-CoV-2, and will be used more broadly in future research that assists in containing and combating viruses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA large part of this [PPP] project was focused on technology development, and this technology for highly-multiplexed serology [PepSeq] forms the basis for many of my ongoing and planned projects,\u201d Ladner said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PepSeq\u2019s distinctive advancement in identifying and characterizing antibodies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ladner, who works in NAU\u2019s Pathogen and Microbiome Institute<\/a>, said that during the past few decades, researchers have made great strides in understanding DNA\u2013\u2013the molecule that carries genetic instructions in all living things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a result, there has been a boom in genetic sequencing, which has included a big focus on the characterization of viral infections using molecular diagnostics and genome sequencing,\u201d Ladner said. \u201cTechnologies associated with serological characterization, which identify antibodies circulating in the blood, have not advanced at the same rate, and can only detect antibodies against a single virus at a time rather than characterizing multiple viral exposures, as PepSeq does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other complicating factors according to Ladner have been that \u201cmolecular [diagnostic] approaches \u2026 are limited to detecting active viral infections,\u201d so \u201cexactly the right sample type at the right time must be collected to allow for detection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladner said that antibodies, on the other hand, provide long-lived records of exposures to pathogens, including viruses, thus allowing for a more comprehensive view of viral exposure history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladner\u2019s PepSeq work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PepSeq uses large libraries of peptides tagged with DNA sequences to precisely identify particular peptides that are recognized by antibodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PepSeq technology was used to develop a highly-multiplexed assay, which is a biochemical test that uses protein-bound magnetic beads and high-throughput sequencing\u2014a technology that quickly and successfully sequences DNA\u2014to characterize an individual\u2019s nearly complete history of viral exposures within a single test.Ladner\u2019s project results include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n