Compositions and methods for detecting mycobacterium tuberculosis

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. More specifically, the present invention provides compositions and methods for detecting M. tuberculosis. In a specific embodiment, a method comprises the steps of (a) contacting a patient sample with a solid support coated with antibodies to carbapenem resistance factor A (CrfA); washing unbound molecules from the solid support using a buffer; and incubating the solid support with a beta-lactamase substrate. In certain embodiments, the beta-lactamase substrate is chromogenic. In another embodiment, the method further comprises the step of visually detecting a color change from the hydrolysis of the substrate by CrfA protein bound to the antibodies on the solid support. In yet another embodiment, the method further comprises the step of measuring color intensity of the strip at 490 nm using a spectrophotometer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.