β(1-3)-glucan diagnostic assays
AssigneeThe Collaborative Group, Ltd.
InventorsEric M. Wakshull, William M. Mackin, Janet W. Zimmerman, Leslie W. Fisette
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods of isolating β(1-3)-glucan or β(1-3)-glucan-containing organisms in a sample, or of detecting the presence of β(1-3)-glucan or β(1-3)-glucan-containing organisms in a sample, utilizing binding agents for β(1-3)-glucan, such as LacCer, GalCer, globotriaosylceramide and asialoganglioside-GM1, are described. Methods of diagnosing fungal infection, by detecting β(1-3)-glucan or β(1-3)-glucan-containing organisms, are also described. Antibodies and kits useful in the methods are also disclosed.
Claims5
A method of diagnosing infection by a β(1-3)-glucan-containing organism in an individual, comprising the steps of:
- a. contacting a sample from the individual with a β(1-3)-glucan binding agent, under conditions that are suitable for binding of β(1-3)-glucan, to the β(1-3)-glucan binding agent, to form primary complexes of β(1-3)-glucan bound to β(1-3)-glucan binding agent;
- and
- b. detecting the primary complexes formed in step (a),
- wherein the presence of primary complexes is indicative of infection by a β(1-3)-glucan-containing organism.
A kit useful in detecting the presence of β(1-3)-glucan, comprising a β(1-3)-glucan binding agent and an antibody to underivatized, aqueous soluble, β(1-3)-glucan.
An antibody to underivatized, aqueous soluble, β(1-3)-glucan wherein the antibody is selected from the group consisting of:
- BfD I, BfD II, BfD III and BfD IV.
An antibody that binds specifically to a β(1-3) glucan selected from the group consisting of:
- PGG-Glucan, triple helix conformer, very high molecular weight conformer, laminaritetraose and laminaritriose.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.