Development of novel malaria parastie metabolite-based non-invasive diagnostic biosensor

The long term goal of the project is to use malaria parasite specific low-molecular-weight metabolites as biomarkers for development of sensitive, low-cost, simple, battery-operated field-deployable urine or saliva diagnostic biosensor for detection of malaria infection. Four malaria parasite-specific metabolites (3-Methylindole, Succinylacetone, S-Methyl-L-thiocitrulline, O-Arachidonoyl Glycidol) recently identified by our metabolome analysis can potentially be used in the development of inexpensive and simple biosensor platforms for malaria diagnosis. This contract seeks to support CDC/MB studies by 1) generating biopolymer receptors against four malaria parasite-specific metabolites (3-Methylindole, Succinylacetone, S-Methyl-L-thiocitrulline, O-Arachidonoyl Glycidol) and 2) providing proof of concept in the use of inexpensive and simple biosensor platforms for detection of the target compounds. The detection of the above four malaria parasite-specific metabolites requires generation of biopolymer receptors, aptamers or antibodies, specific for the assay of these compounds. Once the receptors against the four compounds are ready, they should be respectively applied to various simple and inexpensive biosensors for detection of these compounds.