Ionic Liquid-Based Dried Biological Specimen Materials

Dried blood spots (DBS) analysis has many advantages over standard liquid blood sample testing including: small sample size, ease of blood sampling, room temperature storage, minimal storage size requirement, and ease of shipping. Although these advantages are significant, there are still problems associated with the current DBS systems. The drying of blood spots on the DBS cards can be uneven, leading to uneven distribution of biomolecules throughout the blood spot. This problem can be confounded by the fact that samples can undergo chromatography during DBS application. The paper-based DBS cards can also react with various components of the blood samples, causing oxidation and/or inactivation of antibodies, enzymes, cytokines and other important analytes. In this Phase I, Agave BioSystems proposes to develop novel blood storage media based on ionic liquids (ILs). These novel ionic liquid-based materials will have improved biocompatibility and flow characteristics, which will be major advantages over current filter paper-based DBS cards.