ASSAY OF NUCLEOSIDES IN SMALL-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE LUNG

SEVERAL INVESTIGATORS HAVE IMPLICATED MODIFIED RIBONUCLEOSIDES, PRESUMABLY MODIFICATION PRODUCTS FROM TRANSFER RIBONUCLEIC ACIDS (TRNAS), AS POTENTIAL BIOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR CANCER. ELEVATED LEVELS OF THESE MOLECULES HAVE BEEN QUANTITATED IN THE SERUM OR URINE OF CANCER PATIENTS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY-ULTRAVIOLET (HPLC-UV) OR IMMUNOASSAY. IN THIS PROPOSAL, IMBIC CORPORATION WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF PREPARING ANTIBODIES TO TWO COMMON MODIFIED NUCLEOSIDES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMMUNOASSAY FOR THEIR EASY QUANTITATION. ADDITIONALLY, THE LEVELS OF 30 MODIFIED NUCLEOSIDES WILL BE DETERMINED IN THE SERUM FROM LUNG CANCER PATIENTS AND NORMAL CONTROLS. THESE DATA WILL BE SUBJECTED TO PATTERN RECOGNITION ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP A PROFILE OF SELECTED SERUM-MODIFIED NUCLEOSIDE CONCENTRATIONS THAT CAN DEFINE BIOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR LUNG CANCER. AN IMMUNOASSAY DIAGNOSTIC KIT WILL BE DEVELOPED TO DETECT THESE BIOMARKERS WITH HIGH SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY.