Serum Hepcidin Immunoassay: Laboratory to Marketplace

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Disorders of iron metabolism are among the most common human diseases. During the last decade, rapid progress has been made in understanding the molecular basis of iron homeostasis and its disorders. The peptide hormonehepcidin has emerged as the master regulator of iron metabolism. Dysregulation of hepcidin is the principal or contributing factor in most systemic iron disorders. In humans, primary overproduction of hepcidin due to genetic deficiency of a negative regulator of hepcidin transcription, the membrane protein matriptase 2 (TMPRSS6), leads to iron-refractory iron-deficiency anemia (IRIDA). IRIDA is a disorder of excessive hepcidin synthesis relative to plasma iron, and can be diagnosed by measuring hepcidin levels, rather than by DNA sequencing, the current confirmatory diagnosis. There is a well-recognized unmet need for a robust and widely available clinical assay for serum hepcidin but progress towards this goal has been slowed by the poor immunogenicit