Development of Taenia Solium Specific Aptamers for Diagnostic Assays

The parasitic tapeworm Taenia solium causes two diseasestaeniasisadult worm in the intestineand cysticercosistissue infection by the cystwhich can lead to seizuresThe Tsolium life cycle involves both humans and pigshowever humans are the only definitive host for the adult Tsolium tapewormDiagnosing people infected with the adult worm is a critical step toward eliminating Tsolium althogetherHoweverit is difficult to identify carriers of Tsolium adult tapewormsDevelopment of Tsolium specific diagnostic assays for the laboratory and at the point of care would lead to diagnosis and treatment of this often asymptomatic conditionImproving diagnosis would lead to treatment that will interrupt the parasite life cycle and encourage eliminationof this diseaseAptamers can provide Tsolium specificity in multiple diagnostic platformsLynntech proposes to develop and identifyTsolium specific aptamers for use in new ELISA and dipstick taeniasis diagnostic assaysThese aptamers will be developed to bind Tsolium coproantigens in stool samplesthen tested for use in sandwich assaysThese aptamers are the first step toward the development of new assays that will help in the fight to eradicate Tsolium infection by diagnosing taeniasis in the United States and abroad