Invention Summary

The recovery of nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) and proteins from the skin is routinely used in disease diagnosis or monitoring of response to drug therapy.  Traditional methods of skin biopsy include a punch or shave biopsy which require local anesthesia, create bleeding, and produce scarring.  More recently, tape stripping has shown promise for recovery of nucleic acids in quantifying and distinguishing inflammatory skin reactions.  Current tape stripping methods are limited by the quantity and uniformity of sample recovery, thereby necessitating repeated applications of tape strips to inflamed lesions.  This technology presents a new and simple approach using liquid adhesive to recover samples from skin that are readily useful for gene expression assay.

Market Applications

The use of nucleic acid diagnostics in clinical applications help to elucidate, diagnose and monitor human diseases from the perspective of the molecular basis of the disease and medical conditions.  The current assay can act as a companion test in guiding patients to effective therapy, and grant drug manufacturers a competitive advantage in identifying patients that will properly respond to a course of treatment.

Features, Benefits & Advantages

·     The liquid-glue biopsy for extraction of nucleic acids is non-invasive with recovery of more skin sample and is a painless procedure which can be used for different sized skin lesions compared to present technologies like tape stripping.

·     It is faster, reproducible and requires only one single application compared to current state of the art technique of using adhesive tapes.

·     Glues similar to sutureless wound closing agents such as cyanoacrylate-based glue have been used in clinical setting

·     This technology has the potential to replace traditional skin biopsies like shave and punch biopsy as a diagnostic tool and lead to various diagnostic and prognostic assays for skin diseases.

Intellectual Property & Development Status

A provisional patent application (Application # 60/952,214) has been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office.  This technology is part of an active and ongoing research program that has been validated in proof-of-concept experiments with a working prototype.  It is available for developmental research support and may be licensed under either exclusive or non-exclusive terms.

Related Research

·     Benson NR, Papenfuss J, Wong R, Motaal A, Tran V, Panko J, Krueger GG, ¿An analysis of select pathogenic messages in lesional and non-lesional psoriatic skin using non-invasive tape harvesting¿ J Invest Dermatol, 126(10): 2234-41 (Oct 2006)

·     Wong, Rita, Vynga Tran, Sheela Talwalker, and Nicholas R. Benson: ¿Analysis of RNA recovery and gene expression in the epidermis using non-invasive tape stripping¿ J Dermatol Science 44: 81-92 (2006)

·     http://uuhsc.utah.edu/derm/bios/facultybios/gkrueger.htm

U of U Researcher

Gerald G. Krueger, MD - Dermatology, School of Medicine

Licensing Contact

Name:          Denise Bertsch                            Title:   Licensing Manager              

Email:   denise@tco.utah.edu                                Direct Phone:   801-213-3564