Innovative chip for early diagnosis of joint pathologies

Today joint pathologies, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, are one of the main causes of loss of quality of life, as they affect both mobility and personal autonomy, and sick leave. Forecasts indicate that its prevalence will increase due to the aging of the population. On the other hand, sometimes the diagnostic imaging tests (such as X-rays and MRIs, for example) with which these diseases are diagnosed only make it possible to assess the tissue damage caused by the disease.

A team of scientists from the Cancer Research Center, a joint center of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the University of Salamanca (USAL), in Spain, has designed and developed a chip that allows the diagnosis of joint pathologies, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The methodology used is based on proteomics techniques and its advantage is that it is very reproducible and robust for its translation to the clinic. In addition, it presents great potential for the discovery and verification of biomarkers, so the results of this research could help increase the quality of life of the aging population.

The chip, designed and developed by the group led by Manuel Fuentes, from the Cancer Research Center, has made it possible to determine biomarkers for early diagnosis, which can be carried out in the medical field through a simple analysis.

This study is focused on facilitating rapid translation to the clinic. The research has been carried out with clinical samples and the serum protein profiles have been correlated with the clinical and biological parameters associated with the diagnosis of joint pathologies. Immunoassay techniques can be easily performed in conventional laboratories. “Taking these characteristics into account and that as age advances, this type of pathology is more common in the population, having a tool that allows for early diagnosis can have a great impact,” explains researcher Manuel Fuentes.

protein array. (Image: Manuel Fuentes Laboratory)

This project is the result of the international multidisciplinary collaboration of the Cancer Research Center (IBMCC) team with the group led by Peter Nilsson from the Human Protein Atlas, in Sweden, and the group led by the rheumatologist Francisco Blanco at the Biomedical Research Institute of A Coruña (INIBIC).

Fuentes and his colleagues discuss the technical details of their chip in the Journal of Proteome Research, under the title “Exploring High-Throughput Immunoassays for Biomarker Validation in Rheumatic Diseases in the Context of the Human Proteome Project.” (Source: Almudena Timón / CSIC)