Developing an oligobody for highly sensitive detection of FPN1 on O-2A progenitor cells, Contreras, Loren
The purpose of my research is to develop an oligobody for highly sensitive detection of FPN1 on O-2A progenitor cells. An oligobody is a sequence of short, single strand of DNA or RNA molecules attached to an antibody that is routinely used for diagnostic detections in genetic tests, research and forensics. The importance of building an oligonucleotide relies on specific binding to specific-mutated proteins benefiting in higher specificity and thus allows for improved detection of antigen. FPN1 is an iron exporter protein whose expression of mRNA and protein are seen in O-2A progenitor cells. O-2A are progenitor cells in which FPN1 has a function of promoting iron release; this is important because the accumulation of iron is affected by the downregulation of FPN1 and thus lead to neurological diseases as Parkinson’s disease and other neurological diseases such as cerebral ischemia. O-2A progenitor cells were the main component of neonatal periventricular white matter, susceptible to the hypoxia-ischemia and thus became the target cells of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). The model system I propose is based on the mutation of FPN-1 antibody and conjugate an oligonucleotide to the anti-monoclonal FPN1 antibody mutated with in Lys residue to phenylalanine (pAcF) in order to identify the level of expression and distribution of FPN1 in O2-A; in this proposal, the detection of O-2A detection serves to detect iron transport necessary for the prevention and diagnosis of neonates. If this theoretical research was to be carried in lab, we would expected higher levels of of FPN-1 detected expression through the use of the synthesized oligobody than the ones measured in previous experiments by RT-PCR and western blot. In conclusion, the detection of FPN-1 will allow researchers to make more accurate diagnosis and prevention of diseases related to iron accumulation and/or deficiency in neonates.
