Research Project

Summary

Around the world, infectious diseases cause billions of infections and over 17 million deaths each year. With its well-travelled population and cultural diversity, Canada is at risk of global diseases such as malaria, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and avian influenza (bird flu). But it is using nanotechnology to develop cutting-edge expertise in the rapid and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases. 

Dr. Kevin C. Kain, Director of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health and Senior Scientist in the division of genomic medicine at the Toronto General Research Institute, and Dr. Michael Greenberg, FIO Corporation, are project leaders of Quantum dot diagnostics: simultaneous genomic and proteomic profiling of multiple pathogens at point-of-care.

Their research team will combine advances in nanotechnology with host and pathogen genomics and proteomics to create a high-throughput diagnostic system able to detect a combination of multiple pathogen and host biomarkers within minutes. The system harnesses quantum dots - tiny fluorescent probes that can serve as biomarkers to tag organic molecules and track them during biological processes. The team is developing this diagnostic system specifically for point-of-care, in order to detect, quantify or exclude malarial pathogens and host biomarkers to provide evidence-based guidance for therapeutic measures.  

The project is organized into a continuous discovery pipeline, which can speedily develop diagnostic tools, commercialize them, and translate them into clinical use. According to Dr. Kain, "the ability to definitively detect or exclude multiple pathogens at point of care within minutes would be a breakthrough with impact on our healthcare system, the quality of life of Canadians as well as global communities.”

This project includes integrated GE³LS research on the regulation and monitoring of convergent technologies. For more information, click here.

Significant Outcomes to Date

• Dr. Kevin Kain was recently honoured with the Bailey K. Ashford Medal for “Distinguished Work in Tropical Medicine” by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
• The project has successfully completed the development of a portable proof-of-principle quantum dot barcode diagnostic system prototype optimized for the detection of target pathogens. It has been optimized to reach the sensitivity and specificity equivalent to or better than BinaxNOW® (the FDA approved gold standard) for both Plasmodium falciparum (HRP2) and pan-malaria (pLDH) antigens in whole blood clinical samples.
• The project has generated over 100 uniquely barcoded nanobeads (barcoded with embedded quantum dots) providing unique spectral emissions for each nanobead.
• The project has identified that angiopoietin 1, angiopoietin 2 and the ratio of angiopoietins 1 and 2 are potential biomarkers for clinical malaria. See the PLoS ONE publication listed below for more details.
• The project has developed public engagement tools - MalariaEngage and the Facebook game Mosquito SPLAT - enabling public awareness and fundraising for malaria research.

Notable Publications
Silver KL, Zhong K, Leke RG, Taylor DW, Kain KC. 2009. Dysregultaion of angiopoietins is associated with placental malaria and low birth weight. PLoS ONE. 5(3):e9481.

Lovegrove FE, Tangpukdee N, Opoka RO, Lafferty EI, Rajwans N, Hawkes M, Krudsood S, Looareesuwan S, John CC, Liles WC, Kain KC. 2009. Serum angiopoietin-1 and -2 levels discriminate cerebral malaria from uncomplicated malaria and predict clinical outcome in African children. PLoS ONE. 4(3): e4912

Patel SN, Berghout J, Lovegrove FE, Ayi K, Conroy A, Serghides L, Min-oo G, Gowda DC, Sarma JV, Rittirsch D, Ward PA, Liles WC, Gros P, and Kain KC. 2008. C5 deficiency and C5a or C5aR blockade protects against cerebral malaria.  J Exp Med. 205:1133-43.

Ayi K, Min-Oo G, Serghides L, Crockett M, Kirby-Allen M, Quirt I, Gros P, and Kain KC. 2008. Pyruvate kinase and malaria.  New Engl J Med. 358:1805-10.

Klostranec JM, Xiang Q, Farcas GA, Lee JA, Rhee A, Lafferty EI, Perrault SD, Kain KC, Chan WCW. 2007. Convergence of quantum dot-barcodes with microfuidics and signal processing for multiplexed high-throughput infectious disease diagnostics. Nano Letters. 7:2812.

Lee JJ, Hung A, Mardyani S, Rhee A, Klostranec JM, Mu Y, Li D, Chan WCW. 2007. Toward accurate read-out of quantum dot barcodes: design of deconvolution algorithms and assessment of fluorescent signals in buffer. Adv Mat. 19:3113.