Projects

The scientific and technical objectives of the sub-project primarily involve the exploration of a PICO assay with miniaturized sample volumes of approximately 1 µl (serum or whole blood) and the parallelization of the assay for four biomarkers. To explore the assay, it is necessary to identify suitable antibodies for the markers under investigation, label them with DNA, and conduct experiments with synthetic samples. Building on this, serum samples will be examined, the assay optimized, and its analytical performance (LOD, LOQ, specificity, etc.) determined. Subsequently, the assay will be established in the laboratories of the project partners Reaction Biology GmbH and the University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of Parasitology, so that they can independently conduct validation studies. Based on these studies, it should be possible to draw conclusions about whether the desired reduction in experimental animals can actually be achieved in practice, and a concept for serological studies with a reduction of up to 80% in the number of animals should be developed. Concurrently with the validation of individual assays at the project partners, Hahn-Schickard will work on the parallelization of the assay for four biomarkers that can be measured simultaneously in one sample. This way, high-quality data for multiple parameters can be determined from minimal blood quantities, further minimizing the impact on experimental animals.