Scientists at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, have developed a new diagnostic technology to aid in early and accurate detection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1). ) — a retrovirus responsible for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The GQ topology-targeted reliable conformational polymorphism (GQ-RCP) platform was initially designed for fluorometric detection of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the recent Covid-19 pandemic, the team said.
The new technology can better detect the HIV genome through a fluorometric test using the G-quadruplex (GQ) – an unusual and specialized four-stranded DNA structure.
The molecular detection platform, which can be integrated into existing nucleic acid-based diagnostic platforms, offers increased reliability of diagnosis. It also promises to significantly reduce false positives in HIV testing.
HIV-1 remains a persistent global threat to human health because widely used diagnostics are likely to miss early infections. They also retain the risk of false positives due to cross-reactivity. Other clinical methods for early detection are also limited by low sensitivity and long processing times.
To combat these, the team at JNCASR developed the GQ topology that can reliably detect HIV-derived GQ DNA by a method called “reverse transcription and amplification of a 176-nucleotide-long genomic segment.”