Team:Queens Canada
Meet Velcrion.
QGEM’s biosensor monitors in vivo levels of phosphate, potassium, parathyroid hormone, FGF23 and glucose to better treat CKD patients
Together - high Phosphate, Potassium, Parathyroid Hormone, FGF23 and glucose levels can potentially pose a life-threatening risk to CKD patients.
Frequent monitoring of interstitial fluid in CKD patients can prove to be lifesaving, but in Canada blood is taken only every 6 weeks!
We want to change that.
Guess how much phosphate is in your favourite foods
Sausage McGriddle©
There are 652.2mg of phosphate in a Sausage McGriddle©
Tim Horton's© Muffin
There are 203.0 mg of phosphate in a Tim Horton's© Muffin
Subway Chicken Teriyaki©
There are 570.7 mg of phosphate in a Chicken Teriyaki sandwich from Subway©
Team Queen's Canada will be designing a novel transdermal biosensor for point-of-care diagnostic quantification of phosphate, potassium, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Knowledge of the concentration of these analytes is critical for guiding effective treatments and improving patient outcomes. We will generate genetically encoded Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) sensors by fusing the N- and C-termini of phosphate-binding protein (PBP), potassium-binding protein (KBP), PTH 1 receptor (PTH1R), and α-Klotho to fluorescent proteins (FPs). To quantify physiologically relevant levels of phosphate, potassium, PTH and FGF23, highly optimized mNeonGreen and mCherry will be used as the FPs. Site-directed mutagenesis will be employed on protein-fluorophore constructs to add a Cysteine residue, to which a glutamate (E)/ lysine (K) coiled-coil system will be added to immobilize the construct onto a microfluidic surface. Through frequent monitoring and early disease detection, we hope to revolutionize CKD diagnostics.