5 research outputs found
Highlights CNR 2009-2010
The 2009-2010 edition of CNR.it (the CNR Highlights) includes more than 200 scientific papers. Conceived and written in
English to present to the international public the dynamic and multi-sided reality of the largest research organization in
Italy, this review is a partial but significant collection of works carried out by CNR researchers and published on the main
scientific journals. Articles have been selected on the basis of their impact factors among the 14.000 or so articles produced
in the last two years, to present our best image to the world.
The present one is only the second of the CNR Highlights, after a first one dedicated to the Italian public, but the series
represent already a must for our researchers, to promote their works along best-practice lines followed in research organizations
worldwide.
In the present edition, with a more catchy new look, articles, images and scientific popularizations provide a broad outlook
of the activities of CNR, reporting, side by side with research articles, about technology transfer and scientific support activities
to national and local institutions.
The 2009-2010 Highlights are divided into four sections, similarly to the previous edition. However, as the reader looks
through the pages, the interdisciplinary nature of the works will not pass unnoticed, interdisciplinarity being the peculiar
feature of CNR, an organization in which the different disciplines find a fertile breeding ground to communicate and share
their different knowledge
Activity Report in “Highlights 2009/2010”
The 2009-2010 edition of CNR.it (the CNR Highlights) includes more than 200 scientific papers. Conceived and written in English to present to the international public the dynamic and multi-sided reality of the largest research organization in Italy, this review is a partial but significant collection of works carried out by CNR researchers and published on the main scientific journals. In the present edition, with a more catchy new look, articles, images and scientific popularizations provide a broad outlook of the activities of CNR, reporting, side by side with research articles, about technology transfer and scientific support activities to national and local institutions. The 2009-2010 Highlights are divided into four sections, similarly to the previous edition. However, as the reader looks through the pages, the interdisciplinary nature of the works will not pass unnoticed, interdisciplinarity being the peculiar feature of CNR, an organization in which the different disciplines find a fertile breeding ground to communicate and share their different knowledge
Bowdoin Orient v.133, no.1-24 (2003-2004)
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-2000s/1004/thumbnail.jp
Ultrasensitive detection of toxocara canis excretory-secretory antigens by a nanobody electrochemical magnetosensor assay.
peer reviewedHuman Toxocariasis (HT) is a zoonotic disease caused by the migration
of the larval stage of the roundworm Toxocara canis in the human host.
Despite of being the most cosmopolitan helminthiasis worldwide, its
diagnosis is elusive. Currently, the detection of specific immunoglobulins
IgG against the Toxocara Excretory-Secretory Antigens (TES), combined
with clinical and epidemiological criteria is the only strategy to diagnose
HT. Cross-reactivity with other parasites and the inability to distinguish
between past and active infections are the main limitations of this
approach. Here, we present a sensitive and specific novel strategy to
detect and quantify TES, aiming to identify active cases of HT. High
specificity is achieved by making use of nanobodies (Nbs), recombinant
single variable domain antibodies obtained from camelids, that due to
their small molecular size (15kDa) can recognize hidden epitopes not
accessible to conventional antibodies. High sensitivity is attained by the
design of an electrochemical magnetosensor with an amperometric readout
with all components of the assay mixed in one single step. Through
this strategy, 10-fold higher sensitivity than a conventional sandwich
ELISA was achieved. The assay reached a limit of detection of 2 and15
pg/ml in PBST20 0.05% or serum, spiked with TES, respectively. These
limits of detection are sufficient to detect clinically relevant toxocaral
infections. Furthermore, our nanobodies showed no cross-reactivity
with antigens from Ascaris lumbricoides or Ascaris suum. This is to our
knowledge, the most sensitive method to detect and quantify TES so far,
and has great potential to significantly improve diagnosis of HT. Moreover,
the characteristics of our electrochemical assay are promising for the
development of point of care diagnostic systems using nanobodies as a
versatile and innovative alternative to antibodies. The next step will be the
validation of the assay in clinical and epidemiological contexts