Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: AEMD), the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that it has filed a provisional patent on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary Exosome Sciences, Inc. (ESI), relating to the development of an assay that will allow researchers to detect exosomes in blood and other fluids.
Beyond the potential therapeutic benefits of eliminating immunosuppressive exosomes from circulation, researchers recognize that exosomes represent an important diagnostic target to determine progression and prognosis of both cancers and infectious disease conditions. However, the availability of functional assays that specifically detect exosomes is limited. At present, exosomes are generally characterized and purified by size chromatography and general protein assay, not by chemical structures specific to the exosome. The company's Enzyme Linked Lectin Specific Assay (ELLSA) is analogous to the well established enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and has been designed to bind specifically to carbohydrate structures common to exosomes, but not to healthy human cellular components. Each ELLSA plate allows for up to 96 exosome detection tests. Further analysis of the captured exosomes is possible through detection molecules such as antibodies linked to a specific biomarker on the exosome. "Our proprietary assay provides the potential for a previously unrecognized revenue stream and further augments the relationships we have established with thought leaders from the oncology field," stated Aethlon Chairman and CEO, Jim Joyce.
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