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TAmiRNA brings miND® discoveries to Gene Quantification symposium

MicroRNA diagnostic specialist TAmiRNA will be an active contributor to the upcoming 10th Gene Quantification Event symposium in Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany.

TAmiRNA will present three studies that in various ways demonstrate the effectiveness of TAmiRNA’s recently developed microRNA Next-Generation-Sequencing Discovery Assay (miND®) for genome-scale analysis of small RNAs, as well as signposting development of a new CE-IVD test kit (hepatomiR®) for evaluating liver function in liver cancer patients.

Supporting liver cancer patients

During the first session on Liquid Biopsy & Circulating Nucleic Acids (Tuesday, March 21, 08:30- 12:30 hrs., TAmiRNA CEO Dr. Matthias Hackl, will deliver an address on ‘HepatomiR® – MicroRNA Biomarkers of Liver Function: from Discovery to Implementation as a Diagnostic Test to Support Management of Liver Cancer Patients’ that presents latest results of a study that was conducted with colleagues from TAmiRNA, along with Mayo Clinic, Rochester, New York and the Medical University of Vienna. This study aimed to validate the utility of hepatomiR® as a viable preoperative test to predict the risk of post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) to replace current markers that are expensive, time-consuming, and invasive.

The team had initially applied the miND® NGS assay to plasma samples to select the lead miRNA biomarker candidates of hepatomiR®, miR-122, miR-151a, and miR-192. After re-analyzing samples by RT-qPCR to complete assay bridging, researchers developed an algorithm that converts miRNA raw data into an actionable Probability-Score. When applied to patients with end-stage liver disease and the preoperative plasma of 333 patients undergoing hepatic resection, results showed high predictive potential for PHLF, superior to indocyanine green clearance (ICG), Limax, and HVPG testing.

Exploring small RNA interactions with RISC

TAmiRNA Senior Scientist Dr. Kseniya Khamina-Kotisch will present two studies to the Main Poster Session at the end of Day One of the conference (Monday, March 20, 1800-2200 hrs). She is lead author of the study ‘Comparative Characterization And Absolute Quantitation Of Small RNAs Associated With RNA-induced Silencing Complexes (RISCs) In Cells, Plasma, Urine, And Extracellular Vesicles’ co-authored with colleagues Magdalena Mecking, Dr. Moritz Weigl, and Dr. Matthias Hackl, together with Dr. Barbara Bachmann from Vienna’s Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology. It applied miND® assays to shed further light on how small cell-free RNAs become associated with the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to regulate gene expression. The team developed a workflow using miND® spike-ins added to an RNA sample during NGS library preparation to enable absolute quantitation independent of changes in RNA composition due to enrichment of RISC. They found small RNA composition varied significantly between these sample groups with profile differences between intracellular RISC-miRNA and total cellular RNA suggesting the presence of a distinct subgroup of “active” microRNAs inside cells. Results indicate that a distinct subgroup of AGO-bound small RNAs within cells, plasma, urine, and plasma-EVs could represent a novel source for biologically active biomarkers.

Using miND® to discover new biomarkers

The second study, also lead authored by Dr. Khamina-Kotisch, with a research team drawn from TAmiRNA and the Department of Neurology, at Berlin’s Charité Medical University, focused on ‘Identification of novel circulating MicroRNA Biomarkers of Central Nervous System Damage by absolute quantitation using a MicroRNA Next-Generation Sequencing Discovery (miND) Assay’.

The study draws on work done as part of the Translational Safety Biomarker Pipeline (TransBioLine) Project of the IMI2 consortium that aims to discover and qualify novel microRNA safety biomarkers for five organ systems, including central nervous system.

When applying the miND® NGS assay to patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) as well as CNS cancer patients and a control group with no diagnosed CNS diseases, the team discovered that absolute concentrations profiles showed microRNA serum levels on average 203-fold higher compared to CSF in the MS cohort. They also found a set of 32 microRNAs with higher copy numbers in CSF compared to serum of MS patients, indicating that these biomarkers originate from CNS tissue and may migrate to peripheral blood after passing through the blood brain barrier. The results confirm the potential clinical utility of previously identified CNS-enriched miRNAs such as miR-124 and miR-9, as well as more than 15 novel potential biomarkers.

About TAmiRNA GmbH

TAmiRNA specializes in technologies for profiling levels of blood-circulating miRNAs and developing multi-parametric classification algorithms (“signatures”). TAmiRNA uses these technologies to develop minimal-invasive diagnostic tests for drug development, early diagnosis, and prognosis of disease, and as companion diagnostic tests to support treatment decisions. TAmiRNA currently commercialized hepatomiR® under the CE-IVD mark for the diagnosis of liver function in liver cancer patients.

For its work on circulating microRNAs in bone disease, TAmiRNA is receiving funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE grant agreement no. 860898. For TAmiRNA´s work on novel drug safety biomarkers, TAmiRNA receives funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking “TransBioLine” under grant agreement No. 821283. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA. For its work on senescence-associated biomarkers, TAmiRNA is receiving funding from Eureka-Eurostars grant Ab-SENS. For its work on novel liver function biomarkers, TAmiRNA is receiving funding from the Vienna Business Agency.

More information available at: www.tamirna.com

About Gene Quantification 2023

Founded in 2004, Gene Quantification Events attract up to 500 scientists from around the world to share knowledge on genomics applications from quantitative RT-PCR, to digital-PCR and the latest Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies as well as the connected integrative Multi-Omics data analysis.

The 10th Gene Quantification Event is a five day event opening March 20, 2023, at Technical University of Munich’s School of Life Sciences, , in Freising-Weihenstephan, Bavaria, part of the largest Biotech cluster in Europe (BioM).

The 2023 conference will focus in particular on topics including Sars-Cov-2, Spatial-Transcriptomics,  Liquid Biopsy & CNA, and  Multi-Omics Biomarkers.

The events combine a scientific symposium, with one and two-day workshops and an Industrial Exhibition, this year attracting some 30  international companies, who will present their latest molecular diagnostics, qPCR, digital-PCR and NGS services, hardware, technologies, and software applications.

The Event is organised by Technical University of Munich (TUM) with further information at: https://www.gene-quantification.de/GQ2023/

Resources

Click on hepatomiR® kit (CE-IVD) for further details.
Click on miND® Spike-In for more information on.
Click on miRNA NGS Data (miND) pipeline to watch explanatory video.

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