Molecular Innovations, Inc. Awarded SBIR Phase 1 Funding From National Institutes of Health (NIH) For Prorenin Assay

Molecular Innovations, Inc. (Novi, MI) has been awarded grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to optimize their Human Prorenin ELISA Kit (Catalog Number HPRENKT). Elevated levels of prorenin in plasma have been shown to be indicative of a number of diseases, including preeclampsia, heart failure, diabetic retinopathy and diabetic kidney disease.

Approximately 366 million people worldwide are expected to develop type 2 diabetes by 2010, making this one of the fastest growing epidemics in the world. One third of these persons will go on to develop diabetic neuropathy and nephropathy, many requiring renal replacement therapy. Elevation of prorenin levels in serum of adolescent diabetics may be indicative of retinopathy and nephropathy several years before pathology actually occurs, providing an excellent opportunity for preventative intervention. Therefore, accurate measurement of prorenin may have profound impact on both diagnostic and predictive clinical applications.

The human prorenin assay currently produced by Molecular Innovations directly measures prorenin in human plasma using a unique proprietary monoclonal antibody that detects an epitope of the human renin prosegment (Patent Pending). The complete kit measures prorenin directly by ELISA without pretreatment of samples or conversion to renin, includes all reagents and standards, and can be performed in less than two hours.

Other commercially available assays to detect prorenin levels are plagued by extremely lengthy procedures, use of radioisotopes, and inaccuracy related to the variable activation state of prorenin. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I funding will enable Molecular Innovations to re-engineer and optimize the kit to create a clinical diagnostic assay capable of detecting diabetes in its earliest stages.

Additional monoclonal antibodies and labeling methodologies will be explored to increase assay sensitivity for measurement of prorenin in human urine samples. The assay will then be adapted to the high throughput Luminex system for eventual use in the clinical laboratory, offering significant advantages of speed and sensitivity over current methods of prorenin quantitation.

Molecular Innovations offers a complete line of renin and prorenin research reagents including purified human, mouse, rat & dog prorenin, purified human & dog renin, three unique monoclonals, rabbit & sheep polyclonals, depleted plasma, and ELISA kits. Please visit www.mol-innov.com/promopage/renin.html for more information on these products.