TORONTO, March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - ChondroGene Limited announced today that a paper entitled “Peripheral blood transcriptome dynamically reflects system wide biology: a potential diagnostic tool,” authored by ChondroGene scientists C.C. Liew, J. Ma, H.C. Tang, R. Zheng, and A.A. Dempsey, was published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, a peer-reviewed, internationally recognized journal dedicated to advances in the field.
The results presented in the paper demonstrate that ChondroGene’s proprietary Sentinel Principle (TM) can be used to detect tissue specific gene transcripts in peripheral blood that relate to gene expression in tissue. Approximately 80% of the genes expressed in the tissues studied were also identified in blood. Nine different tissue types were examined in the study - brain, colon, heart, kidney, liver, lung, prostate, spleen, and stomach. The ability to identify gene expression in blood that is related to gene expression in specific tissues, the essence of the Sentinel Principle, forms the basis of the Company’s blood-based molecular diagnostic tests currently in development. Although the Company has previously published papers reporting results in specific diseases using the Sentinel Principle, this is the first article detailing the utility of applying the Sentinel Principle across a broad range of human diseases.
“Over the past two years, we have been using the Sentinel Principle to research, refine and develop blood-based tests for a variety of diseases. Our current development efforts are focussed on a blood-based test, ColonSentry(TM), for the detection of colon cancer,” stated K. Wayne Marshall, MD, PhD, President & CEO of ChondroGene. “The strength of our Sentinel Principle technology is the ability to use simple blood samples as the basis for highly sensitive and specific molecular diagnostic tests. We use our Sentinel Principle as the basis for identification of blood-based biomarker sets. In turn, these biomarker sets can be quickly and economically developed into clinically important, molecular diagnostic tests that run on standardized instrumentation.”
About ChondroGene
-----------------
ChondroGene is focussed on the application of functional genomics to enable early diagnosis and personalized therapeutic intervention based on disease-specific biomarkers. The Company has developed a novel approach, the Sentinel Principle, to detect and stage virtually any disease or medical condition from a simple blood sample. ChondroGene is currently applying the Sentinel Principle in major areas with unmet clinical needs such as cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders. For more information on ChondroGene, visit www.chondrogene.com.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
ChondroGene Limited
CONTACT: Dr. K. Wayne Marshall, President & CEO, (416) 650-0060 x234,wmarshall@chondrogene.com; Bruno Maruzzo, Corporate Development, (416)650-0060 x237, bmaruzzo@chondrogene.com