Provided are methods and kits for determining predisposition of a subject to develop a kidney disease, by identifying in a sample of the subject at least one APOL1 polypeptide variant which is characterized by a higher trypanolytic activity on Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense as compared to the trypanolytic activity of wild type APOL1 polypeptide as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 on the Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense under identical assay conditions; or at least one APOL1 nucleotide mutation in the APLO1 genomic sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3, wherein the at least one nucleotide mutation or polypeptide variant being in linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the S342G mutation in the APOL1 polypeptide set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, wherein presence of the APOL1 polypeptide variant indicates increased predisposition of the subject to develop the kidney disease.

A floating gate based sensor apparatus includes at least two separate electrical bias components with respect to a floating gate based sensor surface within the floating gate based sensor apparatus. By including the at least two electrical bias components, the floating gate based sensor apparatus provides enhanced capabilities for biomaterial and non-biomaterial detection and manipulation while using the floating gate based sensor apparatus.

The object of the invention is a method of detecting genetic material in a biological sample in which the biological sample is loaded into the reaction cartridge (6) and then the reaction cartridge (6) is placed in the control device, the collected biological sample is taken to the isolation chamber (7), isolation of biological material from the tested sample by heating the isolation chamber (7), the isolated genetic material is moved into a plurality of reaction chambers (8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4), genetic material is amplified by heating the reaction chambers (8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4), lyophilized reagents for genetic material amplification together with lyophilized fluorescent tag intercalating with genetic material are present in the reaction chambers (8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4), and signal detection from fluorescent tags is carried out along with the genetic material amplification stage.

The present disclosure provides methods and compositions for nucleic acid detection. Nucleic acids may be derived from any source including, for example, viruses, bacterial cells, and eukaryotic cells. The methods of the present disclosure may be used to detect the presence of at least one member of a plurality of nucleic acids in a sample. The methods of the present disclosure may be used to detect the presence of both a first and second member of a plurality of nucleic acids in a sample. Nucleic acids may be detected by the generation of one or more signals.

Methods and techniques to increase the reliability of detecting virus infections, particularly lymphotropism, to eliminate false negative reactions in testing blood for the presence of lymphotropic viruses during enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, and to better detect viruses with lymphotropism in biological materials having a concentration of virus particles lower than the sensitivity threshold of existing EIA and PCR methods, thereby making the techniques of the present invention more reliable.

Compositions that inhibit the HIV-1 viral infectivity factor (Vif) and methods of use thereof are provided. The disclosed compositions have inhibitory activity against Vif function and restore A3G enzymatic activity. The disclosed compositions may be used to treat and/or prevent infection and transmission of viruses (such as HIV), to inhibit the function of Vif in a cell, to inhibit viral infectivity in a cell, and to inhibit replication of a virus. Methods of identifying Vif inhibitors are also provided.

The present technology provides systems and methods for oligonucleotide ligation assays (OLA). In some embodiments, OLA devices are provided that incorporate pathogen detection testing and drug resistance testing into a single device using a lateral flow membrane. The OLA devices can be used at point of car settings to aid a clinician in selecting an appropriate therapeutic regimen for an infected patient.

The present invention relates to a compound inducing activation of HLA-E-restricted CD8 T cells and/or NK cells in a human subject, and reducing HIV viral load, such as glatiramer acetate and glatiramer acetate related active substances and products, for use in the treatment of HIV infection. Macaques chronically infected by SIV have been treated with glatiramer acetate. One of the animals had already progressed to the stage of AIDS. We injected 18 mg of glatiramer acetate three times per week for only 2 weeks. Surprisingly, a strong impact on viral load was observed in response to the treatment. Viremia decreased by 1 log during glatiramer acetate treatment. Even more surprising was the fact that this decrease persisted after stopping the treatment reaching almost a 2 logs decrease in one animal. This is a major result as compared to cART as stopping cART leads to a rebound of the viral load within days. This decrease was correlated with activation of HLA-E restricted CD8 T cells, but not to other classical CD8+ T cells.

FRET-based analytes detection and related methods and systems are described where a pair of FRET labeled primers and/or oligonucleotides are used that are specific for target sequences located at a distance up to four time the Frster distance of the FRET chromophores presented on the FRET labeled primers and/or oligonucleotides one with respect to the other in one or more polynucleotide analyte; in particular the pair of FRET labeled primers and/or oligonucleotides is combined with a sample and subjected to one or more polynucleotide amplification reactions before measuring FRET signals from at least one FRET chromophore.

A method for identifying a sub-population within a mixed population of cells is disclosed. The method involves contacting the mixed population of cells with at least one unique binding agent, wherein the at least one unique binding agent is designed to bind to a target molecule present in the sub-population, and wherein the at least one unique binding agent is attached to an epitope specific barcode that represents the identity of the target molecule. The method further involves sequentially attaching two or more assayable polymer subunits to the epitope specific barcode to create unique cell origination barcodes that represent the identities of individual cells to which the at least one unique binding agent has bound; and decoding the epitope specific barcode and cell origination barcodes, thereby identifying the sub-population within the mixed population of cells.