There are provided a method for detecting amyloid-? bound to a brain-neuronal-cell-derived exosome in blood, the method including: a step of binding amyloid-? bound to the brain-neuronal-cell-derived exosome in blood to an amyloid-?-specific binding substance that specifically binds to amyloid-?, labeled with a nucleic acid fragment; and a step of detecting the amyloid-?-specific binding substance, and a method for evaluating an accumulation level of amyloid-? in a brain, the method including: a step of detecting amyloid-? bound to the brain-neuronal-cell-derived exosome in blood; and a step of evaluating an accumulation level of amyloid-? in a brain based on the detected amount of the amyloid-?.

Provided herein are microorganisms engineered with hybrid receptors and genetic circuits. Also provided are hybrid receptors having a CqsS polypeptide and a heterologous histidine kinase domain of a two-component system. Methods for using engineered microorganisms to sense and destroy pathogens (e.g., Vibrio cholerae) are also provided.

Provided is a method for detecting injury to the brain comprising: a) determining the level of a tight junction (TJ) protein in exosomes isolated from a test sample from a subject, wherein the TJ protein is occludin, claudin-3, claudin-5, claudin-12, ZO-1, ZO-2, ZO-3, JAM-A, JAM-B or JAM-C, or any combination thereof; b) comparing the level of the TJ protein in the test sample to the level of the TJ protein in a control sample, wherein an elevated level of the TJ protein in the test sample relative to the level of the TJ protein in the control sample indicates that the subject has an injury to the brain.

The present invention provides methods for rapid forensic analysis of mitochondrial DNA and methods for characterizing heteroplasmy of mitochondrial DNA, which can be used to assess the progression of mitochondrial diseases.

The invention relates to a method for detecting antibodies against the TpN17 antigen of Treponema pallidum in an isolated sample wherein a peptide sequence of Vibrio cholerae lipoprotein 15 (VcLp15) or a partial sequence thereof is used as a reagent for reduction of interference, i.e. for minimizing false positive results. In addition the invention relates to fusion polypeptides comprising a VcLp15 peptide sequence and a chaperone, to their use as an additive in an immunoassay for said reduction of interferences and for minimizing false positive results and to a reagent kit for detecting antibodies against Treponema pallidum antigens in an isolated sample comprising a TpN17 antigen and said VcLp15-chaperone fusion polypeptide.

A method of monitoring acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease in shrimp is disclosed. More specifically, detection of the presence of alkaline phosphatase Phox enzyme, or, of the PiRA.sup.VP and/or the PirB.sup.VP toxins of acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease-causing Vibrio parahaemolyticus correlates with non-virulence or virulence, respectively, of the bacterium is disclosed. Hence, an assay capable of detecting the Phox enzyme and/or the toxins could be very useful to monitor the disease in shrimp.

The present disclosure discloses a specific saccharide fragment for development of Vibrio cholerae vaccines, and belongs to the field of medicine. In the present disclosure, a saccharide fragment related to a trisaccharide of V. cholerae O100 serotype O-antigen is chemically synthesized. Combined with a glycan microarray technology, the structure-activity relationship between different saccharide fragments and antigenicity thereof is evaluated at a molecular level. Glycan microarray screening indicates that 3-hydroxybutyryl is an essential structural feature of the O-antigen. A non-reducing end disaccharide carrying 3-hydroxybutyryl is a potential minimal antigenic epitope, and the disaccharide has strong binding capacity to antibodies and a simple structure, and may serves as a specific saccharide fragment for vaccine development. A glycoconjugate vaccine designed based on the specific saccharide fragment may solve the challenges of difficulty in culturing pathogenic bacteria and heterogeneity of saccharide antigens in naturally extracted polysaccharide vaccines. The present disclosure has bright application prospects in the development of glycoconjugate V. cholerae vaccine, infection detection, and new drug development.