The present invention discloses a freeze-dried preparation of chemiluminescent immune microspheres, and a preparation method and an application thereof. The preparation is composed of one or more spherical solid particles having the same composition, which are uniform, smooth, and highly stable. In the preparation process, a magnetic particle coating raw material, an acridinium ester marking raw material and a reagent storage agent are freeze-dried into microspheres, so that the freeze-dried preparation can be stored and transported at normal temperature; the microspheres prepared in the present invention can be sub-packaged conveniently into individual packs, which are hygienic, simple and clear, and convenient to get and use, thereby the safety and convenience of use are improved. The preparation provided by the present invention and the test kit prepared according to the present invention can be used for immunoassays that are not for a disease diagnoses or treatment purpose.

The present invention is directed to a method of preparing an artificial tooth primordium in vitro, comprising the steps: a) providing isolated mesenchymal dental pulp cells; and b) culturing the mesenchymal dental pulp cells under non-adherent conditions to form a cell aggregate representing an artificial tooth primordium; as well as to an artificial tooth primordium derived therefrom.

Disclosed are peptide conjugates comprising an active agent, a spacer moiety, and a dimeric collagen hybridizing peptide comprising a first and second collagen hybridizing peptide, a linker; and a branch point, wherein the first and second collagen hybridizing peptides comprise the sequence of at least (GXY)n, wherein G is glycine, wherein X and Y are any amino acid, and wherein n is any number between 3 and 12. Also disclosed are methods of detecting denatured collagen in a sample comprising contacting a composition comprising any one of the disclosed peptide conjugates to a sample, wherein the active agent comprises a therapeutic agent, and detecting the presence or absence of binding of the peptide conjugate to denatured collagen, the presence of binding indicating the presence of denatured collagen in the sample. Also disclosed are methods of treating a disease or injury involving collagen damage comprising administering to a subject having a disease or injury involving collagen damage any one of the disclosed peptide conjugates.

The invention features a method of detecting and/or quantifying collagen VII by contacting the sample with collagen IV which binds to collagen VII; and detecting binding of collagen IV with collagen VII. Collagen VII is a major component of anchoring fibrils, which help anchor the top layer of the skin, the epidermis, to the underlying dermis, and thus strengthen and stabilize the skin.

The disclosure concerns a method for assessing muscular dystrophy-linked protein expression in muscle fibers using digital image analysis of tissue. The method relates to assessing disease severity in individuals with muscular dystrophy. Muscle tissue samples are obtained from patients submitted for evaluation and processed to produce tissue sections mounted on glass slides which have been stained for a muscular dystrophy-linked protein. Digital images of the stained tissue sections are generated and analyzed by applying an algorithm process implemented by a computer to the images. The algorithm process extracts the morphometric and staining features of the muscular dystrophy-linked protein staining in the tissue, and parameters relating to these features are used to score the disease status for each patient submitted for evaluation. The score of disease status is ultimately used to infer disease severity, monitor the efficacy of a therapeutic approach, or select patients as candidates for a therapeutic approach.

A method is for correcting a concentration of a bone turnover marker to obtain an adjusted value which gives an indication of an individual's bone health status or amount of changes occurred over time or by treatment while eliminating the influence of possible pre-analytical variability. The method includes: obtaining the concentration of the bone turnover marker of a sample; correcting the obtained concentration using a mathematical model which comprises at least three factors, different from the bone health status, such that for the adjusted value variabilities in the concentration of the bone turnover marker, that are caused by the at least three factors, are substantially filtered out by the mathematical model.

A composition suitable for diagnosing a musculoskeletal disease and a composition suitable for preventing or treating a musculoskeletal disease are disclosed. The composition contains zinc finger protein with KRAB and SCAN domains 8 (Zkscan8) protein, which can be effectively used as an excellent biomarker for obtaining accurate information about the occurrence and progression stages of a musculoskeletal disease, specifically a tendon disease or a ligament disease. The compositions containing Zkscan8 can be effectively used for preventing or treating a musculoskeletal disease through Zkscan8 overexpression.

Disclosed herein are devices, systems, methods and kits for performing immunoassay tests on a sample. The immunoassay devices may be used in conjunction with diagnostic reader systems for obtaining a sensitive read-out of the immunoassay results. The immunoassay devices may be especially suited for the detection of at least a first analyte and a second analyte in a sample. The immunoassay devices and methods may utilize a competitive binding-like assay and a sandwich binding assay to detect analytes in a sample.

The present disclosure relates to an oligopeptide. The oligopeptide includes an amino acid sequence. The amino acid sequence includes a binding motif, and the binding motif has a specific amino acid sequence. The present disclosure also relates to a testing kit including the oligopeptide and a medical composition including the oligopeptide.

The present application discloses an electrochemiluminescence immunosensor. The immunosensor includes an electrode functionalized by a nanocomposite film. The film further includes carbon nanohorns dispersed in Nafion® perfluorinated resin solution. The polymeric solution is further stabilized by magnetic nanoparticles. The immunosensor is a Point of care (POC)-based. The immunosensor is configured to work in the range from 100 ng/mL to 1 fg/mL, and has tendency to detect even traces of the tropomyosin. The immunosensor is capable to detect traces even less than 1 fg/mL, hence having high specificity for Tro-Ag detection in food products with distinguished repeatability.