Reference #: 01454
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for Biomarkers for congenital vascular malformations
Background:
Vascular Malformations ae blemishes or masses on the body that may cause pain, swelling, or bleeding. VMs result from abnormal development in blood vessels, lymph vessels, or arteries, and are rare and complex. The overall incidence of congenital vascular malformations in general population is about 1.5%, which is about 4.8 million patients in U.S. and 105.5 million patients worldwide as the direct targeting population. In addition, it can potentially be used for every newborn or early childhood children as a screening assay for the disease.
Invention Description:
Disclosed is a set of molecules such as ADAM30, IGFBP5, MMP12, Collagen V, VIII, and XXIII that have increased in blood vessels of congenital vascular malformation patients. The increases in these molecules can be identified from the patient’s serum. The test developed to detect these molecules from these patient’s serum can help early diagnosis of these types of diseases. These diagnostic biomarkers are particularly valuable for infantile and early childhood patients whose vascular lesions in brain or other internal organs are unable to be detected by CT or MRI during the early stages of the diseases.
Potential Applications:
This disclosure can be used to screen the congenital vascular anomalies from the subjects who are unaware of existence of vascular anomalies in internal organs. This will help early diagnosis of congenital vascular anomalies in infantile and early childhood patients whose vascular lesions in the brain or other internal organs are unable to be detected by CT or MRI during the early stages of the disease. Lastly, this can target lesioned blood vessels in combination with collagen hypertrophy in patients, particularly in infantile and early childhood patients, will result in a better outcome than targeting lesioned blood vessels alone.
Advantages and Benefits:
This will be the first molecular diagnostic assay for congenital vascular malformations. Early detection and early awareness of vascular lesions are important, as this will affect management strategies.