Assays for fungal infection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12378613-B2
Application number	US-202418421579-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 24, 2024
Priority date	Nov 2, 2006
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

Methods and kits are described for testing for the presence or absence of any fungus in a sample. Examples of fungi that can be detected include, but are not limited to, those belonging to the genera Candida, Aspergillus and Pneumocystis . The methods include obtaining a sample suspected of containing fungal nucleic acid, including at least one universal region of fungal nucleic acid, and testing for the presence or absence in the sample of the at least one universal region of fungal nucleic acid. Samples may be biological or non-biological.

First claim

We claim:

1. A kit for testing for the presence or absence of at least one region of fungal nucleic acid characteristic of the genus Pneumocystis in a sample comprising a molecular beacon probe comprising SEQ ID NO: 21 and a pair of primers comprising SEQ ID NO: 19 and SEQ ID NO: 20.

2. The kit of claim 1 , wherein the at least one region of fungal nucleic acid characteristic of the genus Pneumocystis includes SEQ ID NO: 18, a complement or transcript thereof, or a sequence having 80% or more sequence homology with SEQ ID NO: 18, complement or transcript thereof.

3. The kit of claim 1 , wherein the at least one region of fungal nucleic acid is characteristic of Pneumocystis jirovecii.

4. The kit of claim 1 , wherein the sample is a human clinical sample.

5. The kit of claim 1 further comprising one or more internal PCR amplification controls.

6. A kit for testing for the presence or absence of at least one region of fungal nucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO: 18, the complement or transcript thereof, or a sequence having 80% or more sequence identity with SEQ ID NO: 18, the complement or transcript thereof, in a human clinical sample comprising a molecular beacon probe comprising SEQ ID NO: 21 and a pair of primers comprising SEQ ID NO: 19 and SEQ ID NO: 20.

7. The kit of claim 6 , wherein the at least one region of fungal nucleic acid is characteristic of Pneumocystis jirovecii.

8. The kit of claim 6 , further comprising one or more internal PCR amplification controls.

Assignees

• Univ Rutgers

Inventors

• Park Steven
• Perlin David S
• Denning David W

Classifications

• C12Q2600/166

  Oligonucleotides used as internal standards, controls or normalisation probes · CPC title

• C12Q2600/16

  Primer sets for multiplex assays · CPC title

• C12Q1/6895 Primary

  for plants, fungi or algae · CPC title