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Infectious‑disease surveillance has become an exercise in layered intelligence: each test adds a distinct dimension—speed, specificity, breadth—that together enable public health actors to detect, confirm, and monitor pathogens across time and space.
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1. The "speed" advantage of rapid tests
Rapid antigen or molecular assays can produce results within minutes. In the field—school screening, point‑of‑care clinics, airport gates—their immediacy turns a potential delay into an actionable moment. A single positive screen triggers isolation protocols before the patient even reaches a laboratory, preventing onward transmission that would otherwise occur while awaiting standard testing.
Because these assays do not require sophisticated instrumentation or extensive training, they are deployable in low‑resource settings where conventional diagnostics are impractical. The trade‑off is usually a lower sensitivity; still, for outbreak control, catching a fraction of cases early can outweigh the missed ones later.
2. Confirmatory Testing
What Is It?
Confirmatory testing employs highly specific, gold‑standard methods—such as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) or culture—to verify positive results obtained from screening tests. These methods have high sensitivity and specificity, providing definitive evidence of the presence of a pathogen.
Why Is It Important?
Accuracy: Reduces false positives that may arise from less specific screening assays.
Clinical Decision‑Making: Provides reliable data for diagnosis, treatment plans, and patient counseling.
Public Health Measures: Ensures correct identification of cases for contact tracing, isolation protocols, and epidemiological surveillance.
How Is It Used?
After a positive result in a screening test, confirmatory tests are performed. For instance:
A rapid antigen test indicating COVID‑19 infection is followed by an RT‑PCR assay.
An initial antibody test suggesting HIV infection is confirmed with Western blot or nucleic acid testing.
3. Comparing Screening Tests and Diagnostic (Confirmatory) Tests
Feature Screening Test Confirmatory/Diagnostic Test
Purpose Detect possible disease presence early; identify individuals needing further evaluation. Verify actual disease status; establish definitive diagnosis.
Sensitivity vs Specificity High sensitivity, lower specificity → minimize missed cases. Higher specificity (often ≥95%) and also high sensitivity → accurate diagnosis.
Cost & Turn‑around Cheaper, rapid, often point‑of‑care. More expensive, may require lab equipment or specialist interpretation; longer wait time.
False Positive/Negative Rates Acceptable false positives (to be followed up). False positives must be minimized to avoid unnecessary treatment.
Examples Rapid strep test, pregnancy tests, HIV rapid screening. PCR confirmation of viral infection, blood culture for bacteremia, confirmatory imaging.
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3. Practical Tips When Choosing an Assay
Situation Recommendation
Low disease prevalence Use a highly specific assay to avoid many false positives.
High stakes (e.g., cancer diagnosis) Prefer assays with very high sensitivity; consider combining multiple markers or using confirmatory tests.
Resource‑limited setting Select an assay that is affordable, requires minimal equipment and training, even if it sacrifices some performance metrics.
Research/early‑stage discovery Initially use a broad screening platform (e.g., proteomics) to identify potential biomarkers; later develop targeted, high‑performance assays for validation.
Determine required performance thresholds (sensitivity, specificity, LOD) based on the above.
List available assay formats and map their intrinsic strengths/weaknesses to your requirements.
Assess technical feasibility:
- Sample type & volume
- Laboratory equipment & expertise
- Turn‑around time
Consider regulatory status (CE‑mark, FDA approval) if the assay will be used clinically.
Budget for consumables and instrument amortization.
Pilot a small validation study comparing the chosen format to a reference method.
Finalize selection: choose the format that best balances performance, practicality, and cost.
Quick‑reference decision matrix (for 4–10 µg total protein)
Requirement Ideal Format Practical Example
Highest sensitivity for low‑abundance proteins Western blot (high‑affinity primary + HRP/chemiluminescence) Standard WB with enhanced chemiluminescence kit
Sample Prep Thaw at 37 °C, centrifuge, resuspend in PBS (or appropriate buffer). Keep on ice. Ensures viability and consistent antibody binding.
Blocking Incubate with Fc block (e.g., anti‑CD16/32) for 10 min at 4 °C. Prevents non‑specific Fc receptor engagement, especially important in NK cells or myeloid populations.
Antibody Panel Prepare master mix of all fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies plus viability dye. Titrate each antibody if needed. Guarantees optimal signal-to-noise; reduces spillover.
Staining Add antibody mix, incubate 20–30 min at 4 °C in the dark. Avoid washing until after staining unless required by protocol (e.g., for live/dead dye). Maintains fluorescence integrity and reduces background.
Washing Wash cells once with cold PBS + 2% FBS or directly fix if using intracellular markers. Use gentle centrifugation (<400 g) to preserve cell viability. Removes unbound antibodies; minimizes non-specific signals.
Fixation/Permeabilization For intracellular antigens, fix cells in 1–4% paraformaldehyde for 10–20 min at RT or on ice, then permeabilize with saponin (0.1%) or commercial buffers according to kit instructions. Ensures epitope accessibility while preserving cellular structure.
Secondary Antibody Staining Incubate with fluorochrome-conjugated secondary antibodies (e.g., Alexa Fluor series) at 1:500–1:1000 dilution for 30 min on ice, protected from light. Include controls with isotype-specific secondary antibodies to assess non‑specific binding. Minimizes background and cross‑reactivity.
Wash Steps Perform three washes (5 min each) in PBS + 0.05% Tween‑20 or BSA buffer to remove unbound antibodies. Use gentle vortexing or magnetic stirring for cell suspensions. Reduces free fluorophores, enhancing signal-to-noise ratio.
Counterstaining Optional: add DAPI (1 µg/mL) or PI during final wash to label nuclei and assess viability. Avoid excessive DNA dyes that may interfere with fluorescence readout. Provides morphological context; helps identify dead cells in flow cytometry.
Final Resuspension Resuspend stained cells in 0.5–1 mL of PBS (or appropriate assay buffer) containing 2% FBS to prevent cell aggregation. Keep samples on ice until measurement. Maintains cell integrity and reduces photobleaching.
3. Fluorescence Measurement
Parameter Recommended Settings
Plate Reader 96‑well black, clear bottom plates; use a plate reader with suitable filter sets (e.g., excitation 560 nm / emission 590 nm).
Microscopy Inverted fluorescence microscope with appropriate bandpass filters or laser lines matching the probe’s spectral properties. Use high numerical aperture objectives for optimal resolution.
Flow Cytometer For single‑cell quantification, set the forward scatter (FSC) and side scatter (SSC) to distinguish cells; use a 488 nm laser if compatible, otherwise match with available lasers.
Signal Acquisition Settings Keep exposure times low enough to avoid photobleaching but sufficient for detection; calibrate using standard fluorophores of known intensity.
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Expected Outcomes
Probe Activation: Successful binding and activation should yield a detectable fluorescent signal localized within cells, indicating efficient delivery and target recognition.
Background Reduction: The pre‑activation design ensures minimal background fluorescence in the absence of the target, improving signal-to-noise ratio.
Scalability: The methodology can be adapted for high-throughput screening by varying probe concentrations or using multiplexed fluorescent tags.
Future Directions
In Vivo Validation – Extend studies to animal models to assess biodistribution and pharmacokinetics.
Theranostic Development – Couple the probe with therapeutic agents (e.g., drug conjugates) for simultaneous diagnosis and treatment.
Broader Target Spectrum – Design probes for other disease markers (e.g., protein aggregates in neurodegeneration).
Acknowledgements
We thank our collaborators, funding agencies, and institutional support that made this research possible.
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This presentation is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the current status and potential future applications of the preclinical drug discovery platform.