biomarker

Srikanth Singamaneni, PhD, assistant professor of engineering, along with Evan Kharasch, MD, PhD, and Jerry Morrissey, PhD, at Washington University School of Medicine, have developed a biomedical sensor using gold nanorods designed to detect the elevation of the protein neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a promising biomarker for acute kidney injury, in urine. Biomarkers are typically small molecules or proteins in the body whose concentration changes in response to disease or therapy.

Teens with high levels of uric acid appear to be at increased risk for high blood pressure, according to results of research from scientists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Although the findings do not establish a cause-and-effect link between uric acid and high blood pressure, they point to uric acid as one potential mechanism, or at least a biomarker, of disease, the researchers report in the April issue of the journal Hypertension.