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RNA signatures allow rapid identification of pathogens and antibiotic susceptibilities.

Publication TypeJournal Article
AuthorsBarczak, AK, Gomez JE, Kaufmann BB, Hinson ER, Cosimi L., Borowsky ML, Onderdonk AB, Stanley SA, Kaur D., Bryant KF, Knipe DM, Sloutsky A., and Hung DT
AbstractWith rising rates of drug-resistant infections, there is a need for diagnostic methods that rapidly can detect the presence of pathogens and reveal their susceptibility to antibiotics. Here we propose an approach to diagnosing the presence and drug-susceptibility of infectious diseases based on direct detection of RNA from clinical samples. We demonstrate that species-specific RNA signatures can be used to identify a broad spectrum of infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, yeast, and parasites. Moreover, we show that the behavior of a small set of bacterial transcripts after a brief antibiotic pulse can rapidly differentiate drug-susceptible and -resistant organisms and that these measurements can be made directly from clinical materials. Thus, transcriptional signatures could form the basis of a uniform diagnostic platform applicable across a broad range of infectious agents.
Year of Publication2012
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume109
Issue16
Pages6217-22
Date Published (YYYY/MM/DD)2012/04/17
ISSN Number0027-8424
DOI10.1073/pnas.1119540109
PubMedhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22474362?dopt=Abstract