Magnetic beads

The ApoH protein or the synthetic peptide «Peps6» are coupled to nano-paramagnetic beads of 200 nm diameter. Adding these ApoH-coated beads to a sample makes it possible to capture and concentrate micro-organisms before their detection. This simple and fast pre-treatment is performed in one step, in only minutes.

These beads can be added to any biological sample (blood, plasma, serum, saliva, water, milk…) which may contain infectious agents (viruses, bacteria…). After incubation, a magnet holds down the micro-organism covered beads while supernatant is removed, thereby eliminating a number of interfering agents like antibiotics. Viruses and bacteria are concentrated on ApoH and can then be detected by existing detection processes:

• Culture, 
• PCR / RT-PCR / sequencing,
• Metagenomics, 
• Optical or fluorescence microscopy,
• Bioluminescence...

These nanomagnetic beads offer a highly flexible use:

• easily adaptable to large sample volumes (environmental samples) as wells as low sample volumes (clinical samples);

• based on a short workflow since the separation is performed in a few minutes by simple contact with a magnet;

• inducing an important concentration gain when micro-organisms from several mL of sample are concentrated on only a few µL of ApoH beads;

• directly compatible to various protocols by resuspending the ApoH beads in your usual analysis solution (lysis buffer, culture broth...).