Development of a peptide based immunoassay to detect antibodies for early diagnosis of complications after kidney transplants

Renal transplantation is the therapy of choice for patients with renal failure. After kidney transplantation, complications may occur. Transplantation medicine is therefore focused on the prevention of adverse reactions. Many complications arise from infection with the polyoma virus BK (BKV). Early detection of graft rejection or BKV nephropathy in kidney transplant patients is focused on the development of diagnostic methods that improve the current unsatisfactory situation. Using a new method for screening of potential antigenic structures on the basis of microarrays, peptide epitopes can be identified which can be used for the serological differentiation. The AKLIDES technology is an ideal platform for multi-parametric determination of antibodies. Through optimization of this technology based on fluorescence-coded microparticles, an assay will be established for early detection of transplant complications.