L-Cysteine-Capped Indium Telluriselenide Quantum Dot Aptasensor for Interferon-Gamma TB Biomarker
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Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major infectious diseases that affect the health of people all
over the world. South Africa is one of the countries that account for most of the TB cases; it
is the leading cause of death in South Africa and is known to be lethal when combined with
HIV in patients. Various tests have been used to diagnose tuberculosis infected patients, but
some of these tests give false positive results. Studies have shown that tuberculosis-related
cytokines can serve as biological markers for the diagnosis of TB. Cytokines are signalling
proteins secreted by immune cells and one such cytokine is interferon-gamma (IFN-?).
Interferon-gamma is secreted by immune cells in response to various pathogens and has
many physiological roles in the immune system and inflammatory stimuli. IFN-? was first
detected using antibody-based immunosensing techniques but this approach is expensive,
time consuming and has low stability, it is therefore vital that an alternative detection
method for IFN-? be developed.
Description
Magister Scientiae - MSc (Chemistry)
Keywords
Tuberculosis (TB), Infectious diseases, South Africa, HIV in patients, immune cells