SAFE technologies

About SAFE technologies

Each year, 25,000 cases of Lyme are reported in the Netherlands, of which 1,500 are severe. Treatment of Lyme disease is done by antibiotics, but due to the lack of proper diagnosis tools, treatment often starts too late. Because of this, the disease can develop into a stage where symptoms become worse. Therefore, there is a need for early detection of B. burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Here, we present SAFE: a cream containing solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) capable of specific detection of B. burgdorferi, in earlier stages of Lyme disease than is possible with current methods. Since the Borrelia bacteria reside in the skin during the first stage of the disease, applying a cream to the skin is a specific and easy way to reach the bacteria. The SLNs in the cream contain aptamers that are released into the skin upon application. These aptamers can specifically bind to P66 proteins present on the surface of B. burgdorferi. Detection is done using near infrared (NIR) fluorescence: when the aptamer is not bound to the bacterium, the fluorescent group is quenched by a quencher on another DNA strand. Upon binding of the aptamer to the bacterium, the quencher group is removed leading to the emission of NIR which can be detected with a spectrometer. Providing this detection method to general practitioners greatly improves early detection of Lyme disease, and with that the quality of life of patients.

Address

• Headquarters

  WageningenGelderland, Netherlands