Compositions and methods for diagnosing and treating autoimmune disease
First Claim
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1. A method comprising the steps of:
- detecting an expression level of midkine gene in a biological sample isolated from a mammal of interest; and
comparing the expression level to a reference expression level of said midkine gene in at least one control sample.
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Abstract
The present invention is generally directed to compositions and methods for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of lupus nephritis (LN), to the identification of novel therapeutic agents for LN, and to the creation of cell lines and animal models for studying the pathogenesis of the disease. The present invention is based on the discovery of transcribed polynucleotides that are either over-expressed or under-expressed in animals that develop lupus or are pre-disposed to lupus.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method comprising the steps of:
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detecting an expression level of midkine gene in a biological sample isolated from a mammal of interest; and
comparing the expression level to a reference expression level of said midkine gene in at least one control sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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- 9. A pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating systemic lupus erythematosus or lupus nephritis, comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and an agent that modulates a midkine activity or midkine gene expression.
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18. A method of identifying an agent capable of binding to midkine or a variant thereof, comprising:
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contacting a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO;
1 or a variant of the polypeptide with a candidate agent; and
determining a binding affinity of the candidate agent to said polypeptide or the variant of said polypeptide. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A method of identifying an agent capable of modulating an activity of midkine or a variant thereof, comprising:
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contacting a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO;
1 or a variant of said polypeptide with a candidate agent; and
comparing an activity of said polypeptide or the variant of said polypeptide in the presence of said candidate agent to an activity of said polypeptide or the variant of said polypeptide in the absence of said candidate agent.
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21. A kit for diagnosing systemic lupus erythematosus or lupus nephritis, said kit comprising at least one of:
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(a) a polynucleotide probe capable of hybridizing under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide encoding the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO;
1, or the complement thereof, and(b) an antibody capable of specifically binding to the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO;
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Specification