Protein biopolymer markers predictive of insulin resistance

Abstract

The instant invention involves the use of a combination of preparatory steps in conjunction with mass spectroscopy and time-of-flight detection procedures to maximize the diversity of biopolymers which are verifiable within a particular sample. The cohort of biopolymers verified within such a sample is then viewed with reference to their ability to evidence at least one particular disease state; thereby enabling a diagnostician to gain the ability to characterize either the presence or absence of said at least one disease state relative to recognition of the presence and / or the absence of said biopolymer, predict disease risk assessment, and develop therapeutic avenues against said disease.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 991,627, filed on Nov. 23, 2001, the contents of which is herein incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to the field of characterizing the existence of a disease state; particularly to the utilization of mass spectrometry to elucidate particular biopolymer markers indicative or predictive of a particular disease state, and most particularly to specific biopolymer markers whose up-regulation, down-regulation, or relative presence in disease vs. normal states has been determined to be useful in disease state assessment and therapeutic target recognition, development and validation. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Methods utilizing mass spectrometry for the analysis of a target polypeptide have been taught wherein the polypeptide is first solubilized in an appropriate solution or reagent system. The type of solution or reagent system, e....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The patent is about a method for analyzing biopolymers, such as proteins and peptides, using a combination of preparatory steps and advanced technology. The method involves staining the biopolymers, selecting specific bands for further study, and extracting tryptic peptides from the digest. The biopolymers can then be compared to determine their presence, absence, or relative strength in disease states or normal controls. The biopolymers can also be used for therapeutic intervention and to develop diagnostic and therapeutic avenues for diseases associated with the complement system. The method is particularly useful for analyzing markers associated with metabolic syndrome and Alzheimer's disease."

Problems solved by technology

On the contrary, the '396 patent requires a complicated analysis by a highly trained individual to determine disease state versus the perception of non-disease or normal physiology.

Furthermore, note that some EAM when used as free chemicals to embed analyte molecules as described for the MALDI process will not work (i.e., they do not promote molecular desorption, thus they are not suitable matrix molecules).

Retentate chromatography is limited, however, by the fact that if unfractionated body fluids, e.g. blood, blood products, urine, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, luymph and the like, along with tissue samples, are applied to the adsorbent surfaces, the biopolymers present in the greatest abundance will compete for all the available binding sites and thereby prevent or preclude less abundant biopolymers from interacting with them, thereby reducing or eliminating the diversity of biopolymers which are readily ascertainable.

Images