The present disclosure relates generally to biomarkers and peptide arrays, and, more particularly, to a method of using a peptide array to identify biomarkers for an autoimmune disease such as, e.g., celiac disease. Furthermore, a set of novel biomarkers for celiac disease, having high sensitivity and specificity, are disclosed in addition to method of treatment using the novel biomarkers.

Prion peptides comprising prion epitopes and fusions thereof, that display enhanced immunogenicity are described. Also described are methods of treating and diagnosing prion disease.

The present invention relates to the use of one or more MHC class I molecules dextramers (Dextramers®) associated with peptides corresponding to Apoptotic Epitopes of human CD8.sup.+ T cells for the predictive prognosis of responsiveness or non-responsiveness to treatments and/or for monitoring the therapeutic effectiveness of treatments with biological medicaments that block and/or inhibit TNF, and/or biological medicaments that block and/or inhibit cytokines or cytokine receptors and/or biological medicaments against B cells and/or biological medicaments that inhibit T cell co-stimulation in patients affected by autoimmune diseases, together with methods and kits for said predictive prognosis.

In some aspects, the invention provides methods of treating a subject in need of treatment for a chronic complement-mediated disorder. In some aspects, the invention provides methods of treating a subject in need of treatment for a Th17-associated disorder. In some aspects, the invention provides methods of treating a subject in need of treatment for a chronic respiratory system disorder. In some aspects, the invention provides methods of administering a complement inhibitor to a subject. In some embodiments, a method of treating a subject comprises administering multiple doses of a complement inhibitor to the subject according to a dosing schedule that leverages the prolonged effect of complement inhibition in chronic respiratory disorders. In some embodiments, a subject has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In some embodiments, a subject has asthma.

Methods for producing an allergen composition, methods for in vitro diagnosis of type I allergy, and diagnostic kits for performing diagnosis employ Bos d 23k allergen of SEQ ID NO: 4, or the mature protein thereof, or a variant or fragment of the Bos d 23k allergen or the mature protein sharing epitopes for antibodies with the Bos d 23k allergen or the mature protein. Methods for treatment of a Type I allergy to a mammal and pharmaceutical compositions employ a Bos d 23k allergen of SEQ ID NO: 4, or the mature protein thereof, or a variant or fragment of the Bos d 23k allergen or the mature protein sharing epitopes for antibodies with the Bos d 23k allergen or the mature protein, wherein the Bos d 23k allergen, the mature protein, the variant or the fragment is modified to abrogate or attenuate its IgE binding response.

The present disclosure relates to pharmaceutical compounds and compositions and methods for treating an allergy and Crohn's disease. Methods for treating an allergy can include (a) predicting potential epitopes based proteomes of microbiome and that of an allergen, (b) filtering the potential epitopes obtained in step a) to result in a list of epitopes; and (c) reengineering the list of epitopes obtained in step b) to result in the new epitope. Methods for treating Crohn's disease can include (a), identifying one or more binding regions of an HLA class II protein and/or hemagglutinin to I2 superantigen; (b) determining a first peptide sequence corresponding to the one or more binding regions, and (c) producing a peptide inhibitor having a second peptide sequence that is a mutation of the first peptide sequence, wherein the second peptide sequence has a stronger binding affinity to the I2 superantigen than the first peptide sequence.

This document provides methods and materials involved in assessing immune system profiles. For example, methods and materials for performing flow cytometry to determine the number of CD4.sup.+ lymphocytes, CD8.sup.+ lymphocytes, regulatory T cells, B cells, NK cells, granulocytes, CD14.sup.+HLA-DR.sup.lo/neg monocytes, and/or CD86.sup.+ monocytes per unit volume (e.g., cells per μL or mL) of whole blood (e.g., fresh, un-manipulated whole blood) obtained from a mammal (e.g., a human) are provided.

Described herein are methods of diagnosing systemic sclerosis (SSc) involving the detection of anti-vinculin antibodies. Also described herein are methods of selecting treatment of subjects diagnosed with systemic sclerosis (SSc), and methods of treating systemic sclerosis (SSc).

An antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof, which binds with a high pM-level affinity to a human IL-4 receptor alpha chain that is a human IL-4 receptor, is provided. The antibody or antigen-binding fragment has a different epitope and a different antigen dissociation rate than existing antibodies. A nucleic acid encoding the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof, a vector including the nucleic acid, a cell transformed with the vector, a method for producing the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof, a conjugate comprising the antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof, a composition for preventing or treating inflammatory diseases, and a composition for diagnosing inflammatory diseases are disclosed.

Provided are methods of preparing an immune cell sample from a subject having an autoimmune disorder, the method comprising: obtaining a tissue sample from the subject; and isolating a single immune cell in situ from the tissue sample using laser capture microdissection.