Methods and compositions for treating, inhibiting, and/or preventing the progression of osteoarthritis comprise compositions that blocks or inhibits the expression, induction, activity, or signaling of LRRC15 protein or the expression, transcription or activity of the LRRC15 gene and administering such compositions to a human subject having osteoarthritis and in need thereof.

The present invention relates to a method for producing an animal model of preterm birth and an animal model of preterm birth produced by the method. The animal model of the present invention can be effectively applied to investigate the causes and symptoms of preterm birth induced by cervical injury. The mortality rate of the animal model according to the present invention is low until preterm birth despite its induced preterm birth. In addition, the animal model of the present invention is produced in a higher yield than any other existing model. Furthermore, the preterm birth of the animal model according to the present invention is induced at a desired time point. Due to these advantages, the animal model of the present invention can be effectively applied to investigate the causes and mechanisms of preterm birth. The mortality rate of premature neonates born from the animal model of the present invention is considerably low and the premature neonates are immature. Therefore, the animal model of the present invention can be effectively applied to studies on complications of premature neonates.

An antibody specifically reactive with an epitope of collagen type X alpha 1 comprised in the NC1 domain C-terminal amino acid sequence SFSGFLVAPM-COOH (SEQ ID NO: 1), and a method of immunoassay for detecting in a biological sample an epitope in the NC1 domain C-terminal amino acid sequence SFSGFLVAPM-COOH (SEQ ID NO: 1) of collagen type X alpha 1, by contacting the biological sample with the antibody, and determining the amount of binding of the antibody.

The present invention provides a novel ovarian cancer marker, Arresten, and related methods, agents, and kits using same. The invention includes methods for detecting or diagnosing ovarian cancer, especially at early stages of the disease. The invention also includes methods of assessing the severity of ovarian cancer and monitoring responses to treatment for ovarian cancer using the biomarker.

The present invention relates to biomarkers associated with the clinical response to an FGF-18 compound before or during treatment of a cartilage disorder. The present invention more particularly relates to specific proteins present in the blood, serum, synovial fluid or in the urine, which can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of cartilage disorders. The invention further discloses specific proteins that are related to cartilage response to an FGF-18 compound treatment as well as diagnostic tools and kits based on their expression profile. Thus, the invention can be used in predicting the response to an FGF-18 compound treatment, before starting the treatment with FGF-18 or during the treatment. It could be used for selecting/identifying subjects to be treated by intra-articular administration of an FGF-18 compound. The use of these biomarkers in diagnostics could result in increased benefit and reduced risk in subjects.

The invention provides a method for classifying tumors by their collagen expression patterns into groups associated with high and low overall survival.

The invention pertains to the use of a specific biomarker of elastin degradation (desmosine) that measures the extent and progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition to potentially serving as a screening procedure for COPD, it provides a real-time measure of COPD drug efficacy and may therefore supersede the use of less sensitive tests such as pulmonary function studies and computed tomography. Equally important, the current invention constitutes a marked improvement for measuring desmosine in tissues and body fluids by greatly shortening the time for detection of this molecule in liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) assays that are the gold standard for such measurements. Unlike previous methods, the invention allows for the use of LC-MS-MS without modification, so the method can be applied to any laboratory that uses this equipment for other measurements. This would include forensic facilities that need to determine if undiagnosed COPD played a role in the loss of life.

The invention belongs to the technical field of collagen detection, and in particular relates to a peptide probe for the specific detection of pathological collagen in tissues, the preparation methods and applications. The peptide probe disclosed in this invention comprises a peptide sequence (Gly-Hyp-Pro).sub.n and a signal molecule modified at the N-terminal of the peptide sequence (Gly-Hyp-Pro).sub.n. The peptide sequence (Gly-Hyp-Pro).sub.n can maintain a stable single-stranded conformation without introducing other components, and will not form a trimer state at all. After the N-terminal of the peptide sequence is connected with a signal molecule, it can be used as a peptide probe for the detection of pathological collagen. The preparation method of the peptide probe is simple. Compared with the existing peptide (GPO, GPP or GOO) probe, it can continuously maintain 100% single-stranded structure, and the concentration of the single-chain probe can be accurately quantified. Moreover, this peptide probe can recognize pathological collagen in tissues of diseases such as arthritis, which has wide prospects of application in fields such as early diagnosis and efficacy evaluation of collagen-related diseases.

Methods, kits, and active ingredients for diagnosing or treating arthritis or a degenerative disease of the skeletal system, or for selection of subjects for therapy. The methods for diagnosing arthritis involve the detection of an autoantibody, which is associated with arthritis, or excluding the presence of an autoantibody against collagen II. The methods for diagnosing a degenerative disease of the skeletal system, involve the detection of an autoantibody against thrombospondin-4 or COMP. The kits contain a detection agent for an autoantibody and can be used for diagnosing arthritis or a degenerative disease of the skeletal system. The active ingredient can be used for treating or preventing autoimmune-associated arthritis.

The present subject matter provides, inter alia, compositions, systems, kits, and methods for diagnosing and treating small vessel diseases (SVDs).