Methods for quantifying the amount of drug present in a crosslinked hyaluronic acid-linker-peptide (xHA-L-P) prodrug composition are provided. Disclosed are steps of contacting a sample of the xHA-L-P prodrug formulation with a hyaluronoglucosidase to generate oligomeric hyaluronic acid-linker-peptide drug (oHA-L-P), contacting the oHA-L-P with a second enzyme to generate peptide digest products of the drug, and detecting the peptide digest products to determine the amount of the drug present in the xHA-L-P prodrug formulation.

A method of predicting the risk of recurrence in a subject undergoing treatment for, or having undergone treatment for, clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), by comparing the level of extracellular vesicles, preferably microvesicles, expressing carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9.sup.+ MVs) in a sample from the subject with a reference level. Also, a method of diagnosing ccRCC or identifying a risk of developing ccRCC, by comparing the level of CA9.sup.+ MVs in a sample from the subject with a reference level.

The present invention relates to a method for predicting the neurological outcome of a patient after cardiac arrest, the method comprising the step(s) of: (I) a) determining the level of alpha-enolase in a biological sample obtained from a patient after cardiac arrest; and b) comparing the level of alpha-enolase obtained in (a) with the median or mean level of alpha-enolase in biological samples from patients with positive neurological outcome after cardiac arrest, wherein said patient is diagnosed as having a negative neurological outcome if the alpha-enolase level is increased by at least 100% over the median or mean level of alpha-enolase, and/or a positive neurological outcome if the alpha-enolase level is below 150% as compared to the median or mean level of alpha-enolase; or (II) determining the level of alpha-enolase in a biological sample obtained from a patient after cardiac arrest, wherein said patient is diagnosed as having a negative neurological outcome if the alpha-enolase level is above 50 μg/L, and/or a positive neurological outcome if the alpha-enolase level is below 50 μg/L.

The present application relates to: a composition for diagnosing a Helicobacter pylori-associated disease, the composition comprising a preparation for measuring the expression amount of a gene whose expression is increased or decreased by Helicobacter pylori infection; and a use thereof.

The present invention relates to nucleic acid molecules from regions of Enterococcus spp. genomes which are associated with the production of dopamine The invention also relates to proteins encoded by such nucleic acid molecules as well as nucleic acid markers which are associated with high dopamine production. Moreover, the invention relates to uses of such molecules, including, but not limited to, transforming or transfecting cells or organisms with constructs containing the nucleic acid molecules to create cells or organisms with enhanced dopamine production. The present invention is also directed to kits for identifying bacteria which may be capable of producing dopamine based on the detection of the nucleic acid molecules.

The invention provides agents that target carbonic anhydrase, which can be used as imaging agents or therapeutic agents. The agents can be used to image tumor hypoxia as well as other physiological processes in a subject.

The present invention provides a set of Carbonic Anhydrase-IX monoclonal antibodies (CA-IX mAbs) that bind with high affinity to cell-surface expressed hCA-IX and has enzyme inhibiting characteristics. These mAbs have the potential to become the next biologics for the treatment of renal and possibly other types of cancer.

A peptide for treating rheumatoid arthritis and use thereof are provided, and a peptide consisting of an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, or SEQ ID NO: 5 or a polynucleotide encoding the same, and a pharmaceutical composition for treating rheumatoid arthritis or a health functional food composition for improving rheumatoid arthritis, each including the peptide, are provided.

Disclosed herein are embodiments of a donor compound that releases COS and/or CS.sub.2, which can be converted to H.sub.2S. The donor compound embodiments described herein can be used to deliver H.sub.2S to a subject or a sample and further can be used to administer therapeutic agents. Methods of making and using the donor compound embodiments also are disclosed.

The invention relates to a device and method for detecting a specific analyte in a liquid sample. The device that can be used in the method contains at least one fluid line, at least one receiving region for receiving a liquid sample, at least one enzymes region containing at least one determined enzyme and/or at least one acidification region containing at least one acid. The device also contains at least one reaction region used to form gas bubbles. The fluid line transports the liquid sample from the receiving region via the enzyme region and/or the acidification region to the reaction region by means of capillary forces and/or at least one micropump allowing fast, simple and cost-effective detection of a specific analyte in a liquid sample, the detection being carried out with a high level of sensitivity, specificity and precision. The invention further relates to uses of the device.