Provided herein are compositions and methods for treating or preventing fibrosis.

The present disclosure relates to prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeted compounds conjugated to near-infra red (NIR) dyes and methods for their therapeutic and diagnostic use. More specifically, this disclosure provides compounds and methods for diagnosing and treating diseases associated with cells and/or vasculature expressing prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), such as prostate cancer and related diseases. The disclosure further describes methods and compositions for making and using the compounds, methods incorporating the compounds, and kits incorporating the compounds.

Disclosed herein are methods of aiding in a diagnosis of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a subject suspected of having sustained or known to have sustained an injury to the head, by detecting at least one biomarker, wherein the at least one biomarker is ubiquitin carboxy terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1).

The present invention is directed to the identification of a biomarker specifically located in the plasma membrane of pancreatic beta cells. Based on a set of specific features the biomarker is a unique candidate for imaging and targeting strategies to study the pancreatic beta cell mass in health and disease (T1D, T2D, pancreatic cancers, obesity, islet transplantation, beta cell regeneration).

The present invention relates to mutated CSN5 polypeptides and their use in a method of screening modulators of CSN5 activity that could be used as therapeutic agents.

A method of screening/prognosis/diagnosis for colorectal cancer (CRC) wherein methionine aminopeptidase 2 (MetAP2) levels are detected in a non-tumor sample such as peripheral blood, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) or lymphocytes. Based on the MetAP2 levels, the individual may be selected for further testing.

Subject matter of the present invention is a method for predicting or diagnosing a refractory shock in a subject that either runs into shock or that has developed shock, wherein said method is comprising the steps: determining the level of DPP3 in a sample of bodily fluid of said subject; comparing said level of determined DPP3 to a predetermined threshold,
wherein said subject is predicted to run into refractory shock or is diagnosed as having refractory shock if said determined level of DPP3 is above said predetermined threshold.

Further subject matter relates to vasopressors, angiotensin-receptor agonists and/or precursors thereof, inhibitors of the activity of DPP3 and anti-ADM antibodies for use in therapy of shock in a subject that either runs into shock or that has developed shock.

In the present invention, a method and assay for the detection of proteases and protease inhibitors using colloidal gold nanoparticles and peptide substrates, which are selectively recognized and cleaved by proteases being assayed, is disclosed. In this assay, the mechanism of signal generation relies on peptide sequence induced aggregation of gold nanoparticles, which are used as signal reporters. The peptide sequences that induce aggregation are either the intact peptide substrates or proteolytic fragments of the intact peptide substrate wherein the proteolytic fragments are produced by the protease being assayed. The present invention provides a novel, simple, sensitive, and inexpensive colloidal gold nanoparticle-based colorimetric assay that allows both visual and quantitative detection of proteases and protease inhibitors.

The disclosure is directed to methods and kits for detecting neutralizing antibodies against a coronavirus (e.g., SARS-CoV-2) in a sample, such as a plasma sample or pooled plasma composition. The methods utilize a panel of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies as a positive control. The kit may be a rapid detection kit that measures neutralizing antibodies using the provided methods.

Quantum dots conjugated to SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) interact with gold nanoparticles bound to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and thus undergo energy transfer. This energy transfer indicates RBD/ACE binding and can be used to assay for inhibitors thereof. Moreover, these labeled quantum dots were found to undergo endocytosis in cells expressing ACE2.