Provided herein are in vitro methods for diagnosing an immediate hypersensitivity reaction (IHR) against a small compound or a drug in a subject, comprising the steps of (a) contacting mast cells with serum obtained from said subject; (b) contacting the mast cells obtained in step (a) with said small compound or said drug; (c) detecting mast cell activation and/or degranulation of the mast cells obtained in step (b); and (d) attributing the detection or no detection of mast cell activation and/or degranulation to a particular diagnosis of IHR.

The present invention provides methods of reducing lung injury in a subject in need thereof, comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of an agent that inhibits the activity of SUR1.

Provided are methods of predicting responsiveness of a subject having an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha inhibitor, by analyzing a frequency of at least one subpopulation of immune cells in a tissue biopsy of the subject. Also provided are methods of selecting a treatment for a subject and kits for determining responsiveness of the subject to treatment with a TNF-alpha inhibitor.

A multiplexed method of monitoring immune-cell responses to different ligands using a micropillar/microwell plate platform is disclosed. The method may include dispensing immune cells onto at least one micropillar chip and inserting the at least one micropillar into at least one microwell on a microwell chip, in which the at least one microwell contains at least one test compound. The method may also include immobilizing antibodies onto at least one micropillar on a micropillar chip and inserting the at least one micropillar into at least one microwell on a microwell chip, in which the at least one microwell contains a test compound. The method may also include treating the micropillar chip with at least one reactive polymer.

Subject of the invention is a composition comprising at least one fragment of the peptide ESAT-6 and at least one fragment of the peptide CFP-10. Preferably, the fragments comprise at least two sets of peptides, a first set comprising at least one peptide of from about 7 to 14 amino acid residues in length and a second set comprising at least one peptide of from 16 amino acid residues or greater. The invention also relates to diagnostic methods using the composition.

A method whereby one or more fluorescent dyes are used to bind and stain nucleic acids in certain blood cells, such as, for example, white blood cells, nucleated red blood cells, and reticulocytes, and to induce fluorescent emissions upon excitation of photons from a given source of light, such as, for example, a laser, at an appropriate wavelength. More particularly, this invention provides a method whereby a fluorescent trigger is used in a data collection step for collecting events that emit strong fluorescence, in order to separate white blood cells and nucleated red blood cells from red blood cells and platelets without the need for using a lysing agent.

The invention provides methods and compositions for the diagnosis, prognosis, and/or treatment response characterization of individuals suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using single cell network profiling.

Described herein are methods and kits for performing plasmon-enhanced fluoro-dot assays. These assays enable observing a correlation between a chemical stimulus and a biological response of cultured cells in vitro.

The present relates to methods for detecting DNA damage in subjects treated with an ATR inhibitor. More specifically, this invention relates to a method for measuring changes in levels of γH2AX and/or pChk1.sup.Ser345 in, e.g., surrogate tissue cells, following ex vivo stimulation with a DNA damaging agent.

Disclosed are an inflammation-targeted neutrophil granulocyte drug delivery system and use thereof, wherein the drug delivery system includes neutrophil granulocytes and a therapeutic substance or a detectable substance loaded into the neutrophil granulocytes or onto the surface of the neutrophil granulocytes in a direct or indirect way. By using the neutrophil granulocytes as a carrier of a drug, the drug is actively targeted to an inflammatory site, thereby increasing the drug concentration at the inflammatory site. Under the stimulation of cytokines, the neutrophil granulocytes arriving at the inflammatory site are abnormally activated, disintegrate rapidly, and die in the way of “Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs)”. This helps to rapidly release the loaded drug to the targeted site, so as to improve the therapeutic effect and reduce the toxic and side effects.