The present invention is directed toward novel methods to identify as well as to treat a subject having an inflammatory disease resistant to corticosteroids.

Disclosed herein are a method and a biomarker for predicting efficacy and prognosis of or resistance to an immunotherapy. The use of the biomarkers (TCTP, EGFR, AKT, MCL1, and/or CXCL10) of the present disclosure allows the prediction of resistance to or prognosis of a cancer immunotherapeutic agent and the selection of a therapy guaranteeing therapeutic benefit, thereby finding advantageous applications in treating cancers or tumors resistant to cancer immunotherapeutic agents.

The subject invention pertains to methods of treating colorectal cancer by administering an atypical PKC inhibitor. The inhibitors of aPKC useful in the methods of the instant invention include ACPD, ICA-1, DNDA and ζ-Stat. Also provided are methods of measuring the susceptibility of colon cancer cells of a subject to inhibitors of aPKCs.

The present disclosure relates to a polypeptide recognizing immune cells, the polypeptide includes the following amino acid sequences: (a) an amino acid sequence containing C-terminal fragment sequence EQPDPGAVAAAAILRAILE of human Triokinase/FMN cyclase and its homologous sequence; or (b) an amino acid sequence that is substantially identical to the amino acid sequence described in (a), the substantially identical means 70% or more sequence identity to the amino acid sequence described in (a). The present invention also relates to a nucleic acid sequence encoding the polypeptide; a polypeptide probe used for targeting recognition of immune cells and containing the polypeptide described above and a reporter; a kit containing the probe described above; and, related applications of the polypeptide or probe described above.

The present invention concerns the V617F variant of the protein-tyrosine kinase JAK2, said variant being responsible for Vaquez Polyglobulia. The invention also relates to a first intention diagnostic method for erythrocytosis and thrombocytosis allowing their association with myeloproliferative disorders, or to the detection of the JAK2 V617F variant in myeloproliferative disorders allowing their reclassification in a new nosological group.

A reagent for glutamine synthetase reaction comprising a chelating agent and glutamine synthetase, and a reagent for quantification of ammonia comprising a chelating agent, ATP, glutamic acid, glutamine synthetase, glucose, an oxidized NAD compound, ADP-dependent hexokinase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, are provided.

The present invention is directed to a method for identifying neural invasion in a pancreatic cancer patient, the method comprising the steps of: determining in a sample of a pancreatic cancer patient the expression level of PlGF and sFlt1; and calculating a ratio of the expression levels of PlGF and sFlt1, wherein the expression level of PlGF forms part either of the numerator or of the denominator of the ratio; characterized in that, a deviation of the ratio of the patient sample from a reference sample or a predetermined threshold value is indicative for presence of neural invasion of the pancreatic cancer in said patient. Preferably said deviation, when the ratio is expressed using the expression level of PlGF in the numerator, is an increase in the ratio of the patient sample compared to a reference sample or a predetermined threshold value and/or said deviation, when the ratio is expressed using the expression level of PlGF in the denominator, is a decrease in the ratio of the patient sample compared to a reference sample or a predetermined threshold value.

The present invention relates to an in vitro method which enables the prediction of therapeutic response to treatment with BRAF inhibitor drugs, such as vemurafenib, in cancer patients associated with oncogenic mutations in said kinase, such as BRAF positive melanoma. Said method is based on the measurement of cytoplasmic ERK1/2 levels through the detection and quantification of ERK1/2 phosphorylated in serine 301/284, respectively, in an isolated biological sample of the patient. The invention also provides a specific antibody against ERK1/2 phosphorylated in serine 301/284 and a kit comprising it, which are of use in the described method.

Disclosed is an isoform of hexokinase 1 (HK1), namely hexokinase 1b (HK1b), for use as a prognosis marker and as a specific target for use in treatment of cancer.

The invention discloses a method for reduction of autofluorescence in biological samples, comprising the steps of: a) providing a biological microscopy sample; b) irradiating the sample with visible light, wherein the visible light has a spectrum such that at least 50% of the light intensity emanates from a narrow wavelength interval within the visible range. The invention also discloses a method for autofluorescence reduction with triplet sensitizers irradiated with visible light.