A menu of mutations was developed that is useful in fine-tuning the attenuation and growth characteristics of dengue virus vaccines.

The present invention relates to a nucleic acid molecule comprising an annexin A5 (ANXA5) gene regulation element which comprises at least one point mutation, whereby said at least one point mutation (substitution) is selected from the group consisting of (i) a point mutation G to A at a position which corresponds to nucleotide 186 of SEQ ID NO: 2; (ii) a point mutation A to C at a position which corresponds to nucleotide 203 of SEQ ID NO: 2; (iii) a point mutation T to C at a position which corresponds to nucleotide 229 of SEQ ID NO: 2; and (iv) a point mutation G to A at a position which corresponds to nucleotide 276 of SEQ ID NO: 2. Furthermore, the present invention provides for a vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule the invention and a host transformed with the vector. The invention also relates to specific uses, in particular diagnostic uses of the nucleic acid molecules described herein. Moreover, the invention relates to a method for haplotyping an ANXA5 gene regulation element in an individual comprising the steps of: (a) isolating a nucleic acid from a sample that has been removed from the individual; (b) determining the presence of the nucleotides present at positions 186, 203, 229 and 276 of the individual's copy of the ANXA5 gene regulation element, wherein the position numbers are determined by comparison to SEQ ID NO: 2; (c) assigning the individuals a particular haplotype by comparison of the nucleotides present at said positions to the nucleotides recited in the haplotypes as defined herein.

The present invention relates to novel methods and compositions for increasing AMPK activity and glucose uptake comprising administering a macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) pathway agonist in a subject in need thereof. The invention also relates to methods for selecting a subject for treatment with an agonist of MIF, identifying a subject at risk for developing a condition in which increased AMPK activity is desirable, and for predicting whether a subject is susceptible to a condition in which increased AMPK activity is desirable.

Methods and containers are provided for identifying a species, illustratively a bacterial species. Illustrative methods comprise amplifying various genes in the nucleic acid from the bacterial species in a single reaction mixture using pairs of outer first-stage primers designed to hybridize to generally conserved regions of the respective genes to generate a plurality of first-stage amplicons, dividing the reaction mixture into a plurality of second-stage reactions, each using a unique pair of second-stage primers, each pair of second-stage primers specific for a target bacterial species or subset of bacterial species, detecting which of the second-stage reactions amplified, and identifying the bacterial species based on second-stage amplification. Methods for determining antibiotic resistance are also provided, such methods also using first-stage primers for amplifying genes known to affect antibiotic resistance a plurality of the second-stage reactions wherein each pair of second-stage primers specific for a specific gene for conferring antibiotic resistance.

The present invention relates to methods for evaluating and/or predicting the outcome of a clinical condition, such as cancer, metastasis, AIDS, autism, Alzheimer's, and/or Parkinson's disorder. The methods can also be used to monitor and track changes in a patient's DNA and/or RNA during and following a clinical treatment regime. The methods may also be used to evaluate protein and/or metabolite levels that correlate with such clinical conditions. The methods are also of use to ascertain the probability outcome for a patient's particular prognosis.

The present invention relates to peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and cells for use in immunotherapeutic methods. In particular, the present invention relates to the immunotherapy of cancer. The present invention furthermore relates to tumor-associated T-cell peptide epitopes, alone or in combination with other tumor-associated peptides that can for example serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients of vaccine compositions that stimulate anti-tumor immune responses, or to stimulate T cells ex vivo and transfer into patients. Peptides bound to molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), or peptides as such, can also be targets of antibodies, soluble T-cell receptors, and other binding molecules.

The invention relates to method for identifying and selecting a subject with increased risk of developing a cardiometabolic disease and optionally, providing a personalized medicine method, which may involve sequencing at least part of a genome of one or more cells in a blood sample of the subject and identifying from said sequencing one or more mutations in one or more somatic mutations.

Disclosed herein are methods of treating cholangiocarcinoma in a patient comprising: evaluating a biological sample from the patient for the presence of one or more FGFR mutants including at least the FGFR2 SNP C383R; and treating the patient with an FGFR inhibitor if one or more FGFR mutants including at least the FGFR2 SNP C383R are present in the sample.

A column-based device and method for retrieving cells of interest were enclosed. The said device comprises a column comprising (i) an inner wall defining an inner chamber with inlet and outlet openings, (ii) a perforated plug disposed adjacent to the outlet opening, (iii) a sleeve insert with a channel and disposed within the chamber and adjacent to the perforated plug, and (iv) a filtering means housed within sleeve insert sandwiched between two sealing means. In particular, Tumor-derived endothelial cell clusters (TECCs) as characterized multiple nuclei, expression of endothelial markers (PECAM1, VWF and CDH5), and non-expression of leukocyte, megakaryocyte and platelets markers, may be retrieved using the disclosed device. Also encompassed are methods, reagents and kits for the diagnosis and prognosis of cancers by detecting for the presence of TECCs isolated from blood samples using the claimed device.

The present invention relates to methods and biomarkers for detection and characterization of Langerhans cell histiocytosis in biological samples (e.g., tissue samples, blood samples, plasma samples, cell samples, serum samples). In particular, the present invention provides compositions and methods for diagnosing a patient as having a Langerhans cell histiocytosis by identifying mutations in the MAP2K1 gene or gene products.