The present invention relates to methods, monitors and systems, useful, for example, for advanced detection of sepsis in a subject.

A method for determining activity of an acyl transferase enzyme, the method comprising: (i) preparing a reaction mixture comprising: (a) an acyl transferase enzyme, (b) a peptide substrate bound to a fluorophore, wherein the substrate is a cysteine-containing oligopeptide of 5-25 amino acids in length, (c) an acyl-CoA, and (d) a detergent comprising micelles, wherein the acyl transferase enzyme mediates acylation on a cysteine of said peptide substrate to result in association of the peptide with micelles of the detergent with resultant increase in fluorescence polarization; and (ii) measuring fluorescent signal of the reaction mixture; wherein an increase in fluorescence polarization of the reaction mixture compared to fluorescence polarization of a control reaction indicates acyl transferase activity of the acyl transferase enzyme. The above assay method may also be used for screening compounds for their ability to act as inhibitors of an acyl transferase enzyme.

Specific peptides, and derived ionization characteristics of the peptides, from the Fatty acid synthase (FASN) protein are provided that are particularly advantageous for quantifying the FASN protein directly in biological samples that have been fixed in formalin by the method of Selected Reaction Monitoring (SRM) mass spectrometry, or what can also be termed as Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry. Such biological samples are chemically preserved and fixed and are selected from tissues and cells treated with formaldehyde containing agents/fixatives including formalin-fixed tissue/cells, formalin-fixed/paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue/cells, FFPE tissue blocks and cells from those blocks, and tissue culture cells that have been formalin fixed and or paraffin embedded. A protein sample is prepared from said biological sample using the Liquid Tissue™ reagents and protocol and the FASN protein is quantitated in the Liquid Tissue™ sample by the method of SRM/MRM mass spectrometry by quantitating in the protein sample at least one or more of the peptides described. These peptides can be quantitated if they reside in a modified or an unmodified form. An example of a modified form of an FASN peptide is phosphorylation of a tyrosine, threonine, serine, and/or other amino acid residues within the peptide sequence.

The present invention pertains to novel analgesics useful for treating mechanical pain. The invention suggests the use of inhibitors of α-tubulin acetylation for inhibition of neurological sensations that are mediated by sensory neurons. The perception of mechanical pain is can be modulated by altering the α-tubulin acetylation, in context of the invention in particular by modulation of the expression and/or activity of the enzyme α-tubulin acetyltransferase (Atat). The invention provides the medical application of α-tubulin acetyltransferase inhibitors as analgesics and a screening method for the identification of compounds useful in the treatment of pain.

Imaging agents that can bind to ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) without binding to the ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1a). The imaging agents comprise a base structure for selective binding to GOAT that is coupled via an amino acid linker to a chemical group to enable imaging such as a fluorescent label, radioactive tracer, or metal chelator. For example, the imaging agent may comprise a ghrelin substrate mimetic inhibitor incorporating an unmodified 2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (Dap) group at the site analogous to serine 3. These agents enable specific detection and imaging of GOAT versus the GHS-R1a receptor in a variety of biological contexts.

The present invention pertains to novel analgesics useful for treating mechanical pain. The invention suggests the use of inhibitors of α-tubulin acetylation for inhibition of neurological sensations that are mediated by sensory neurons. The perception of mechanical pain is can be modulated by altering the α-tubulin acetylation, in context of the invention in particular by modulation of the expression and/or activity of the enzyme α-tubulin acetyltransferase (Atat). The invention provides the medical application of α-tubulin acetyltransferase inhibitors as analgesics and a screening method for the identification of compounds useful in the treatment of pain.

The invention relates generally to peptide biomarkers with specific ionization characteristics to directly quantify one or more transgenic target proteins in biological samples, including transgenic plant samples, by liquid chromatography coupled tandem mass spectrometry multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The peptide biomarkers in combination with MRM-based methods may be used to quantify a single transgenic target protein or multiple transgenic target proteins within a stacked transgenic crop, such as maize, utilizing selected peptide biomarkers either alone or in combination. The present disclosure allows for broad based, reliable quantitation in different biological matrices, including plant matrices. The peptide biomarkers of the invention can further be used as trait biomarkers to support identification and/or selection of specific transgenic Events. Also provided are different peptide biomarker combinations that can be used to perform the methods of the invention.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods of using machine learning analysis to stratify the risk of spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB). In some variations, to select informative markers that differentiate SPTB from term deliveries, a processed quantification data of the markers can be subjected to univariate receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. A Differential Dependency Network (DDN) can then applied in order to extract co-expression patterns among the markers. In order to assess the complementary values among selected markers and the range of their relevant performance, multivariate linear models can be derived and evaluated using bootstrap resampling.

Imaging agents that can bind to ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) without binding to the ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1a). The imaging agents comprise a base structure for selective binding to GOAT that is coupled via an amino acid linker to a chemical group to enable imaging such as a fluorescent label, radioactive tracer, or metal chelator. For example, the imaging agent may comprise a ghrelin substrate mimetic inhibitor incorporating an unmodified 2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (Dap) group at the site analogous to serine 3. These agents enable specific detection and imaging of GOAT versus the GHS-R1a receptor in a variety of biological contexts.

The use of CASD1 as a biomarker of a cancer expressing the O-acetylated-GD2 ganglioside. Also, a method of diagnosing a cancer expressing the O-acetylated-GD2 ganglioside, a method of selecting a subject suffering from a cancer expressing the O-acetylated-GD2 ganglioside for treatment targeting the cancer, or a method of monitoring the response of a subject suffering from a cancer expressing the O-acetylated-GD2 ganglioside to a treatment targeting the cancer.