The invention relates to antibodies, and in particular, to antibodies exhibiting specificity for Receptor tyrosine kinase-like Orphan Receptors (ROR), and to uses thereof, for example in the treatment of cancer. The invention extends to polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences encoding the antibodies, and therapeutic uses thereof, and to diagnostic kits comprising these molecules. The invention also extends to antibody-drug conjugates and to uses thereof in therapy.

The present invention relates to methods of diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease in a human patient by detecting alterations in the ratio of PKC epsilon protein levels in a human patient compared with PKC epsilon levels in a control subject. The Alzheimer's disease-specific molecular biomarkers disclosed herein are useful for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and for screening methods for the identification of compounds for treating or preventing Alzheimer's disease. The present invention also provides methods for elevating PKC epsilon protein levels comprising the steps of contacting one or more human cells with an amount of a PKC activator effective to elevate PKC epsilon levels compared to an uncontacted human cell.

This invention provides gene expression profiles useful for diagnosing atrial fibrillation in ischemic stroke and for distinguishing atrial fibrillation in ischemic stroke from arterial (large vessel) stroke or embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS). In another aspect, the present invention is the provision of an improved method for prognosis of an outcome or assessing the risk of a patient having suffered a stroke or a transient ischemic attack, comprising determining the level of expression of at least one biomarker in a sample of the patient.

A method for determining the health status of an elderly individual by testing the sample extracted from the individual for the presence of biomarkers, the bio markers being autoantibodies to antigens comprising MAPK13, CD96, FKBP3, PPM1A, PHLDA1, GLRX3, FEN1 and AURKA, wherein the antigens may further comprise one or more of UBE2I, AAK1, YARS, ASPSCR1, CASP10, FHOD2, TCL1A and MAP4, wherein PHLDA1 and CD96 correspond to healthy, AURKA, FEN1, CASP10 and AAK1 correspond to intermediate health, and UBE2I, YARS, ASPSCR1, FHOD2, TCL1A, MAP4, MAPK13, FKBP3, PPM1A and GLRX3 correspond to unhealthy.

Disclosed is a method of isolating extracellular vesicles and identifying membrane proteins therefrom. The method includes providing human plasma and/or serum; separating lipoproteins and extracellular vesicles from the human plasma and/or serum by a density gradient preparation, collecting the extracellular vesicles from the separated lipoproteins and extracellular vesicles; isolating and purifying the collected extracellular vesicles by using size exclusion chromatography; treating the isolated and purified extracellular vesicles with an aqueous solution to obtain membranes of the extracellular vesicles, wherein the aqueous solution has a pH in a range of 9 to 14; adding salt in a concentration range between 0.5-2.0M to the aqueous solution; isolating the membranes from the treated extracellular vesicles and identifying proteins on the isolated membranes by employing mass spectrometry.

The present invention generally relates to kits for detecting Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) infection and biomarkers correlated with MAP-associated diseases or disorders. The present method also relates to methods of diagnosing a subject with a MAP-associated autoimmune disease or disorder and/or determining the treatment course of a subject diagnosed with a MAP-associated autoimmune disease or disorder.

Provided herein are DNA aptamers targeting AXL receptor kinase. The DNA aptamers may comprise a thiophosphate backbone and be chemically modified. Further provided herein are methods of use thereof for the treatment of a disease or disorder, such as cancer.

Isolated monoclonal antibodies which bind to human c-Met, the hepatocyte growth factor receptor, and related antibody-based compositions and molecules, are disclosed. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising the antibodies and therapeutic and diagnostic methods for using the antibodies are also disclosed.

Novel gene deletions and translocations involving chromosome 2 resulting in fusion proteins combining part of Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) kinase with part of a secondary protein have been identified herein in human solid tumors, e.g. non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Secondary proteins include Echinoderm Microtubule-Associated Protein-Like 4 (EML-4) and TRK-Fusion Gene (TFG). The EML4-ALK fusion protein, which retains ALK tyrosine kinase activity, was confirmed to drive the proliferation and survival of NSCLC characterized by this mutation. The invention therefore provides, in part, isolated polynucleotides and vectors encoding the disclosed mutant ALK kinase polypeptides, probes for detecting it, isolated mutant polypeptides, recombinant polypeptides, and reagents for detecting the fusion and truncated polypeptides. The disclosed identification of this new fusion protein enables methods for screening for compounds that inhibit the proteins, and methods for inhibiting the progression of a cancer characterized by the mutant polynucleotides or polypeptides.

Disclosed herein are methods for identifying a subject as having NSCLC that is predicted or is likely to respond to treatment with an ALK inhibitor, for example crizotinib. The methods include identifying a sample including NSCLC tumor cells as ALK-positive or ALK-negative using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and scoring methods disclosed herein. A subject is identified as having NSCLC likely to respond to treatment with an ALK inhibitor if the sample is identified as ALK-positive and is identified as having NSCLC not likely to respond to treatment with an ALK inhibitor if the sample is identified as ALK-negative. According to certain embodiments of the methods, subjects predicted to respond to an ALK inhibitor may then be treated with an ALK inhibitor such as crizotinib.