| 摘要 |
<p>The present invention relates to compositions and methods for detecting cell death by detecting cell DNA in a biological sample. The invention relates the discovery that the presence of hypomethylatedβcell DNA outside of the pancreas of a subject is indicative ofβcell death. Thus, in one embodiment, the invention is a method of detecting hypomethylatedβcell insulin DNA in a biological sample of a subject including the steps of: obtaining a biological sample from the subject, where the biological sample is obtained from outside of the subject's pancreas and where the biological sample containsβcell insulin DNA; determining the methylation status of at least one of the CpG dinucleotides in theβcell insulin DNA, where when at least one of the CpG dinucleotides in theβcell insulin DNA is determined to be unmethylated, the hypomethylatedβcell insulin DNA is detected.</p> |
