摘要 |
Detection of ZAP-70 expression provides important information about disease progression and overall survival in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The invention provides methods for diagnosing CLL in a subject, as well as methods for clearly distinguishing CLL patients with aggressive form of the disease. A consistent number of B cells from patient blood is isolated and lysed to release all of the intracellular ZAP-70 protein. The released ZAP-70 protein is subsequently extracted by immunomagnetic separation followed by detection with fluorescence immunosandwich assay. The ZAP-70 fluorescence signal is measured with SignalyteTM-II spectrofluorometer. The VeriZAPTM assay is a simple, reliable, and reproducible method for quantitative detection of ZAP-70 in patient leukemic cells, and can be used as a prognostic test to distinguish indolent versus aggressive CLL patients. |