METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING CELL-SPECIFIC PROTEIN COMBINATION PATTERNS

摘要

The present invention discloses a method for identifying cell-specific protein combination patterns of cell surfaces of circulating cells of the immune system of a human or animal for the identification of different stages of organ-specifc chronic inflammatory diseases or tumour diseases comprising the following steps: a) providing a sample of circulating cells of the immune system of a human or animal showing an organ-specific chronic inflammatory disease or tumour disease and providing a sample of circulating cells of the same cell type of the immune system of a healthy human or animal; b) determining cell-specific protein combination patterns of the cell surfaces of said healthy and pathologically modified cells; c) comparing the resulting protein combination patterns of the cell surfaces of said healthy and pathologically modified cells and subtracting the coincident parts of the protein combination patterns of said healthy and pathologically modified cells, thereby determining a cell-specific protein combination patterns of the cell surfaces of said pathologically modified cells resulting therefrom; and d) identifying and characterizing the resulting cell-specific protein combination pattern of the cell surfaces of said pathologically modified circulating cells of the immune system in terms of molecules and its spatial arrangement within the cell as disease specific. The invention moreover relates to compositions and kits comprising antibodies and/or ligands which can be employed for the performance of the method.