FsF-1 AND THE EARLY DETECTION OF FIBROSIS

摘要

A method for identifying individuals with a propensity for pathological fibrosis. The method involves providing a sample from an individual with a chronic inflammatory disease, contacting the sample with an antibody specific for fibroblast stimulating factor-1 (FsF-1) under conditions which permit immunocomplex formation, and detecting an increase in the relative level of the immunocomplex as an indication of a propensity for pathological fibrosis. FsF-1 polypeptides and antibodies specific for FsF-1, and DNA sequences endocing FsF-1 polypeptides are also disclosed.