Method for detecting antibodies to a neuroblastoma antigen in mental illness

摘要

The subject invention provides an antigen characterized as having a molecular weight of approximately 68 kD, being reactive with autoantibodies associated with mental illness especially schizophrenia, being located in neuronal cells, and co-migrating with a protein band in SDS-PAGE which is recognized by rabbit antibodies which react with the peptide whose sequence is Ala-Lys-Xaa-Val-Lys-Phe-Gly-Ala-Asp-Ala-Xaa-Ala-Leu-Met-Leu (SEQ ID NO: 2). The invention also provides methods for detecting in a sample from a subject the presence of an antibody to the neuronal antigen, determining the propensity of a subject toward a psychiatric disease, diagnosing and treating a subject having mental illness.