Acetyl-LDL receptor related proteins and peptides as a biomarker for neurodegenerative disease

1 . A biomarker of neurodegenerative disease comprising an increased quantity of an acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide in a serum sample.

2 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the neurodegenerative disease is Parkinson's disease.

3 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the neurodegenerative disease is Alzheimer's disease.

4 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the neurodegenerative disease is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

5 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide includes an antigenic determinant of the acetyl-LDL receptor.

6 . The biomarker of claim 1 , wherein the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2, SEQ ID No. 3, SEQ ID No. 4, SEQ ID No. 5, SEQ ID No. 6, SEQ ID No. 7, SEQ ID No. 8, SEQ ID No. 9, SEQ ID No. 10, SEQ ID No. 11, SEQ ID No. 12, SEQ ID No. 13, SEQ ID No. 14, SEQ ID No. 15, SEQ ID No. 16, SEQ ID No. 17, SEQ ID No. 18, SEQ ID No. 19, SEQ ID No. 20, SEQ ID No. 21, or a combination thereof.

7 . A method for screening for neurodegenerative disease comprising:

obtaining a serum sample from a test subject;

determining a quantity of at least one acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide in the serum sample; and

comparing the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide in the test subject serum sample with an upper range of normal values of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide in control subjects;

whereby an increase in the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein in the serum sample to a level greater than the upper range of normal values of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide is indicative of a neurodegenerative condition.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the neurodegenerative condition is Parkinson's disease.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the neurodegenerative condition is Alzheimer's disease.

10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the neurodegenerative condition is ALS.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide includes an antigenic determinant located within the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 1.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2, SEQ ID No. 3, SEQ ID No. 4, SEQ ID No. 5, SEQ ID No. 6, SEQ ID No. 7, SEQ ID No. 8, SEQ ID No. 9, SEQ ID No. 10, SEQ ID No. 11, SEQ ID No. 12, SEQ ID No. 13, SEQ ID No. 14, SEQ ID No. 15, SEQ ID No. 16, SEQ ID No. 17, SEQ ID No. 18, SEQ ID No. 19, SEQ ID No. 20, SEQ ID No. 21, or a combination thereof

13 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the upper range of normal values of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide in neurodegenerative disease is equal to a 95% upper confidence limit in a concentration of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide determined in a set of serum samples collected from control subjects free of the neurodegenerative condition.

14 . A method of diagnosing a neurodegenerative disease, the method comprising:

collecting a serum sample from a test subject;

analyzing the serum sample for an increased expression of acetyl-LDL receptor related protein; and

using the expression of acetyl-LDL receptor related protein to diagnose the test subject.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the diagnosis is an adjunct to at least one other diagnostic test for the neurodegenerative disease.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the expression of the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein is determined using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis comprises a separation by isoelectric point followed by a separation by molecular weight.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the two-dimensional gel is stained and an intensity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein staining is proportional to the expression of the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein in the serum sample.

19 . A method for diagnosing neurodegenerative disease comprising:

obtaining a serum sample from a patient and a set of control serum samples;

determining a quantity of an acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide in the patient serum sample and the set of control samples; and

comparing the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein in the patient serum with the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide in the set of control samples to diagnose a neurodegenerative condition.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide is determined using an antibody directed against an antigenic determinant in the acetyl-LDL receptor.

21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide is determined by contacting the serum with at least one antibody with reactivity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 1.

22 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide is determined using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis comprises a separation by isoelectric point followed by a separation by molecular weight.

24 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related peptide is determined by contacting the serum with at least one antibody with reactivity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 2, SEQ ID No. 3, SEQ ID No. 4, SEQ ID No. 5, SEQ ID No. 6, SEQ ID No. 7, SEQ ID No. 8, SEQ ID No. 9, SEQ ID No. 10, SEQ ID No. 11, SEQ ID No. 12, SEQ ID No. 13, SEQ ID No. 14, SEQ ID No. 15, SEQ ID No. 16, SEQ ID No. 17, SEQ ID No. 18, SEQ ID No. 19, SEQ ID No. 20, SEQ ID No. 21, or a combination thereof.

25 . A method for diagnosing neurodegenerative disease comprising:

obtaining a patient serum sample;

determining a protein expression pattern of the serum sample by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis;

quantitating an acetyl-LDL receptor protein related protein in the protein expression pattern; and

using the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein to diagnose a neurodegenerative condition.

26 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising performing an additional diagnostic test for the neurodegenerative condition.

27 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis comprises a separation by isoelectric point followed by a separation by molecular weight.

28 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the quantity of acetyl-LDL receptor related protein is determined using an antibody directed against an antigenic determinant in the acetyl-LDL receptor protein.

29 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the quantity of acetyl-LDL receptor protein in the patient serum sample is determined by contacting the two-dimensional gel with at least one antibody with reactivity to the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein.

30 . The method of claim 28 , wherein multiple antibodies reactive with an antigenic determinant in the acetyl-LDL receptor protein are used to determine the quantity of the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein in the patient serum sample.

31 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the antibody is a monoclonal antibody.

32 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the antibody is a chimeric antibody.

33 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the antibody is an antiserum, an Fab antibody fragment, a monoclonal antibody, a chimeric antibody, a IgG immunogobulin, an IgM immunoglobulin, or a combination of the same.

34 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the amount of antibody reacted with the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein is reported using a radioimmunoassay, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

35 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the amount of antibody reacted with the acetyl-LDL receptor related protein is reported using a horseradish peroxidase reporter, a strepavidin reporter, a fluorescent reporter, a chemiluminescent reporter, a colorimetric reporter, or a combination of the same.