Unmet Need / Invention Novelty: Diagnosing an autoimmune disease using standard laboratory tests is challenging and often requires secondary validation due to high rates of false positives and overlapping biological signatures with other diseases. There is a critical need for an improved method to detect autoimmune disease signatures in tissue collected from patients with suspected autoimmune disease.
Technical Details: Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a method to profile interferon (IFN) signaling from human tissue samples to diagnose autoimmune diseases. Measuring expression levels of a panel of type I and type II IFN signaling-induced proteins in submandibular gland and muscle tissues correlates with the presence of autoimmune diseases. Immunohistochemical data show upregulated, with respect to healthy controls, levels of IFN signaling-induced proteins in samples collected from patients with autoimmune diseases. The assay effectively detects differing and patient-specific levels of type I and type II IFN activity across samples from patients with autoimmune diseases.
Value Proposition:
- Novel method to detect IFN signaling activity to diagnose autoimmune diseases
- Simple and quantitative method of detection that requires small amount of sample tissue
- Precise distinction between IFN I and II pathway activities
- Does not have to be read by a pathologist
Looking for Partners to: Develop & commercialize a diagnostic for autoimmune disorders based on a novel method of profiling tissue-based IFN signaling.
Stage of Development: Validated method using human patient samples
Data Availability: Under CDA/NDA
Inventors: John Hall, Livia Casciola-Rosen, Anthony Rosen
Patent Status: Pending U.S application 15/973,688.
Publication(s): Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Oct 23;109(43):17609-14. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1209724109.
