Sets of digital antibodies directed against short epitopes, and methods using same

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to sets of digital antibodies directed against short epitopes, and use thereof in methods for protein analysis.

1 - 20 . (canceled)  
     
     
         21 : A method for diagnosing a disease condition in an organism, said method comprising 
 (a) contacting a test sample with a set of digital antibodies under conditions that permit binding, wherein the set of digital antibodies comprises at least about 15 digital antibodies, wherein each of the 15 digital antibodies has been characterized to bind specifically to a different epitope consisting of 3 or 4 consecutive amino acids, and each digital antibody recognizes a plurality of distinct and different proteins that comprise the same epitope to which the digital antibody binds;    (b) optionally removing unbound protein; and    (c) determining a protein binding profile for the test sample    
     
     
         21 - 30 . (canceled)  
     
     
         31 : The method of  claim 21 , wherein the disease condition is a viral infection or bacterial infection.