Compositions, kits, and methods for identification, assessment, prevention, and therapy of endometriosis

Abstract

The invention relates to newly discovered marker polypeptides associated with endometriosis. Compositions, kits, and methods for detecting, characterizing, preventing, and treating endometriosis are provided.

1 . A method of assessing whether a patient is afflicted with endometriosis, the method comprising comparing:
 a) the abundance of one or more marker polypeptides selected from the group consisting of: iC3b (SEQ ID NO:33), or a fragment thereof; SEETKENEGFTVTAEG (SEQ ID NO:34), or a fragment thereof; EETKENEGFTVTAEG (SEQ ID NO:35), or a fragment thereof; SDKPDMAEMEKFDKSKLKKTETQEKNLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (thymosin beta 1) (SEQ ID NO:38), or a fragment thereof; SDKPDMAEIEKFDKPKLKKTETQEKNPLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (thymosin beta 3) (SEQ ID NO:39), or a fragment thereof; thymosin beta 4 (SEQ ID NO:40), or a fragment thereof; SDKSDMAEIEKFDKSKLKKTETQEKNPLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (thymosin beta 6) (SEQ ID NO:41), or a fragment thereof; TQEKNPLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (SEQ ID NO:42), or a fragment thereof; and pyr-EKNPLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (SEQ ID NO:43), or a fragment thereof, in a patient sample, wherein the fragment thereof consists of 7-15 consecutive amino acid residues of the marker polypeptide, and   b) the normal abundance of the one or more of marker polypeptides in a sample from a control subject not afflicted with endometriosis,   wherein a significantly lower abundance of one or more of said marker polypeptides in the patient sample as compared to the normal abundance of one or more of said marker polypeptides indicates that the patient is afflicted with endometriosis.   
     
     
         2 . A method of assessing whether a patient is afflicted with endometriosis, the method comprising comparing:
 a) the abundance of each of a plurality of marker polypeptides independently selected from the group consisting of: iC3b (SEQ ID NO:33), or a fragment thereof; SEETKENEGFTVTAEG (SEQ ID NO:34), or a fragment thereof; EETKENEGFTVTAEG (SEQ ID NO:35), or a fragment thereof; SDKPDMAEMEKFDKSKLKKTETQEKNLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (thymosin beta 1) (SEQ ID NO:38), or a fragment thereof; SDKPDMAEIEKFDKPKLKKTETQEKNPLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (thymosin beta 3) (SEQ ID NO:39), or a fragment thereof; thymosin beta 4 (SEQ ID NO:40), or a fragment thereof; SDKSDMAEIEKFDKSKLKKTETQEKNPLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (thymosin beta 6) (SEQ ID NO:41), or a fragment thereof; TQEKNPLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (SEQ ID NO:42), or a fragment thereof; and pyr-EKNPLPSKETIEQEKQAGES (SEQ ID NO:43), or a fragment thereof, in a patient sample, wherein the fragment thereof consists of 7-15 consecutive amino acid residues of the marker polypeptide, and   b) the normal abundance of each of the plurality of marker polypeptides in a sample obtained from a control subject not afflicted with endometriosis,   wherein a significantly lower abundance of one or more of said marker polypeptides in the patient sample as compared to the normal abundance of one or more of said marker polypeptides indicates that the patient is afflicted with endometriosis.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the sample comprises a fluid selected from the group consisting of blood fluids, a blood fraction, lymph, ascitic fluids, gynecological fluids, urine, peritoneal fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, and fluids collected by vaginal rinsing. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the sample is blood serum or blood plasma. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the abundance of said marker polypeptides in the samples is assessed by a method comprising the step of detecting the presence in the samples of said marker polypeptides or a fragment thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the presence of said marker polypeptide or fragment thereof is detected using a reagent which specifically binds with said marker polypeptide or fragment thereof, wherein said reagent is selected from the group consisting of an antibody, an antibody derivative, and an antibody fragment. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality comprises at least three of the marker polypeptides. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the plurality comprises at least five of the marker polypeptides.