Uses of IL-40 and methods for detecting IL-40 activity

A method for assessing activity of an Interleukin 40 (IL-40) polypeptide in a sample comprising:

• a) disposing one or more cells on an immobilized support, wherein said immobilized support comprises analyte specific capture agents;
• b) incubating the one or more cells with a first composition comprising a recombinant IL-40 polypeptide or fragment thereof, under conditions to bind said first composition to its selective receptor on the cell;
• wherein the binding generates the production of one or more analytes, c) capturing said one or more analytes onto said capture agents, thereby generating one or more analyte/capture agent complexes;
• e) detecting the presence or absence of said analyte/capture agent complexes;
• and f) measuring the activity of the IL-40 polypeptide according to the presence or absence of said analyte/capture agent complexes, wherein the one or more analytes comprises cytokines, chemokines, and/or growth factors and wherein the one or more cytokines, chemokines, and/or growth factors is selected from the group consisting of chemokine (C—C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), chemokine (C—C motif) ligand 3 (CCL3), chemokine (C—C motif) ligand 4 (CCL4), chemokine (C—C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5), chemokine (C—C motif) ligand 11 (CCL11), chemokine (C—X—C motif) ligand 8 (CXCL8), chemokine (C—X—C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-IRA), erythropoietin, platelet derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).