Peptides and substances, methods and devices using same for diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative disorders

The method of claim 22, wherein said immobilizing moiety is covalently attached to a terminal of said at least one peptide, said terminal is selected from the group consisting of a carboxy terminal and an amino terminal.

A proteinaceous substance useful for identifying an existence, non-existence, type or state of a neurodegenerative disorder in an individual, the proteinaceous substance comprising at least one peptide representing at least one epitope derived from an endogenous protein to which at least one antibody is produced in vivo at onset or during progression of the neurodegenerative disorder, said at least one peptide being selected such that said at least one antibody being capable of immunobinding said at least one peptide.

A peptide comprising an amino acid sequence representing at least one epitope of an endogenous protein to which at least one antibody is produced in vivo at onset or during progression of a neurodegenerative disorder.

A method of identifying peptides useful for identifying an existence, non-existence, type or state of a neurodegenerative disorder in an individual, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) preparing a plurality of peptides corresponding to a plurality of continuous or discontinuous sequences derived from an endogenous protein to which at least one antibody is produced in vivo at onset or during progression of the neurodegenerative disorder;
• (b) screening said plurality of peptides for at least one peptide being immunoreactive with a serum derived from at least one patient suffering from the neurodegenerative disorder, thereby identifying peptides useful of identifying an existence, non-existence, type or state of the neurodegenerative disorder

A method of removing at least one antibody generated against an endogenous protein associated with the onset or progression of a neurodegenerative disorder from the blood of a patient suffering from the neurodegenerative disorder, the method comprising the step of circulating the blood of the patient through an extracorporeal device including at least one peptide representing at least one epitope derived from an endogenous protein and capable of immunobinding at least one antibody recognizing said endogenous protein and which is associated with said neurodegenerative disorder, said extracorporeal device is configured such that when the blood of the patient is circulated therethrough said at least one peptide immunobinds said at least one antibody to thereby substantially remove antibodies associated with the neurodegenerative disorder from the blood of the patient.

An array device useful for identifying an existence, non-existence, type or state of a neurodegenerative disorder in an individual, the array device comprising a plurality of peptides each being attached to a solid support in a regiospecific manner, said plurality of peptides representing epitopes derived from at least one endogenous protein to which a plurality of antibodies are produced in vivo at onset or during progression of the neurodegenerative disorder, each of said plurality of peptides being selected such that each of said plurality of antibodies being capable of immunobinding said at least each of said plurality of peptides.

A method of identifying an existence, non-existence, type or state of a neurodegenerative disorder in an individual, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) immunoreacting a serum sample derived from the individual with a plurality of peptides, each peptide of said plurality of peptides representing at least one epitope derived from an endogenous protein to which at least one antibody is produced in vivo at onset or during progression of the neurodegenerative disorder;
• and
• (b) detecting a presence, absence or degree of antibody binding to each of said plurality of peptides to thereby generate an immunobinding profile for said serum sample derived from the individual, said profile being indicative of the existence, non-existence, type or state of the neurodegenerative disorder.