Novel polynucleotides and polypeptides encoded thereby

An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of:

• (a) a mature form of an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28;
• (b) a variant of a mature form of an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28, wherein one or more amino acid residues in said variant differs from the amino acid sequence of said mature form, provided that said variant differs in no more than 15% of the amino acid residues from the amino acid sequence of said mature form;
• (c) an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28;
• (d) a variant of an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28, wherein one or more amino acid residues in said variant differs from the amino acid sequence of said mature form, provided that said variant differs in no more than 15% of amino acid residues from said amino acid sequence;
• (e) a nucleic acid fragment encoding at least a portion of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence chosen from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28, or a variant of said polypeptide, wherein one or more amino acid residues in said variant differs from the amino acid sequence of said mature form, provided that said variant differs in no more than 15% of amino acid residues from said amino acid sequence;
• and
• (f) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the complement of (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e).

A method for determining the presence of or predisposition to a disease associated with altered levels of the nucleic acid molecule of claims in a first mammalian subject, the method comprising:

• (a) measuring the amount of the nucleic acid in a sample from the first mammalian subject;
• and
• (b) comparing the amount of said nucleic acid in the sample of step (a) to the amount of the nucleic acid present in a control sample from a second mammalian subject known not to have or not be predisposed to, the disease;
• wherein an alteration in the level of the nucleic acid in the first subject as compared to the control sample indicates the presence of or predisposition to the disease.