Alternative pol kappa nucleotide and amino acid sequence and methods for using

A method for detecting a polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:31, comprising

• a) providing a protein sample to be screened;
• b) contacting the protein sample to be screened with an antibody that selectively recognizes the polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:31 under conditions that promote antibody-polypeptide complex formation;
• and
• c) detecting the formation of an antibody-polypeptide complexes, wherein the presence of the antibody-polypeptide complexes indicates the presence of the polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:31.

A method for detecting in a sample a nucleic sequence consisting of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:30, comprising

• a) contacting the sample with one or more oligonucleotides that can be used to generate polymerase chain reaction products that selectively identify the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:30;
• b) carrying out a polymerase chain reaction to generate the polymerase chain reaction products;
• and
• c) identifying the polymerase chain reaction products as being specific for the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:30

A method for detecting an autoimmune condition in a patient, comprising

• a) providing a tissue or body fluid sample from the patient;
• b) providing a control tissue or body fluid sample in which no autoimmune condition is present;
• and
• c) detecting an increase in pol κ76 RNA expression in the tissue or body fluid sample compared to the control sample, wherein the increase indicates the presence of an autoimmune condition.