DOT1 Histone Methyltransferases as a Target for Identifying Therapeutic Agents for Leukemia
AssigneeThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
InventorsYi ZHANG, Qin FENG, Yuki OKADA, Guoliang XU
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Abstract
The present invention provides polypeptides with histone H3 lysine 79 methyltransferase activity as well as nucleic acids encoding the same. Also provided are methods of using the polypeptides and nucleic acids of the invention in screening assays to identify compounds of interest. Further provided are diagnostic methods for leukemia and prognostic methods to predict the course of the disease in a subject.
Claims6
1-46. (canceled)
A method of diagnosing whether a subject has or is at risk for developing leukemia and/or determining the prognosis for the course of the disease, comprising:
- obtaining a biological sample comprising nucleosomes from a subject;
- adding to the biological sample an antibody that binds to a methylated histone H3 lysine 79 (H3-K79);
- detecting the level of H3-K79 methylation associated with the HoxA9 gene;
- wherein an elevation in HoxA9-associated H3-K79 methylation in the biological sample as compared with the level of HoxA9-associated H3-K79 methylation in a non-leukemic biological sample is diagnostic that the subject has or is at risk of developing leukemia and/or is prognostic of the course of the disease in the subject.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.