Application of N-terminomics to NETosis in inflammation

A method for identifying a subject having a NETosis-related inflammatory condition, wherein NETosis is Neutrophil cell death forming Extracellular Traps, comprising:

• (a) determining information on NET-associated protease content from a sample from the subject, wherein the protease is selected from the group consisting of neutrophil elastase (NE), cathepsin G (CG), proteinase 3 (PR3), and neutrophil secreted protein 4 (NSP4);
• (b) comparing the level of NET-associated protease content with that of a comparable sample from a healthy subject;
• (c) identifying the subject as having a NETosis-related inflammatory condition when the level of the NET-associated protease content of the sample is greater than that of the comparable sample from the healthy subject;
• and
• (d) treating the NETosis-related inflammatory condition comprising administering to the subject a protease inhibitor, wherein the protease inhibitor inhibits cleavage of peptide substrate comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs. 1-180.