Patent ID: 9523697
Filing Date: 2016-12-20
CPC Classification: A61K,A61P,C07K,G01N

Claim Text:
1. A method of detecting whether a sample contains a beta-amyloid polypeptide (Abeta) in an aggregated conformation, comprising: contacting the polypeptide in the sample with at least 2 mM concentration of peroxynitrite to block an accessible target epitope on the Abeta, wherein in the wildtype conformation, the target epitope is accessible and chemically reacts with the peroxynitrite, and wherein in the aggregated conformation, the target epitope is inaccessible and the target epitope cannot chemically react with the peroxynitrite; and wherein the target epitope is EFRHDS (SEQ ID NO:3) or amino acid residues at positions 18-22 of human Abeta; removing unreacted peroxynitrite from contact with the Abeta; disaggregating or denaturing the Abeta to convert any inaccessible target epitope to the accessible target epitope; contacting the sample with an antibody that binds selectively to the target epitope that was converted from the inaccessible target epitope to the accessible target epitope, the antibody having at least a 2-fold increased specificity for the converted target epitope compared to the target epitope reacted with peroxynitrite; and detecting the presence of binding between the antibody and the converted target epitope, wherein binding between the antibody and the converted target epitope indicates that the Abeta was in an aggregated conformation.