Patent ID: 9606125
Date: 2017-03-28
CPC Classifications: C07K,C12Q,G01N

Claim:
1. A method of detecting a linear hydrolysis-created Artificially Cleaved Epitope (ACE) structure in a biological sample, wherein the linear ACE structure is hidden in its intact or natural form in a polymeric molecule and is poorly accessible to antibodies, comprising steps of: (i) designing a linear ACE structure of formula L1-L2---Ln, wherein L1-L2---Ln is a linear polymeric biomolecule (e.g., a linear peptide), wherein L1 and Ln are each terminal residues that are artificially created via chemical bond-specific cleavage by at least one hydrolytic enzyme or hydrolytic agent; (ii) chemically synthesizing the ACE structure described in step (i) and isolating the ACE structure; (iii) producing an antibody against the isolated ACE structure of step (ii), wherein the antibody specifically recognizes the ACE structure; (iv) creating the ACE structure in the sample by treating the sample with the same hydrolytic enzyme or hydrolytic agent that is/are being used to create the terminal residues in step (i), thereby exposing the formerly hidden ACE structure in the sample to specific interaction with the antibody; and (v) detecting the ACE structure created in step (iv) with the antibody, wherein the antibody specifically binds to at least one of the artificially created L1 or Ln terminal residues or residue(s) between L1 and Ln.