Patent ID: 8828389

Claim:
A method of detecting or diagnosing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a subject comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a test sample of said subject with an antibody specific for an ALS-specific epitope, wherein the ALS-specific epitope is selected from the group consisting of: DLGKGGNEESTKTGNAGS; (SEQ ID NO: 1) and NPLSRKHGGPKDEE (SEQ ID NO: 2) to produce an antibody-antigen complex; (b) measuring the amount of the antibody-antigen complex in the test sample; and (c) comparing the amount of antibody-antigen complex in the test sample to a control; wherein a difference in the amount of antibody-antigen complex in the test sample as compared to the control is indicative of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.