Citrullinated peptides for diagnosing and prognosing rheumatiod arthritis

摘要

Disclosed is a method for identifying a peptide that is immunologically reactive with an anticitrullinated protein antibody, said method comprising: (a) identifying at least one antigenic peptide epitope in at least one synovial fluid polypeptide, wherein said antigenic peptide epitope is predicted to be immunologically reactive with an anti-citrullinated protein antibody, wherein said antigenic peptide epitope contains at least one arginine residue, and wherein at least one of said arginine residues is citrullinated; (b) synthesising a peptide that comprises at least two of said antigenic peptide epitopes, wherein said antigenic peptide epitopes are linked together by a peptide bond; (c) contacting a biological sample from an individual having rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with said peptide under conditions suitable to transform said peptide into a complex comprising said peptide and said anti-citrullinated protein antibody; and (d) identifying said peptide as being immunologically reactive with said anticitrullinated protein antibody based on the presence or level of said complex.