The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 04, 2015
Filed:
Apr. 28, 2010
Sven Olek, Berlin, DE;
Sven Olek, Berlin, DE;
EPIONTIS GMBH, Berlin, DE;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method, in particular an in vitro method for identifying natural killer cells of a mammal, which often express the surface proteins CD 16 and/or CD56, comprising analyzing the methylation status of at least one CpG position in the CX3CR1 and/or FGR and/or NKG7 and/or GNLY genes, in particular their upstream regulatory regions, and in particular the promoter and other conserved regions of the genes CX3CR1 and/or FGR and/or NKG7 and/or GNLY, wherein a demethylation of at least one CpG in the analyzed sample to at least 70% is indicative for CD56 expressing NK cells, which might also be CD8+ or CD8−, CD56 dim or bright, CD 16+ or CD 16− NK cells. The methods of the present invention are useful for the detection and quality assurance and control of NK cells. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a kit for performing the above methods as well as respective uses of the inventive methods or kits. The present invention furthermore provides an improved method for analyzing the methylation status of at least one CpG position in the gene CX3CR1 and/or FGR and/or NKG7 and/or GNLY genes that allows for a precise analysis even from sub-optimal quality samples, such as non-freshly obtained blood, tissue or serum samples.