Method for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases

Abstract

The present invention refers to a method for the in vitro or in vivo diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, in particular high blood pressure, stenosis, vessel occlusion and/or other thrombotic events, wherein the nucleotide at position 950 of a nucleic acid coding for the human ARK2 protein or the amino acid at position 298 of the human ARK2 protein of a sample of a person is determined as well as to the use of ARK2 for the development and/or production of a medicament for treating a cardiovascular disease.

1 . A method for determining the risk of occurrence of a cardiovascular disease in an individual comprising the steps of:
 (a) obtaining a sample from said individual,   (b) isolating nucleic acid from said sample,   (c) amplifying the specific region in said nucleic acid encompassing position 950 of the ARK2 gene with the help of primers;   (d) sequencing the amplified region;   (e) analysing the sequenced region wherein the determination of thymidine or uracile at position 950 is indicative of increased risk for a cardiovascular disease.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the cardiovascular disease comprises the group consisting of high blood pressure, stenosis, vessel occlusion and thrombotic events. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the nucleic acid coding for the human ARK2 protein has the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the nucleotide at position 950 is determined by a method selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid sequencing method, a mass spectrometric analysis of the nucleic acid, a hybridization method and an amplification method. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said nucleic acid sequencing method is selected from the group selected of pyrosequencing and sequencing using radioactive and fluorescence labeled nucleotides. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 4  wherein said hybridization method is selected from the group consisting of Southern blot analysis, Northern blot analysis and a hybridization method on a DNA-microarray. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 4  wherein said amplification method is selected from the group consisting of a TaqMan analysis, a differential RNA display analysis and a representational difference analysis. 
     
     
         8 . A method for determining the risk of occurrence of a cardiovascular disease in an individual comprising the steps of comprising the steps of
 (a) obtaining a sample from a person,   (b) isolating the ARK2 protein from the sample,   (c) determining the amino acid at position 298 of the ARK2 protein, and   (d) assessing the risk for a cardiovascular disease wherein the detection of an ARK2 Met298Met variation is an indicator for an increased risk for developing a cardiovascular disease.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8  wherein said sample comprises the group consisting of a cell, tissue, body fluid, a cellular component of the blood, endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8  wherein said cardiovascular disease is selected from the group consisting of high blood pressure, stenosis, vessel occlusion and thrombotic events. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 8  wherein the amino acid sequence at position 298 is determined by a method selected from the group consisting of a method measuring the amount of the specific protein and a method measuring the activity of the specific protein. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein said activity is selected from group consisting of serine and threonine kinase activity. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11  wherein said amount of the specific protein is measured by a method selected from the group consisting of a western blot analysis and an ELISA. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 11  wherein said activity of the specific protein is measured by the group consisting of an in vitro test assay and an in vitro whole cell test assay with human cells, animal cells, bacterial cells or yeast cells.