Prostate Tumor Markers And Methods Of Use Thereof

Abstract

Newly identified proteins as markers for the detection of prostate tumors, or as targets for their therapeutic treatment, affinity ligands capable of selectively interacting with said markers as well as methods for tumor diagnosis and therapy using the same.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A method for determining whether a human patient has a prostate malignancy, the method comprising:
 (a) providing a sample of a prostate tissue from the patient;   (b) determining that the sample of the prostate tissue expresses at least one tumor marker at a higher level compared to a non-malignant prostate tissue control sample, wherein the at least one tumor marker is a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of DPY19L3, VSTM1, RNF5, and SLC39A10, and wherein the determining is performed by immunohistochemical, immunoradiometric, or immunoenzymatic analysis by contacting the sample of the prostate tissue with an antibody that specifically binds to the at least one tumor marker, or by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blot, or dot blot; and   (c) diagnosing the patient from whom the sample of the prostate tissue is obtained as having a prostate malignancy.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one tumor marker is the polypeptide DPY19L3 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, or SEQ ID NO:12. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one tumor marker is the polypeptide VSTM1 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:2. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one tumor marker is the polypeptide RNF5 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one tumor marker is the polypeptide SLC39A10 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:17 or SEQ ID NO:18. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the sample of the prostate tissue is further screened for expression of at least two different tumor markers selected from the group consisting of DPY19L3, VSTM1, RNF5, UNQ6126, and SLC39A10. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the sample of the prostate tissue is further screened for expression of at least three different tumor markers selected from the group consisting of DPY19L3, VSTM1, RNF5, UNQ6126, and SLC39A10. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the sample of the prostate tissue is further screened for expression of at least four different tumor markers selected from the group consisting of DPY19L3, VSTM1, RNF5, UNQ6126, and SLC39A10. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determining is performed by immunohistochemical analysis. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determining is performed by immunoradiometric analysis. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determining is performed by immuno enzymatic analysis. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the antibody is a monoclonal antibody. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising administering to a subject from whom the sample of the prostate tissue is obtained that expresses the at least one tumor marker at a higher level than in the non-malignant prostate tissue control sample, a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds the at least one tumor marker for treating the prostate malignancy. 
     
     
         24 . A method comprising:
 (a) providing a sample of a prostate tissue;   (b) detecting whether the sample of the prostate tissue expresses at least one tumor marker, wherein the at least one tumor marker is a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of DPY19L3, VSTM1, RNF5, and SLC39A10, wherein the detecting is performed by immunohistochemical, immunoradiometric, or immunoenzymatic analysis using an antibody that specifically binds to the at least one tumor marker, or by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blot, or dot blot;   (c) determining that the expression of the at least one tumor marker in the sample of the prostate tissue is   (i) higher than in a non-malignant prostate tissue control sample; or   (ii) same or lower than in the non-malignant prostate tissue control sample,   (d) identifying the sample of the prostate tissue expressing the at least one tumor marker at a higher level than in the non-malignant prostate tissue control sample as having a prostate malignancy, and identifying the sample of the prostate tissue expressing the at least one tumor marker at the same or lower level than in the non-malignant prostate tissue control sample as not having a prostate malignancy, and   (e) administering to a subject from whom the sample of the prostate tissue is obtained that expresses the at least one tumor marker at a higher level than in the non-malignant prostate tissue control sample, a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds the at least one tumor marker for treating the prostate malignancy.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the sample of the prostate tissue is from a human subject. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the determining is performed by immunohistochemical analysis. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the determining is performed by immuno enzymatic analysis. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the antibody that specifically binds to the at least one tumor marker is a monoclonal antibody. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the sample of the prostate tissue is further screened for expression of at least three different tumor markers selected from the group consisting of DPY19L3, VSTM1, RNF5, UNQ6126, and SLC39A10. 
     
     
         30 . A method of screening a test compound as an anti-prostate tumor compound, the method comprising contacting cells expressing at least one tumor marker protein selected from the group consisting of DPY19L3, VSTM1, RNF5, UNQ6126, and SLC39A10 with the test compound, and determining the binding of the compound to the tumor marker, wherein the ability of the test compound to bind the tumor marker is indicative of the test compound being an anti-prostate tumor compound.