Development of a protein microarray library and a system for rheumatoid-arthritis disease marker screening

Early detection and intervention can delay the onset of symptoms of RA (rheumatoid arthritis), but current diagnostic tests suffer from low sensitivity and specificity, making such early disease detection difficult. Analysis of body fluids for the identification of multiple molecular markers and the subsequent determination of modifications in their associated protein structures emerges as a possibility for early detection. The structural modifications of these markers are thought to play a pivotal role in defining the pathological state of diseased joints. Therefore a proteome library and system for RA disease screening has been developed and investigated in the present study. The large (39 S) mammalian ribosomal subunit has been identified as a potential RA marker. This protein is known as L 35, and antibodies to this protein have been found to be expressed in patients suffering from RA.