Abstract: The invention encompasses a novel method of treating an inflammatory disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and novel methods of identifying and screening for drugs useful in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and their clinical symptoms. The inventors have made the discovery that the activity of galectin-3, a ?-galactoside-binding lectin known to have an effect on some cancers, has a significant impact on the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis. The symptoms of an inflammatory disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, may be alleviated by administering a compound that inhibits the activity of galectin-3.

Abstract: The invention encompasses novel methods of treating rheumatoid arthritis and its symptoms and novel methods of identifying and screening for drugs useful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and its clinical symptoms. Targeted manipulation of a computer model of a human rheumatic joint provided the surprising result that cross-linking soluble Fas-ligand (sFasL) has a significant impact on the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis. The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may be alleviated by administering a sFasL-specific cross-linker.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for identifying biomarkers using a computer model is described. In one embodiment, a computer-executable software code includes code to define a set of configurations associated with a computer model of a biological system. The computer-executable software code also includes code to apply a virtual measurement to the set of configurations to produce a result of the virtual measurement for each configuration of the set of configurations and code to apply a virtual therapy to the set of configurations to produce a result of the virtual therapy for each configuration of the set of configurations. The computer-executable software code further includes code to identify correlation between the results of the virtual measurement for the set of configurations and the results of the virtual therapy for the set of configurations.