Patent ID: 6573062
Filing Date: 2003-06-03
Classification: A61K,A61P,C12N,G01N

Abstract:
A method for determining whether a substance has the ability to modulate tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R) releasing enzyme activity, comprising the steps of:a) incubating cells expressing TNF receptor with an isolated composition comprising a TNF-R releasing enzyme (TRRE) in the presence of the substance; b) measuring any TNF-R released from the cells in step a); and c) correlating an increase or decrease of the amount of TNF-R released in step a)relative to the amount released in the absence of the substance with an ability of the substance to enhance or diminish TNF-R releasing enzyme activity; wherein the composition used in step a) causes cleaving and release of TNF receptor expressed on the surface of said cells, and is obtainable by a process comprising: i) stimulating THP-1 cells with phorbol myristate acetate; ii) harvesting culture medium from the stimulated cells; and iii) isolating the composition from the harvested medium.