Patent ID: 6727074
Filing Date: 2004-04-27
Classification: C07K,C12N,C12Q,G01N

Abstract:
A method for identifying an agent that modulates the activity of Asp2 aspartyl protease, comprising the steps of:(a) contacting an Asp2 aspartyl protease with an amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the presence and absence of a test agent, wherein the Asp2 aspartyl protease is a recombinant polypeptide that exhibits Asp2 aspartyl protease activity involved in processing APP into amyloid beta and is expressed by a host cell transformed or transfected with a nucleic acid molecule that encodes the polypeptide and that hybridizes under the following stringent hybridization conditions to the complement of SEQ ID NO: 3: (1) hybridization at 42Â° C. in a hybridization buffer comprising 6Ã—SSC and 0.1% SDS, and (2) washing at 65Â° C. in a wash solution comprising 1Ã—SSC and 0.1% SDS; (b) determining the APP processing activity of the Asp2 aspartyl protease in the presence and absence of the test agent; and (c) comparing the APP processing activity of the Asp2 aspartyl protease in the presence of the test agent to the APP processing activity in the absence of the test agent to identify an agent that modulates the activity of the Asp2 aspartyl protease, wherein a modulator that is an Asp2 inhibitor reduces APP processing and a modulator that is an Asp2 agonist increases such processing.