Patent ID: 6030780
Filing Date: 2000-02-29
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A method for identifying a drug that modulates the ability of adjacent STAT protein dimers to interact and bind to adjacent DNA binding sites comprising:a) measuring the binding affinity of the STAT protein, or a fragment thereof that comprises the N-terminal domain, to a nucleic acid comprising 2 adjacent weak STAT DNA binding sites in the presence and absence of a test compound;b) measuring the binding affinity of the STAT protein, or the fragment, to a nucleic acid comprising a single strong STAT binding site in the presence and absence of the test compound; andc) comparing the binding affinity measured in step (a) in the presence and absence of the test compound with the binding affinity measured in step (b) in the presence and absence of the test compound, wherein a test compound which causes an increase in the binding affinity measured in step (a) but not in the binding affinity measured in step (b) is identified as a drug that enhances the interaction between adjacent activated STAT dimers, and a test compound which causes a decrease in the binding affinity measured in step (a) but not in the binding affinity measured in step (b) is identified as a drug that inhibits the interaction between adjacent activated STAT dimers.