RETINOID METABOLIZING PROTEIN

Abstract: Amino acid sequences and corresponding nucleic acid sequence of retinoid metabolizing protein found in human, mouse and zebrafish are described, as well as methods of using same.

Description: Retinoid Metabolizing Protein This application claims priority from U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/724,466, filed October 1 , 1996, and from U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/667,546, filed June 21 , 1996, the specifications of which applications are incorporated herein by reference. Background of the Invention Vitamin A metabolism gives rise to several active forms of retinoic acid (RA) which are involved in regulating gene expression during development, regeneration, and in the growth and differentiation of epithelial tissues (Maden, 1992; Chambon, 1995; Mangelsdorf, 1995; Gudas, 1994; Lotan, 1995; Morriss-Kay, 1996]; has been linked apoptosis, or programmed cell death in a number of cell types; and to have anticarcinogenic and aπtitumoral properties [Lotan, 1996]. Early studies of retinol deficiency indicated a correlation between vitamin A depletion and a higher incidence of cancer and increased susceptability to chemical carcinogenesis [Chytil, 1984]. Several animal models have been used to demonstrate the effectiveness of retinoids in supressing carcinogenesis in a variety of tissues including skin, mammary epithelia, oral cavity, aerodigestive tract, liver, bladder and prostate [Moon, 1994]. These studies have led to the preventative use of retinoids to treat premaligπant lesions including actinic keratosis and oral leukoplakia, as well as in the prevention of secondary tumours of the head and neck and the recurrence of non-small cell lung carcinomas, and basal cell carcinomas [Hong, 1994; Lippman, 1995]. RA itself has been found to be useful therapeutically, notably in the treatment of cancers, including acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), tumors of the head and neck, and skin cancer, as well as in the treatment of skin disorders such as the premaiignancy associated actinic keratoses, acne, psoriasis and ichthyosis. There is evidence that the effectiveness of RA as an anti-tumour agent is at least partially due to induction of cellular differentiation and/or inhibition of proliferation [Lotan, 1996]. Studies over the past several years indicate that a high proportion of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) achieve complete remission after a short period of treatment with a\\-trans RA. Unfortunately, this high rate of remission is in most cases brief. Following relapse, patients are clinically resistant to further treatment with RA [Warrell, 1994; Warrell, et a/., 1994; Chomienne, 1996; Muindi, 1992]. The nature of this resistance is unknown. Interestingly, leukemic cells taken from patients exhibiting clinical resistance to RA have been shown to be sensitive to the differentiating action of RA when grown in vitro (Muindi, 1992; Muindi, 1994). This suggests that pharmacokinetic mechanisms may account for the acquired resistance to RA. This possibility is supported by studies showing that peak plasma concentrations of RA were much higher in patients after initial administration than in patients treated following relapse. This decrease in peak plasma RA concentration was accompanied by a 10-fold increase in urinary 4-oxo-retinoic acid concentration. In addition, ketoconazole, a broad spectrum inhibitor of cytochrome P450 function was shown to modulate RA pharmacokiπetics in vivo [Muindi, 1992; Muindi, 1994]. It is therefore likely that RA increases the rate of its own metabolism which in turn results in the inability to sustain effective therapeutic doses of RA. Therapeutic administration of RA can result in a variety of undesirable side effects and it is therefore important to establish and maintain the minimal requisite doses of RA in treatment. For example, RA treatments during pregnancy can lead to severe teratogenic effects on the fetus. Adverse reactions to RA treatment also include headache, nausea, chelitis, facial dermatitis, conjunctivitis, and dryness of nasal mucosa. Prolonged exposure to RA can cause major elevations in serum triglycerides and can lead to severe abnormalities of liver function, including hepatomegaly, cirrhosis and portal hypertension. RA metabolism may also account for the lack of response of certain tumors to RA treatment. For example, recent studies have shown that cytochrome P450 inhibitors that block RA metabolism, resulting in increased tissue levels of RA, may be useful therapeutic agents in the treatment of prostate cancer [Wouters, 1992; De Coster, 1996]. Thus RA metabolizing cytochrome P450s may be useful targets for the treatment of a number of different types of cancer. The classical view of vitamin A metabolism holds that all trans-RA, the most active metabolite is derived from conversion of retinol to retiπaldehyde to RA through two oxidation steps and that RA is further metabolized to the polar derivatives 4-OH RA and 4-oxo RA [Blaner, 1994; Napoli, 1995; Formelli, 1996; Napoli, 1996]. It is unknown whether the 4- oxo- and 4-OH- metabolites are simply intermediates in the RA catabolic pathway or whether they can also have specific activities which differ from those of all-frans RA and 9-c/s RA. Pijnappel et al. [Pijnappel, 1993] have shown that, in Xenopus, 4-oxo-RA can efficiently modulate positional specification in early embryos and exhibits a more potent ability to regulate Hoxb-9 and Hoxb-4 gene expression than all-frans RA. 4-oxo-RA has been found to bind to retinoic acid receptor-β (RAR-β) with affinity comparable to all-frans RA [Pijnappel, 1993] but poorly to RAR-γ [Reddy, 1992], suggesting that this metabolite exhibits some receptor selectivity. 4-oxo-RA also binds to cellular retinoic acid binding protein (CRABP) but with an affinity slightly lower than that of all-frans RA [Fiorella, 1993]. Takatsuka et al. [Takatsuka, 1996] have shown that growth inhibitory effects of RA correlate with RA metabolic activity but it is unknown whether there is a causal relationship between production of RA metabolites and growth inhibition. The asymmetric distribution of these metabolites in developing embryos suggests that they may be preferentially sequestered or generated by tissue specific isomerases [Creech Kraft, 1994]. The normal balance of these metabolites is dependent upon rate of formation from metabolic precursors, retinol and retinaidehyde [Leo, 1989], and rate of catabolism. Little is presently known about the enzymes involved in this metabolic scheme, in particular the catabolism of RA. The catabolism of RA is thought to be initiated by hydroxylation either at the C4-, or C18-position of the β-ionone ring of RA [Napoli, 1996]. The C4- hydroxylation step is mediated by cytochrome P450 activity, as judged by the ability of broad spectrum P450 inhibitors such as ketocoazole and iiarazole to block 4-hydroxylation [Williams, 1987, Van Wauwe, 1988; Van Wauwe, 1990, Van Wauwe, 1992, Wouters, 1992]. In certain tissues, including testis, skin and lung and in numerous cell lines, such as NIH3T3 fibroblasts, HL 60 myelomonocytic leukemic cells, F9 and P19 murine embryonal carcinoma cell lines and MCF7, RA metabolism can be induced by RA pretreatment [Frolik, 1979, Roberts, 1979a and b, Duell, 1992, Wouters, 1992] Studies involving targetted disruption of RAR genes in F9 cells suggest that RAR-α and RAR-γ isoforms may play a role in regulating the enzymes responsible for this increased metabolism [Boylan, 1995] The glucuronidation of RA is a significant metabolic step in the inactivation of RA [Blaner, 1994, Formelli, 1996] The elimination of RA may require oxidation to 4-oxo, followed by conjugation to form the 4-oxo all-trans RA glucuronide This is supported by studies in both primates and humans showing that the 4-oxo RA glucuronide is the only retinoid conjugate found in urine [Muindi, 1992, Muindi, 1994] The fact that following RA therapy, 4-oxo RA is not present or barely detectable in serum, suggests that oxidation may be the rate limiting step in this process It has recently been shown that 4-oxoretιnol (4-oxo-ROL) can have greater biological activity than retinol The 4-oxo-ROL is iπducible by RA in F9 and P19 mouse teratocarcinoma cells [Blumberg et al , 1995, Achkar et at , 1996] It is known that zebrafish fins regenerate through an RA sensitive process which utilizes many gene regulatory pathways involved in early vertebrate development [White, 1994, Akimenko, 1995a & b] As far as the inventors are aware, cytochrome P450s involved in the metabolism of RA in extrahepatic tissues remain uncharacteπzed at the molecular level SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present inventors are the first to identify, clone and sequence a gene (cDNA) encoding a retinoic acid-inducible retinoic acid-metabolizing protein including a cDNA which is RA-mducible in humans The protein has been found to be expressed in epithelia A cDNA has been isolated from zebra fish and sequenced A protein encoded by the cDNA has been expressed and shown to have the ability to hydroxylate retinoic acid at the 4 position of the β-ionone ring of retinoic acid The protein has been found to be mducible in epithelial cells exposed to retinoic acid A human cDNA encoding a protein with similar functionality has also been isolated and sequenced A cDNA has also been isolated from mouse and sequenced Homology between sequences from the three species, be they nucleic acids encoding the protein, or the ammo acid sequences of the proteins, has been found to be relatively high and all three proteins contain a heme-binding motif charactenstic of the group of proteins known as cytochrome P450s The overall homology between the ammo acid sequences of these newly obtained proteins and known cytochrome P450s is less than 30% Notwithstanding this relatively low overall homology, a higher degree of homology has been observed in the heme binding region for certain other P450s For example homology between the approximately 20 amino acids defining respective heme binding regions of the new zebrafish protein and CYP4503A12 is about 50% and between the new zebrafish protein and hCYTFAOH is 65%. The homology between the heme binding region itself of a protein of the present invention and another P450 could well be 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or even 100%. A first aspect of the present invention is thus a purified protein having the ability to oxidize a retinoid, and having an amino acid sequence which is at least about 30% conserved in relation to the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 or identified as SEQ ID NO:4 or identified as SEQ ID NO:32, or a functionally equivalent homoiog thereof. The amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 is of the protein, termed here "ZP450RAI", obtained from zebrafish. The amino acid sequence of the human protein is identified as SEQ ID NO:4 and the protein is referred to herein as "hP450RAI". The sequence of the mouse protein is identified as SEQ ID NO:32 and the protein is referred to herein as mP450RAI. Such a protein which is at least about 35% conserved in relation to the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 (zebrafish) or identified as SEQ ID NO:4 (human) or identified as SEQ ID NO:32 (mouse), or a functionally equivalent homoiog thereof, also forms part of the invention disclosed herein. Likewise, the degree of sequence conservation of a protein could be 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or of course 100% of either SEQ ID NO:2 or SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:32 or a functionally equivalent homoiog thereof, variants being possible so long as the ability of the native protein to oxidize a retinoid is retained. Also within the scope of the invention is any such protein which has the ability to hydroxylate retinoic acid at the 4 position of the β-ionone ring. Of course, conservatively substituted variants of proteins disclosed are within the scope of the present invention. A retinoid oxidized by a protein of the present invention may be a retinoic acid or a retinol and the protein may have the ability to oxidize the carbon occupying the 4-position of the β-ionone ring of the retinoid. In particular, all-frans retinoids may be metabolized by proteins of the present invention. In the context of this specification, the term "conserved" describes similarity between sequences. The degree of conservation between two sequences can be determined by optimally aligning the sequences for comparison, as is commonly known in the art, and comparing a position in the first sequence with a corresponding position in the second sequence. When the compared positions are occupied by the same nucleotide or amino acid, as the case may be, the two sequences are conserved at that position. The degree of conservation between two sequences is often expressed, as it is here, as a percentage representing the ratio of the number of matching positions in the two sequences to the total number of positions compared. The generic term "retinoids" means a group of compounds which includes retinoic acid, vitamin A (retinol) and a series of natural and synthetic derivatives that can exert profound effects on development and differentiation in a wide variety of systems. For purposes of this disclosure "retinoid" is also intended to encompass an equivalent thereof having the same functional characteristics which may be produced, for example, by computational chemistry. In another aspect, the present invention is an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein of the present invention. The present invention thus includes an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having an amino acid sequence which is at least about 30% conserved in relation to the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 or identified as SEQ ID NO:4 or identified as SEQ ID NO:32, or a functionally equivalent homoiog thereof, for example, or a nucleic acid strand capable of hybridizing with the nucleic acid molecule under stringent hybridization conditions. Of course, the degree of conservation of the protein which the nucleic acid encodes can be higher, that is, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or more. Particularly, the invention is an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the ability to oxidize a retinoid at the carbon occupying the 4-position of the β- ionone ring of the retinoid ring, and more particularly, having all-frans retinoic acid 4- hydroxylase activity. For the purposes of this invention, the term "isolated" refers to a nucleic acid that is substantially free of other cellular material or culture medium when produced by recombinant DNA techniques, or chemical precursors or other chemicals when produced by chemical synthesis. Cellular expression of preferred proteins of the present invention, preferred embodiments being described in more detail below, can for certain types of cells be induced by exposure of the ceils to a retinoid, particularly, retinoic acid. A protein of the present invention, when described as being a "retinoic acid inducibie protein", is a protein normally encoded by DNA of a cell and whose expression by that cell can be induced by exposure of the cell to retinoic acid. It will be appreciated that not every cell, even if it contains DNA encoding such a protein, possesses all the attributes necessary to express the protein on exposure to RA. Nucleotide sequences possessing promoter activity associated with the proteins have also been isolated and identified by the inventors. The human nucleotide sequence having promoter activity is identified as SEQ ID NO:33. The murine nucleotide sequence having promoter activity is identified as SEQ ID NO:34. The zebrafish nucleotide sequence having promoter activity is identified as SEQ ID NO:35. In fact, the invention includes genomic sequences for the human (SEQ ID Nos:36 and 37) and mouse (SEQ ID NO:38). In another respect, the present invention is thus a microbial cell containing and expressing heterologous DNA encoding a retinoic acid inducibie protein having all-frans retinoic acid 4-hydroxyiase activity. The sequence of a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can correspond to a part of a human genome or of a fish genome or of a mouse genome, or vary therefrom due to the degeneracy of the genetic code. More particularly, a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can be a DNA molecule having the sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:3 (zP450RAI) or SEQ ID NO:5 (hP450RAI), or SEQ ID NO:31 (mP450RAI), or the sequence can be one which varies from one of these sequences due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, or it can be a nucleic acid strand capable of hybridizing with at least one of these nucleic acid molecules under high or low stringency hybridization conditions. "Stringent hybridization conditions" takes on its common meaning to a person skilled in the art here. Appropriate stringency conditions which promote nucleic acid hybridization, for example, 6x sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) at about 45°C are known to those skilled in the art. The following examples are found in Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, NY (1989), 6.3.1-6.3.6: For 50 ml of a first suitable hybridization solution, mix together 24 ml formamide, 12 ml 20x SSC, 0.5 ml 2 M Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 0.5 ml 100x Denhardt's solution, 2.5 ml deionized H 2 0, 10 ml 50% dextran suifate, and 0.5 ml 10% SDS. A second suitable hybridization solution can be 1% crystalline BSA (fraction V), 1 mM EDTA, 0.5 M Na-HPO, pH 7.2, 7% SDS. The salt concentration in the wash step can be selected from a low stringency of about 2x SSC at 50°C to a high stringency of about 0.2x SSC at 50°C. Both of these wash solutions may contain 0.1% SDS. In addition, the temperature in the wash step can be increased from low stringency conditions at room temperature, about 22°C, to high stringency conditions, at about 65°C. The cited reference gives more detail, but appropriate wash stringency depends on degree of homology and length of probe. If homology is 100%, a high temperature (65°C to 75°C) may be used. If homology is low, lower wash temperatures must be used. However, if the probe is very short (<100bp), lower temperatures must be used even with 100% homology. In general, one starts washing at low temperatures (37 β C to 40°C), and raises the temperature by 3-5°C intervals until background is low enough not to be a major factor in autoradiography. Another aspect of this invention is isolated mRNA transcribed from DNA having a sequence encoding a protein of the present invention. In another aspect, the present invention is isolated DNA having a sequence according to a nucleotide sequence described above operatively linked in a recombinant cloning vector. In the context of this invention, the two-part term "operatively linked" means both that the regulatory sequence contains sufficient elements) to allow expression of the nucleic acid in question and that the nucleic acid is linked to the regulatory sequence appropriately. For example, the nucleic acid of the invention is in the appropriate orientation and in phase with an initiation codon. The present invention thus includes a stably transfected cell line which expresses a protein having the ability to hydroxyl ate retinoic acid at the 4 position of the β-ionone ring of retinoic acid. The invention includes a culture of cells transformed with a recombinant DNA molecule having a nucleic acid sequence which encodes a protein having the ability to hydroxylate retinoic acid at the 4 position of the β-ionone ring of retinoic acid. Another aspect of the present invention is a host cell that has been engineered genetically to produce a protein of the invention described above, the cell having incorporated expressibly therein heterologous DNA encoding said protein. The cell may be selected such that production of the protein is inducibie by exposing the ceil to a retinoid, preferably, retinoic acid The cell can be eukaryobc The present invention also includes a process for producing an above- descπbed protein of the invention Such a process includes * preparing a DNA fragment containing a nucleotide sequence which encodes the protein, incorporating the DNA fragment into an expression vector to obtain a recombinant DNA molecule which contains the DNA fragment and is capable of undergoing replication, transforming a host cell with the recombinant DNA molecule to produce a transformant which can express the protein, cultuπng the transformant to produce the protein, and recovering the protein from resulting cultured mixture The present invention includes an antibody to a protein of the invention Here, the term "antibody" is intended to include a Fab fragment and it can be a monoclonal antibody The antibody can be specifically raised to the ammo acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO 4, ι e , hP450RAI The present invention includes a purified protein for use in metabolizing retinoic acid in an organism or cell in need of such metabolizing Likewise, the invention includes a method for metabolizing retinoic acid in an organism or cell in need of retinoic acid metabolizing wherein the method includes administering a protein of the invention as described above The invention includes a method for inhibiting retinoic acid hydroxylation in an organism in need of such inhibition, compnsmg introducing into cells of the organism an effective amount of an aπtisense RNA or oligonucleotide substantially complementary to at least a portion of the sequence identified as SEQ ID NO 5 The organism can be human and/or the organism can be in need of treatment against a cancerous disease or a disease selected from the group consisting of cancer, actinic keratosis, oral leukoplakia. a secondary tumor of the head and/or neck, a non-small cell lung carcinoma, a basal cell carcinoma, acute promyelocytic leukemia, skin cancer, and a premaiignancy associated actinic keratosis, acne, psonasis and/or ichthyosis Such a method can include use of at least one delivery vehicle or technique selected from the set of viral vectors, microiπjection, electroporation, coprecipitation, liposomes, aerosol delivery and lavage The portion of the sequence may be 5 bases in length, between 5 and 50 bases in length, 5 and 30 bases in length between 10 and 20 bases in length, or another suitable length may be found The organism may be a human patient and the method can include treating the patient against a cancerous disease The invention also includes a method of inhibiting retinoic acid hydroxylation in an organism in need of such inhibition by administering to the organism an effective amount of an antibody, such antibodies being descnbed above A particularly useful antibody for the treatment of a human would be an antibody to the protein having the ammo acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO 4, or a portion thereof It would be advantageous to adapt such an antibody for administration to a human by "humanizing" the antibody, as is understood by those skilled in the art [Hozumi, 1993]. The invention includes a method for producing a desired protein, comprising providing a cell which can produce an endogenous protein in response to exposure to a retinoid; incorporating into DNA of the cell a DNA sequence encoding the desired protein at or near a site which is normally occupied by a DNA sequence encoding the endogenous protein; and exposing the cell to the retinoid so as to induce production of the desired protein. In another embodiment, the present invention is a kit for determining the presence of a protein having the ability to oxidize a retinoid, and having an amino acid sequence which is at least about 30% conserved in relation to the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 or identified as SEQ ID NO:32, or more likely for determining the presence of a protein (or peptide fragment thereof) having an amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:4, the human protein. The kit includes an antibody to the protein linked to a reporter system wherein the reporter system produces a detectable response when a predetermined amount of the protein and the antibody are bound together. In another aspect, the present invention is a kit for determining the presence of a nucleic acid encoding a protein of invention, or having the sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5 or SEQ ID NO:31 , or which varies from the sequence due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, or a nucleic acid strand capable of hybridizing with at least one said nucleic acid under stringent hybridization conditions. The kit includes a nucleic acid molecule capable of hybridizing with at least a portion of a said nucleic acid or nucleic acid strand under stringent conditions in which the nucleic acid molecule is linked to a reporter system wherein the reporter system produces a detectable response when a predetermined amount of the nucleic acid or nucleic acid strand and nucleic acid molecule are hybridized with each other. The molecule can be 5 bases in length or longer; between 5 and 50 bases in length, between 5 and 30 or 40 bases in length, or between 10 and 20 bases in length. Of course it might be possible to find a more suitable base length. The present invention includes an isolated DNA molecule having a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) SEQ ID NO:33; (b) SEQ ID NO:34; (c) SEQ ID NO:35; and (d) a fragment of (a), (b) or (c), wherein the DNA molecule possesses promoter activity. In a more particular aspect, the invetion includes a DNA molecule of one of the indicated sequences in which the DNA molecule includes the sequence TGAACT(N) X TGAACT, wherein x has a value of up to 5. This sequence is conserved in ail three of the nucleotide sequences identified as having promoter activity, particularly where x is 5. Even more particularly, the invention includes such a DNA molecule in which the sequence TCTGASSAAGKTAAC occurs downstream from the sequence TGAACT(N) X TGAACT. Even more particularly, the sequence includes the sequence AATT between the sequence TGAACT(N) X TGAACT and the sequence TCTGASSAAGKTAAC, the AATT having been found immediately downstream of the sequence TGAACT(N),TGAACT. It has been observed that there can be up to six nucleotides between the sequence TGAACT(N)„TGAACT and the sequence TCTGASSAAGKTAAC. There can also be the sequence CAATTAAAGA upstream of the sequence TGAACT(N),TGAACT. In a particular aspect, the nucleotide sequence having promoter activity includes the sequence CAATTAAAGATGAACTTTGGGTGAACTAATT and the sequence TATAA. Particularly, the sequence TATAA is downstream of the sequence TGAACT(N) X TGAACT, and more particularly, the sequence TATAA is downstream of the sequence TCTGASSAAGKTAAC and it can be spaced up to about 55 nucleotides downstream from the sequence TGAACT(N) X TGAACT. The invention includes a recombinant DNA having such a DNA sequence having promoter activity. The recombinant DNA can also include one or more structural genes. The structural gene(s) can encode cytochrome P450 protein(s). The invention includes an expression plasmid including such recombinant DNA and an isolated cell containing the recombinant DNA. The cell is usually eukaryotic. The invention includes a process for the production of recombinant protein(s), including steps of culturing a cell according to the invention containing recombinant DNA and recovering the protein(s) produced. The protein(s) can be a cytochrome P450, but is not necessarily so. The protein(s) can be a fusion protein. The invention further includes a method of screening drugs for their effect on activity of a retinoic acid inducibie protein, comprising exposing a purified said protein to a said drug and determining the effect on the activity. The activity can be hydroxylation of a retinoic acid, particularly all-frans retinoic acid. In particular, the activity can be hydroxylation of a retinoic acid, particularly all fraπs-retinoic acid, at the 4 position of the β-ionone ring thereof. The invention provides a method of screening drugs for their effect on activity of any protein having P450RAI activity of the present invention, particularly ascertaining the effect a potential drug has on the oxidation of retinoic acid, specifically all-frans retinoic acid. In yet another aspect, the invention includes a method of screening drugs for their effect on expression of a gene wherein the gene is inducibie by a retinoid, including the step of exposing a recombinant DNA described above to a potential drug and determining the effect on gene expression. This can include exposing the recombinant DNA in the presence of a said retinoid. The gene can be a reporter gene which does not metabolize retinoic acid. The method can include ascertaining the effect on transcription of the gene. The invention includes a method of screening a drug for its effect on the metabolism of a retinoid by a cytochrome P450 encoded by a nucleotide sequence of the invention which is incorporated into an expression system so as to be under control of a nucleotide sequence having native promoter activity for a said cytochrome P450, comprising: exposing the system to the drug in the presence of the retinoid so as to determine the effect of the drug on metabolism of the retinoid. The retinoid can be retinoic acid and it can be all frans-retinoic acid The invention includes any drug identified according to such a method as having the effect of modulating, and preferably reducing, the activity of a said protein or as having the effect of modulating, and preferably reducing, gene expression The invention includes a method for inhibiting retinoic acid metabolism in an organism in need of such inhibition, comprising administering to the organism an effective amount of a drug identified according to a method of the invention BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the steps used to isolate retinoid- regulated genes using differential display of mRNA Schematic representation of the steps involved in the isolation of retinoid-regulated genes using the differential display technique The cloned products isolated in step 6 can then be used for sequencing Northern blotting or screening of cDNA libraries P1 , P2 and P3 correspond to fragments from RA induced mRNAs P4 represents a PCR product from an mRNA which is down-regulated Figure 2(a) shows a polyacrylamide gel of PCR amplified mRNA in duplicate obtained using retinoic acid-treated fish (lanes 1 and 2) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO-) treated control fish (lanes 3 and 4) The arrow indicates a PCR amplified band present in the RA- treated samples and not observed in the controls Figure 2(b) shows the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO 1) of the 337 base pair PCR product isolated from the band (arrow) of Figure 2(a) The arrows indicate the nucleotide sequences where the upstream and downstream priming sites for differential display PCR amplification were located in the 3'- untranslated portion of zP450RAI Figure 2(c) shows an ammo acid sequence (SEQ ID NO 2) corresponding to cDNA (492 ammo acid open reading frame) The boxed residues indicate the heme-binding motif characteristic of cytochrome P450s Figure 2(d) shows ammo acid sequence comparisons between zP450RAI and several other cytochrome P450s (SEQ ID Nos 6,7,8,9,10) in the area of the conserved heme- bindmg motif found in the superfamily The cysteine, designated 0 in the figure which has been shown to be directly involved in heme-binding [Gotoh 1989] is surrounded by several highly conserved ammo acids Figure 3(a) shows Northern blot analysis of mRNAs obtained from regenerate tissue of RA-treated fish in lane 5, and controls (DMSO-treated fish) in lane 4, using a ZP450RAI cDNA probe Comparison to an RNA ladder (lane 1) shows the major ZP450RAI transcript to be in the 1 4-2 4 kb range Figure 3(b) shows localization of ZP450RAI transcripts in regenerating caudal fin tissue 72 hours post-amputation by whole mount in situ hybnzation (i) ZP450RAI transcripts were found to be uπdetectable in DMSO-treated regenerates The original plane of amputation is indicated by the white line with arrowhead m (soft mesenchyme) and r (bony rays) are labelled (II) In a sample obtained from an RA-treated fish, ZP450RAI transcripts, indicated by SUBSTITUTE SHEET th e black arrowhead, were found to be localized to a band of cells extending across the distal tip of the regenerate Lower levels of expression of zP450RAI were also evident in non- regenerate tissue at the proximal base of the isolated fin, as indicated by the black line with arrowhead The plane of amputation is indicated by the white line with arrowhead as in Figure 3(b)(1) (in) A histological section taken through the plane is indicated by the line (iv) A histological section of RA-treated fins post-hybridization is shown Localized expression of ZP450RAI was detected in a subset of epithelial cells (black arrowhead) which lie at the distal tip of the regenerate Basement membrane separating the dense blastemae and the wound epithelium is indicated by the grey arrowhead Figure 4 shows elution profiles of lipid soluble extracts obtained from treated media of pSG5-zP450RA! transfected COS-1 cells and pSG5 transfected control cells Figures 4(a) and 4(b) are plots of cpm vs fraction number for cells incubated with 575 pM [11 ,12-Η]RA for 4 hours and 24 hours respectively, pSG5-zP450RAI COS-1 cells ( — ) and control cells ( - ) Metabolism of [11 ,12- 3 H]RA to total aqueous soluble metabolites (% of total cpm) was measured using ahquots of the aqueous soluble extract subjected to β-scmtillation counting See insets of Figures 4(a) and (b) Figures 4(c) and 4(d) are plots of absorbaπce vs retention time for cells incubated with 1 μM RA for 4 and 24 hours, respectively Peaks observed in zP450RAI transfected cell are shaded black The region of the chromatogram from 4 to 6 mm has been expanded (see insets of Figures 4(c) and (d)) In cells transfected with ZP450RAI cDNA, the generation of peaks corresponding to 4-oxo RA and 4-OH RA was observed Figure 5 shows results obtained with human cell lines probed with a α-[ 32 P]-dATP labeled probe having the sequence identified as SEQ ID NO 1 1 HEK293 EL-E, HL-60, MCF10A, LC-T, SK-LC6, and MCF7 (+) indicates pretreatmeπt with 10 6 M RA and (-) indicates no RA pretreatment The blot was also probed with hGAPDH to control for RNA loading of the gel shown in the bottom panel Figure 6 is similar to Figure 5 for the cell lines U937 and HepG2 Figure 7 is similar to Figure 5 for the NT2 cell line Figure 8 is similar to Figure 5 for a normal NB4 cell line (first two lanes) and three individually derived retinoic acid resistant NB4 derivative cell lines Figure 9 shows the murine cDNA ammo acid sequence (top row, SEQ ID NO 32) aligned with the human P450RAI ammo acid sequence (middle row, SEQ ID NO 4) and the zebrafish cDNA ammo acid sequence (bottom row SEQ ID NO 2) Figure 10(a) shows elution profiles of lipid soluble extracts obtained from treated media of pSG5-hP450RAI transfected COS-1 cells and pSG5 transfected control cells Plots of cpm vs fraction number for cells incubated with [11 ,12- 3 H]RA for 24 hours of pSG5- hP450RAI COS-1 cells (— ) and control cells (— ) are shown Figure 10(b) shows measurement of ahquots of the aqueous soluble extract subjected to β-scintillahon counting taken to determine metabolism of [1 1 ,12- 3 H]RA to total aqueous soluble metabolites Figure 10(c) shows plots of absorbance vs retention time for hP450RAI transfected cell (— ) and SUBSTITUTE SHEET control cells ( — ) cells incubated with 1 μM RA for 24 hours The inset is the region around 10 minutes, expanded for clarity Figure 11 (a) shows 4-oxo-RA production of pSG5-hP450RAI transfected COS- 1 cells and pSG5 transfected control cells Figure 11 (b) shows 4-OH-RA production of pSG5-hP450RAI transfected COS- 1 cells and pSG5 transfected control cells Figure 1 1 (c) shows formation of aqueous soluble metabolites of pSG5- hP450RAI transfected COS-1 cells and pSG5 transfected control cells Figure 1 1 (d) shows unmetabolized RA of pSG5-hP450RAI transfected COS-1 cells and pSG5 transfected control cells Figure 12(a) shows elution profiles of lipid soluble extracts obtained from media of MCF10A cells exposed to RA and unexposed MCF10A control cells Plots of cpm vs fraction number for cells incubated with [1 1 ,12- 3 H]RA for 24 hours of RA-induced MCF10A cells ( — ) and control ( — ) are shown Figure 12(b) shows elution profiles of lipid soluble extracts obtained from treated media of MCF7 cells exposed to RA and unexposed MCF7 control cells Plots of cpm vs fraction number for cells incubated with [1 1 ,12- 3 H]RA for 24 hours of RA-induced MCF7 cells (— ) and control (— ) are shown Figure 12(c) shows the total aqueous soluble metabolites measured using ahquots of the aqueous soluble extracts of the cell lines described in Figures 12(a) and (b) subjected to β-sciπtillation counting The first two bars are for unexposed MCF7 cells and MCF7 ceils exposed to RA, respectively The third and fourth bars are for unexposed MCF10A cells and MCF10A cells exposed to RA, respectively Figure 13(a) shows elution profiles of iipid soluble extracts obtained from microsomal preparations after incubation with radiolabelled RA for ninety minutes, as described in Example 7 Plots of dpm vs fraction number for HeLa P microsomes (■,▲) and HeLa RAI microsomes (▼,♦) Figure 13(b) shows fractions 5 to 15 of Figure 13(a) on a larger scale Figure 14(a) shows SDS-PAGE of the GST-hP450RAI fusion protein Lane 1 shows the whole cell lysate of E coli expressing the plasmid containing the fusion protein without induction Lane 2 shows the whole cell lysate of E coli expressing the plasmid containing the fusion protein after induction with 0 1 mM IPTG Figure 14(b) shows SDS-PAGE of the purified GST-hP450RAI fusion protein after induction with 0 1 mM IPTG, with molecular weight markers at the right hand side indicating the fusion protein to have a molecular weight of about 75 kDa Figure 15 shows promoter sequences of human, mouse and zebrafish P450RAI The boxed regions show highly conserved regions while the arrows indicate spaced apart consensus sequences of RAREs Figure 16 shows relative luciferase activity induced in cells containing a luciferase vector into which was cloned a portion of the putative promoter for mP450RAI SUBSTITUTE SHEET Luciferase activity was measured in ceil extract supernatants from cells transfected with 3 concentrations of expression vectors comprising cDNAs encoding RXRα and RARγ (100 ng, 500 ng, and 1 μg) along with a luciferase-based reporter gene including either the sense or antisence promoter sequence, or no promoter sequence, grown in presence and absence of RA Figure 17 shows inhibition of P450RAI mRNA in MCF7 cells by 4-hydroxy- phenylretinamide (4-HPR) Cells were treated for twelve hours with the indicated concentrations of all-trans retinoic acid (a/RA) and 4-HPR Total RNA was extracted using TRIzol, and, following electrophoresis, Northern blotting was performed as described The nitrocellulose was probed with radiolabelled P450RAI then GAPDH Figure 18 shows expression of cytochrome P450RAI in MCF7 cells by northern blot analysis over time, after administration of all-frans retinoic acid Figure 19 shows expression of cytochrome P450RAI in MCF7 cells by northern blot analysis over time, after administration of all-frans retinoic acid alone, and in the presence of all-frans retinoic acid and ketoconazole Figure 20 shows expression of cytochrome P450RAI in MCF7 cells by northern blot analysis over time, after administration of all-frans retinoic acid and after administration of Am580 DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 outlines the steps used to isolate retinoid-regulated genes using differential display of mRNA The cloned products isolated in step 6 of Figure 1 were used for sequencing and screening of Danio reno (D reno) cDNA libraries P1 , P2 and P3 correspond to fragments from RA induced mRNAs P4 is a PCR product from a down-regulated mRNA Details of procedures followed in determination of gene sequences described herein follow Danio reno stocks D reno were kept at 28 5 C C in 40 L tanks with 25-30 fish per tank on a 14 hour iιght-10 hour dark cycle Tap water was conditioned by the addition of 10 ml of Water Conditioner (Sera Aqutan) and 10 ml of 250 g/L Aquarium Salt (Nutra Fin) per 20 L 2-3 L of water was changed daily Amputation of fins was carried out following anaesthetizatioπ of the fish in a solution of 0.2% ethyl-m-amiπobenzoate methanesulfonic acid (ICN) in conditioned water Retinoic acid treatment was performed by adding all-frans RA, to a final concentration of 10 "6 M, directly into the tank water two days following amputation Both control- and RA- treated fish were kept in the dark during the experiments Differential Display of mRNAs Differential mRNA display was performed essentially as described by Liang and Pardee (1992) with appropriate modifications as described herein Regenerating tissues were collected 3 days post-amputation (24 hours post-RA addition) and quick frozen in liquid - 13a - nitrogen. Poly (A) * RNA was isolated using the Micro Fast-Track kit. Duplicate independent reverse transcription reactions were performed on the isolated poly(A) + RNA from both the treated and untreated samples for each specific 3' poly-T primer used (5 -T. 2 VN-3'). The symbol "V" represents A or C or G and not Tor U. Several combinations of the 3' poly-T primers given in the first column of Table 1 and the upstream primers given in the second column were utilized for PCR amplification. For each reaction 0.1 μg poly(A) * RNA was reverse SUBSTIT ■ jr f • « SHEET - 14 - transcribed in a 20 μl reaction volume containing 300U Superscript Reverse Transcπptase (Gibco/BRL), 1X Buffer, 20 μM each dGTP, dATP, dCTP and dTTP, 10 μM dithiothreitol (DTT) and 5 pmol of 5'-T 12 VN-3' primer The reactions were mixed and incubated at 35°C for 60 minutes, followed by 5 minutes at 95°C. PCR amplification was performed in a Perkin Elmer Cetus PCR machine as follows- 1 μl cDNA synthesis reaction, 5U Taqf DNA polymerase (Gibco/BRL), 1X PCR Buffer, 2 μM each dGTP, dATP, dCTP and dTTP, 10 μCi α-[ 35 S]dATP (red/vue, Amersham) 1.2 mM MgCI 2 , 0.5 μM upstream primer and 0.5 μM of the corresponding 5'-T 12 VN-3' pnmer. PCR conditions were as follows: 1 cycle, 94°C for 5 minutes; 40 cycles, 94°C for 30 seconds, 42°C for 1 minute, 72°C for 30 seconds; followed by a final extension of 5 minutes at 72 D C 4 μl of the PCR reactions were loaded onto a 6% non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel and electrophoresed at 60 watts, 45°C The gel was dried and exposed for 12 to 24 hours on Kodak XAR film at room temperature. In Table 1 , the sequences in the first column are identified as SEQ ID NOs: 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 , 22 and 23, respectively. The sequences in the second column are identified as SEQ ID NOs: 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28, respectively. Gel Purification and Reamplification Bands demonstrating reproducible differential amplifications (see Figure 2a) were found for the upstream-downstream primer combination of 5'-TGCCAGTGGA-3'- poly-T primer, 5'-TTT TTT TTT TTT AG-3' (SEQ ID NOs: 26 and 16, respectively). These bands were excised from the gel by overlaying the X-ray film and cutting out the corresponding piece of dried gel and filter paper. The PCR product corresponding to a fragment of the protein described herein was isolated from the band in Figure 2(a). Samples were placed in 100 μl of nuclease free water, incubated for 10 minutes at room temperature, then boiled for 15 minutes. The supernatant was recovered following a 15 minute centrifugation at 12,000 x g. - 15 - In order to facilitate cloning of the PCR products, several changes were made to the reactions Primers which included Eagl restriction endonuclease sites were used in the reamphfication Based on results obtained in the differential display analysis, the upstream 5'- TGCCAGTGGA-3' primer was replaced by 5'-GTAGCGGCCGCTGCCAGTGGA-3' (SEQ ID NO 29) and the downstream poly-T primer, 5'-TTT TTT TTT TTT AG-3', was replaced by 5'- GTAGCGGCCGCT 1? -3' (SEQ ID NO 30) In addition, the reaction volume was increased to 40 μl, isotope was omitted and 20 as opposed to 40 cycles were performed 5 μl aliquots of the PCR reactions were removed and the products were visualized by electrophoresis in a 1 % agarose gel followed by ethidium bromide staining and UV illumination Cloning PCR Products The reamphfied products were purified by phenol/chloroform extraction followed by ethanol precipitation The resulting DNA pellet was resuspended in 17 μi of sterile water and digested at 37°C for 1 hour by the inclusion of 10U Eagl (New England Biolabs), and 1X NEB 3 buffer Eagl restriction endonuclease was heat inactivated by incubation at 65°C for 20 minutes. pBluescnpt SK * vector was prepared by digestion with Eagl, followed by dephosphorylation using calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase (CAP, Promega) Restriction digests were purified using the GeneClean II Kit (Bio 101) following electrophoresis in a 1% agarose gel In a total ligation volume of 10 μl, 2 μl of digested PCR product, 1 μl digested SK\ 1 U T4 DNA ligase (Gibco/BRL) and 1X buffer were incubated at 16°C overnight E. coli bacterial strain JM109 was transformed with 1 μl of the ligation product using a BioRad Gene Pulser, then plated on LB+ampicillin plates and incubated overnight at 37°C Colony Selection Individual colonies were transferred in duplicate to fresh LB plates and grown overnight at 37°C Colonies were tranferred to nitrocellulose membrane and denatured in a solution of 1.5M NaCl, 0 5M NaOH for 5 minutes, neutralized in 1.5M NaCl, 0.5M Tris-HCl, pH 8.0 for 5 minutes, followed by two 5 minute washes in 2X SSC. Membranes were then UV cross-linked (Stratalinker UV Crosslmker, Stratagene) Prehybπdization and hybridization were performed using Quickhyb (Stratagene) following the manufacturer's directions Each colony lift was probed with the corresponding PCR product isolated during the gel reamphfication and purification step <x-[ 32 P]-dATP labelled probes were generated using the Prime-It Kit II (Stratagene) Subsequent to hybridization, filters were washed twice for 20 minutes in 2X SSC, 0 1% SDS solution at room temperature and exposed to Kodak X-omat autoradiography film overnight at -70°C Positive colonies were selected from the duplicate plates, grown overnight in LB+ampicillin (100 μg/ml) and plasmid DNA isolated using the Qiaprep Spin Plasmid Kit (Qiagen) Clones were sequenced using the T7 Sequencing Kit (Pharmacia Biotech) Sequence comparisons were generated using the GeneWorks software package (Intelligenetics) - 16 - Screening of a D. rerio cDNA Library A random primed D. rerio 6-18 hour embryo cDNA library constructed in Uni- ZAP II (Stratagene) was produced. 4.5 x 10 5 independent pfu were screened using the random primed, α-[ 32 P]-dATP labelled 337 bp PCR fragment isolated by mRNA differential display as a probe. Filters were prehybridized for 1 -4 hours at 42°C in 50% formamide, 5X SSPE, 1X Denhardt's solution, 0.2 mg/ml denatured salmon sperm DNA. Hybridization was performed at 42°C by adding denatured probe to the prehybridization solution. Filters were washed two times for 20 minutes in 2X SSC, 0.05% SDS at room temperature and exposed to Kodak XAR film overnight at -70°C. Positive plaques were picked into 500 μl SM buffer and subjected to additional rounds of rescreening until purified. Positive plaques were exposed to the in vivo excision protocol following the manufacturer's directions (Stratagene). pBluescript containing colonies were plated onto LB+amp plates and grown overnight at 37°C. Sequence data were generated using the T7 Sequencing Kit (Pharmacia) and analysed using the GeneWorks software package (Intelligenetics). Whole Mount in situ hybridization RA- and DMSO-treated regenerates were isolated 72 hours post-amputation (24 hours post RA/DMSO addition), washed in PBS and prepared for whole mount in situ hybridization. In situ hybridizations were undertaken as previously described [White, 1994]. Northern Blot Analysis Fish were allowed to regenerate their caudal fins for 72 hours. At 48 hours 10 '6 M all-frans RA in DMSO vehicle or DMSO alone was added directly to the tank water. mRNA was prepared using the Micro Fast-Track mRNA isolation kit (Invitrogen, CA) according to the manufacturer's directions. 3.0-5.0 μg poly A * RNA was electrophoresed, blotted and probed using a previously described method [White, 1994] with the full length ZP450RAI cDNA obtained as described below. Ethidium bromide stained agarose gel showed that equivalent amounts of mRNA were used in the blotting experiments. See lanes 2 and 3 of Figure 3(a). HPLC Analysis Media from transfected cells incubated with 575 pM [11 ,12- 3 H]RA (Figures 4(a) and 4(b)) or 1 μM RA (Figures 4(c) and 4(d)) for either 4 hrs (Figures 4 (a) and 4(c)) or 24 hrs (Figures 4(b) and 4(d)) were acidified with 0.1% acetic acid. Lipid soluble metabolites were separated from aqueous soluble metabolites using a total lipid extraction of the medium [Bligh, 1957]. Metabolism of [11 ,12- 3 H]RA to total aqueous soluble metabolites was measured using aliquots of the aqueous soluble extract subjected to β-scintillation counting (See the insets of Figures 4(a) and 4(b)). Lipid soluble extracts were evaporated to dryness under a stream of nitrogen and resuspended in 93.5/5/1/0.5 hexane/isopropanol/methanol/acetic acid (H/I/M/AA). Metabolites were separated by HPLC using a Zorbax-SIL (3μ, 8 x 0.62 cm) column eluted with a solvent system of 93.5/5/1/0.5 H/I/M/AA at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. - 17 - EXAMPLE 1 Characterization of a novel cytochrome P450 Transcripts present in fin tissue regenerating in the presence or absence of RA were compared using the differential display PCR technique developed by Liang and Pardee [Liang, 1992] (Fig 2(a). One of the differential display products which exhibited a dependence on the presence of RA for its expression, indicated by the arrow in Figure 2(a), was isolated and sequenced. The sequence is identified as SEQ ID NO:1 and is also shown in Figure 2(b). The amino acid sequence corresponding to the cDNA, termed here, "ZP450RAI", is shown in Figure 2(c) and identified as SEQ ID NO:2. BLAST search analyses revealed sequence homology between zP450RAI and multiple members of the cytochrome P450 superfamily. Alignments between zP450RAI cDNA deduced amino acid sequence and those of other cytochrome P450s indicated that ZP450RAI exhibited less than 30% overall amino acid identity with members of previously defined subfamilies [Nelson, 1993]. ZP450RAI contains many of the structural motifs which are common to cytochrome P450 family members, including the heme- binding domain located in the C-terminal portion of the protein. See Figure 2(d). The P450RAI family has been designated "CYP26". EXAMPLE 2 Cell specific induction of ZP450RAI by all-trans RA Northern blot analysis of mRNAs expressed in regenerate tissue isolated from control (dimethyl sulfoxide-treated) and RA-treated fish was performed with a full-length zP450RAI cDNA probe. ZP450RAI transcripts were not detectable in regenerate tissue from control fish (Figure 3(a), lane 4) but were very noticeably present in tissues isolated from fish exposed to RA for 24 hours (Figure 3(a), lane 5). Whole mount in situ hybridization was used to determine the cellular localization of ZP450RAI expression in regenerating fin tissue. Figure 3(b) shows regenerating fins from control and RA-treated fish. ZP450RAI transcripts are not detectable in control fin tissue (Figure 3(b)(i)). In regenerating tissue from RA-treated fish, ZP450RAI transcripts were found to be abundant in a layer of epithelial cells extending across the distal edge of the wound epithelium as indicated by the black arrowhead in Figure 3(b)(ii). Some low level staining was also observed in inter-ray tissue as indicated by the black line with arrowhead in Figure 3(b)(ii). A histological section of an RA-treated fin, taken along the line shown in Figure 3(b)(iii), is shown in Figure 3(b)(iv). The section indicates that cells expressing ZP450RAI are located deep within the epithelial layer at the distal tip of the blastemal mesenchyme. Whole mount in situ hybridization thus illustrates the usefulness of nucleic acid probes of the invention for the localization of cytochrome P450RAI mRNA in whole tissue. - 18 - EXAMPLE 3 Metabolism of all-frans RA by ZP450RAI transfected cells Retinoic acid as a substrate of ZP450RAI was studied. The full-length zebrafish ZP450RAI cDNA was cloned into the eukaryotic expression vector pSG5 [Green, 1988], COS-1 cells were transiently transfected with either pSG5 or pSG5-zP450RAI and then incubated with either picomolar concentrations of [11 ,12- 3 H]all-fraπs-RA or micromolar concentrations of non-radioactive all-frans-RA. COS-1 cells are an African green monkey kidney "fibroblast-iike" cell line. zP450RAI expression in COS-1 cells promoted the rapid conversion of RA into both lipid- and aqueous-soluble metabolites. See Figures 4(a) and 4(b). Fractions of total lipid extracts of transfected cells were initially separated by normal-phase HPLC on Zorbax-SIL. Comparison between extracts from pSG5 and pSG5-zP450RAI- transfected cells indicated that ZP450RAI significantly increased RA metabolism. Incubation of zP450RAI-transfected cells with 575 pM [11 ,12- 3 H]all-frans-RA for either 4 or 24 hours resulted in accumulation of RA metabolites, one of which co-migrated on a column with synthetic standards 4-OH-RA and 18-OH-RA, and a second slightly less polar metabolite which co- migrated with 4-oxo-RA standard (Figures 4(a) and 4(b)). Rechromatography of RA metabolites using other HPLC systems confirmed the identity of these two metabolites as 4- OH-RA and 4-oxo-RA (Table 2). It is possible that the aqueous-soluble radioactivity represents glucuronides of RA metabolites or glucuronides of RA itself. Rapid glucuronidation of 4- and 18-hydroxy-RA in mammalian cell extracts has been reported by others [Wouters, 1992; Takatsuka, 1996]. Table 2 Chromatographic properties of RA metabolites. Metabolite Retention Time (min^ Z-Sil a Z-CN" Z-ODS c RA (std) 2.57 4.47 19.92 4-oxo-RA (std) 4.79 11.33 11.73 4-OH-RA (std) 5.17 9.65 12.65 18-OH-RA fstd^ 5.06 9.53 14.03 Peak l (RA) 2.57 4.48 19.73 Peak 2 (4-oxo-RA) 4.87 11.38 11.57 Peak 3 (4-OH-RAϊ 5.16 9.68 12.68 "HPLC conditions: Zorbax-SIL column eluted with 93.5/5/1/0.5 H/I/M/AA (1 ml/min) "HPLC conditions: Zorbax-CN column eluted with 93.5/5/1/0.5 H/I/M/A A (1 ml/min) ΗPLC conditions: Zorbax-ODS column eluted with a 20 min linear gradient with solvent containing 10 mM ammonium acetate which ranged from 55.45 to 5.95 A similar pattern of zP450RAI-dependent metabolism was also observed using a much higher RA concentration (1 μM). zP450RAI-transfected COS-1 cells incubated for 4 or 24 hours with 1 μM RA generated two closely-running peaks which were discernible in a 350nm HPLC trace shown in Figures 4(c) and 4(d), but which were essentially undetectable in control pSG5-transfected cells (See the insets of Figures 4(c) and 4(d)). These peaks co-migrated with those of 4-oxo-RA and 4-OH-RA standards, respectively. Diode array spectrophotometric - 19 - detection of the zP450RAI-generated peaks showed that the spectral properties of the two metabolite peaks matched the standard retinoids [In hexane-based solvents: 4-OH-RA, λ m „=350nm; 4-oxo-RA, λ max =355nm; in methanol-based solvents: 4-OH-RA, λ m „=340nm; 4- oxo-RA, λ mω =360nm], The invention thus includes a retinoic acid metabolizing protein belonging to the family of cytochrome P450s, designated CYP26, and generation of the protein in zebrafish caudal fin wound epithelium being induced in response to RA treatment. While RA metabolizing activity has previously been detected in epithelial tissues of several species [Frolik, 1979; Roberts, 1979; Wouters, 1992; Duell, 1992], an actual enzyme responsible for such activity has heretofore been unknown. ZP450RAI is up-regulated by RA treatment and apparently this up-regulation occurs in a specific set of cells in the wound epithelium of regenerating zebrafish caudal fins. It might be of relevance to the regulation of the generation of this enzyme in vivo that experiments with F9 cells where RARs have been selectively ablated indicate that RAR-α and RAR-γ might have a role in the regulation of RA metabolism [Boylan, 1995]. The expression of both RAR-α and RAR-γ in the regenerating caudal fin is consistent with the suggestion that they may be involved in the regulation of P450RAI expression by RA [White, 1994]. EXAMPLE 4 Cloning of Human P450RAI The amino acid sequence corresponding to the DNA of zebrafish P450RAI (ZP450RAI) (SEQ ID NO:2) was used to search an express sequence tag (EST) database. A commercially available EST clone (SEQ ID NO:11) having a high degree of homology with a C- terminal portion of the ZP450RAI (from Glu 292 to Phe 410 of SEQ ID NO:2) was purchased (Research Genetics, Huntsville, AL). The clone is reportedly from a human infant brain cDNA library (Bento Soares and M. Fatima Bonaldo) and is apparently otherwise unpublished. The purchased clone was sequenced using the T7 sequencing kit (Pharmacia) and sequence data was generated using the Geneworks Software Package (Intelligenetics). A cDNA library generated from an NT2 cell line treated with retinoic acid is commercially available (Stratagene, cat#939231) and this product was used for further studies. The cDNA library was probed with a nucleic acid having a sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:11. Eleven positively hybridizing clones were isolated and purified according to the manufacturer's directions. Sequence data for these clones were generated using the T7 Sequencing Kit (Pharmacia) and analyzed using the Geneworks package (Intelligenetics). The human DNA sequence is identified as SEQ ID NO:5 and the corresponding polypeptide as SEQ ID NO:4. - 20 - EXAMPLE 5 Isolating Mouse P450RAI It has been found by the present inventors (results not shown) that RA can induce mRNA transcripts which cross hybridize with a hP450RAI cDNA probe in either of the F9 and P19 mouse cell lines having 4-hydroxyiase activity, as described by Blumberg et al. [Blumberg et al., 1995; Achkar era/., 1996]. A retinoic acid-treated P19 teratocarcinoma cDNA library in lambda Unizap XR (Stratagene) was screened using 32 P-labelled full length human P450RAI as a probe Nitrocellulose filters were hybridized overnight at 37°C in a buffer containing 50% formamide, 1x Denhardt's, 5x SSPE, 0.1% SDS, and 100 μg/ml boiled salmon sperm DNA, and washed in 2x SSC, 0 1% SDS for 2x 15 minutes at room temperature followed by 20 minutes at 37°C. From a total of 600,000 plaque forming units of phage, 72 positives were isolated Of these, 18 were purified as described above, and one was found to have a full-length cDNA insert 1 7 kb in length homologous to the full-length human clone previously isolated The muπne DNA sequence is identified as SEQ ID NO:31 and the corresponding polypeptide as SEQ ID NO.32 Figure 9 shows aligned portions of the ammo acid sequence of the mouse protein (SEQ ID NO:32) with those of the human protein (SEQ ID N0 4) and the zebrafish protein (SEQ ID NO:2) EXAMPLE 6 Transient Tranfection Analysis COS-1 cells were subcultured 20 hours pnor to transfection which was carried out according to the standard DEAE-dextran method [Sambrook, 1989, Maniatis, 1982] Cells were transfected with pE-AR (adrenodoxin expression vector, 1 μg/P100 plate) and pE-ADX (adrenodoxm reductase expression vector, 1 μg/P100 plate) together with 3 μg per plate of either pSG5 (control) or hP450RAI-pSG5 (experimental) [11 ,12- 3 H]all-frans retinoic acid (60,000 cpm per plate) was added 24 hours after transfection Analyses were carried out as described in Example 3 and results obtained are shown in Figures 10 and 11(a) to 11(d). As indicated in the Figures, hP450RAI expression in COS-1 cells promoted conversion of RA into 4-OH-RA and 4-oxo-RA Total amounts of 4-oxo-RA and 4-OH-RA produced in the transfected cells in comparison to amounts produced in the control cells are shown in Figures 11 (a) and (b), respectively. Overall, greater amounts of aqueous soluble metabolites were produced in the transfected cells (Figure 11 (c)) and greater amounts of unmetabolized RA were found in control cells (Figure 11 (d)). The clone sequence (SEQ ID N0 11) was prepared as a 32 [P]-dATP labeled probe to study the inducibility of hP450RAI by RA in several cell lines: HEK293, EL-E, HL-60; MCF10A, LC-T, SK-LC6, MCF7; U937; HepG2; NT2 (See Figures 5 to 7) As can be seen, a variety of expression patterns were observed The SK-LC6 human lung (epithelial) line appeared to constitutively express corresponding mRNA There was apparently some increase in expression in the HEK293 (human embryonic kidney), LC-T (human lung epithelial), HepG2 - 21 - (human liver, epithelial in morphology), NT2 (pluripotent human embryonic carcinoma) and U937 (human monomyelocytes) cell lines in response to addition of RA. There was a large dependence on exposure to RA in the MCF7 (human breast carcinoma (epithelial)) cell line. Some cell lines showed no expression in the absence or presence of RA: EL-E; HL-60 and MCF10A. The 32 [P]-dATP labeled probe was also used to study hP450RAI mRNA expression in a human acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line. Experiments were carried out using the NB4 cell line, isolated from a human acute promyelocytic leukemia patient, and three retinoic acid resistant cell lines were independently derived from NB4. Results are shown in Figure 8. As can be seen, the normal cells expressed hP450RAI mRNA after treatment with 10 " *M RA, while such expression appeared to be absent for the other cell lines both in the absence and presence of RA. Analysis of metabolites of MCF10A and MCF7 cell lines exposed to RA was carried out, MCF10A cells having displayed no expression of mRNA and latter having displayed a large dependence of mRNA expression on exposure to RA. The results are shown in Figures 12(a) to 12(c). Consistent with the results shown in Figure 5, the results shown in Figure 12(a) indicate there was little difference in the lipid soluble activity profiles of the MCF10A cell line exposed to RA and the control. The last two bars of Figure 12 (c) indicate that total aqueous soluble metabolites were about the same for both the induced and control MCF10A cells. As indicated in Figure 12(b), the MCF7 cell line exposed to RA had an elution profile which indicated significantly greater concentrations of 4-OH-RA and 4-oxo-RA than the same cell line not exposed to RA. Figure 12(c) indicates that the amount of total aqueous soluble metabolites of the MCF7 cells exposed to RA was much greater than that for the control cells. Again, these results are consistent with those obtained in the Northern blot analysis shown in Figure 5 for the MCF7 cell line. EXAMPLE 7 Generation of a Stable Cell Line using Human P450RAI: HeLa Cells Expressing Sense Construct For expression in HeLa ceils, the human cytochrome P450RAI cDNA (SEQ ID NO:5) was inserted into the Xhol-NotI sites of the multiple cloning site of the Epstein-Barr virus- based vector pCEBV7 [Wilson, 1995]. Stable transfection was performed via the calcium phosphate method [Sambrook, 1989]. Prior to the day of transfection, HeLa cells were seeded at 3.0 X 10 6 cells per 100 mm plate. Approximately 12 μg of DNA were transfected per plate and triplicate plates were employed for the transfection. Selection using hygromycin B began three days after the transfection and continued for approximately three weeks until the development of foci on the plates. The concentration of hygromycin B (100 μg/ml) was chosen for selection of cells with high expression of the construct. A killing curve was determined prior to selection which showed that 50 μg/ml of hygromycin was sufficient to kill 50% of the cells in 4 - 22 - days. Confirmation of the selected HeLa cells expressing the sense construct was determined by Northern blot analysis and probing with full length hP450RAI cDNA (data not shown). Microsomes were prepared from HeLa cells transfected with the pCEBV7 alone (HeLa P) or from the HeLa cells expressing the P450RAI (HeLa RAI) and exposed to radiolabelled RA for ninety minutes. The results are shown in Figures 13(a) and 13(b), in which it can be seen that when microsomes prepared from these cells are incubated with RA, only those from HeLa RAI showed any conversion of retinoic acid to 4-hydroxy-retinoic acid or 4- oxo-retinoic acid . EXAMPLE 8 Expressing a Fusion Protein Containing Human P450RAI The cDNA of hP450RAI was inserted into the GST gene fusion vector, pGEX3X using the Sma1 site. The construct generated lacked 177 bp of the N-terminal portion of the hP450RAI cDNA, which encodes a hydrophobic region characteristic of a signal sequence. E. coli (JM109) cells were used for expression of vectors and construct. After screening for positive colonies expressing the construct in the proper orientation, expression of the fusion protein was carried out according to the manual provided by Pharmacia. GST-hP450RAI fusion protein was generated via electroporation of E.coli (JM109) cells with the construct, followed by induction of gene expression. Expression of the fusion protein is under the control of the tac promoter which is inducibie by the lactose analog, isopropylbeta-thiogalactoside (IPTG). Cultures were grown overnight in LB-ampicillin broth. The following day, approximately 1 :100 dilution factor of the overnight culture was transferred to a fresh tube containing LB-ampicillin broth. The culture was allowed to grow for three hours and induced with IPTG to a final concentration of 0.1 mM for an additional 2.5 hours. After induction, the culture was centrifuged at 7,700x g for 10 minutes at 4°C to sediment the cells. The pellet was resuspended in a ratio of 50μl of culture/ml of ice-cold 1X PBS. The cells were lysed with a sonicator at 30 second intervals while submerged in ice-water. Triton X-100 was added to the lysed cells to a final concentration of 1% and the mixture was incubated for 30 minutes at 4°C to allow solubilization. The suspension was subjected to centrifugation at 12,000x g for 10 minutes at 4"C. Binding of the GST portion of the fusion protein to glutathione beads was used to purify the protein. 2 ml of a 50% slurry of reduced glutathione beads equilibrated with 1 X PBS were used per 100 ml of sonicate mixture from above. After the addition of the beads, the material was gently agitated for 30 minutes at room temperature to allow binding of the fusion protein to the beads. The suspension was centrifuged at 500 x g for 5 minutes to separate glutathione beads with bound fusion protein from other cellular components. The glutathione beads were washed three times with cold PBS to remove non-specifically bound material. The fusion protein was eluted from the glutathione beads using an elution buffer containing reduced glutathione. Approximately 1.0 ml of glutathione elution buffer per - 23 - 100 ml of sonicate suspension was used. The bound glutathione beads were allowed to mix at room temperature for 10 minutes to elute the fusion protein. Centrifugation of the eluted beads was performed at 500 x g for 5 minutes. Both the elution and centrifugation were performed three times. Figures 14(a) and (b) show the results of SDS-PAGE of the GST-hP450RAI fusion protein. It is generally possible to carry out some functional tests with the GST protein covalently attached to the protein of interest, but removal is preferred for the production of antibodies. The GST-hP450RAI fusion protein contains a site recognized by factor Xa. Treatment of the eluted fusion protein with factor Xa yields both the GST protein and hP450RAI protein. Alternatively, it is possible to cleave the fusion protein prior to its elution from the beads, but inadequate cleavage many occur. Approximately 10 μg of factor Xa/mg of fusion protein is used. The material is mixed gently and incubated for approximately 2-16 hours at room temperature. Completion of digestion is checked by gel eletrophoresis at various time points. To purify the protein of interest from the GST protein, binding of cleaved fusion protein suspension with glutathione beads is carried out, followed by centrifugation. The protein of interest remains in the supernatant. The GST fusion protein can be assayed immunoiogicaliy or biochemically. Biochemically, treatment of the GST fusion protein with the GST substrate, 1-chloro-2,4- dinitrobenzene (CDNB), indicates the amount of the fusion protein. The GST protein catalyzes the conjugation of CDNB with glutathione, resulting in a CDNB-glutathione product with a strong molar absorptivity at 340 nm. Immunoiogicaliy, a Western blot of the fusion protein can be probed with an anti-GST antibody which can be readily detected using a secondary antibody such as an anti-goat IgG alkaline phosphatase conjugate, and the standard colorimetric reaction. EXAMPLE 9 Mapping of Human P450RAI A 1.3 kb cDNA of hP450RAI was mapped using a P-1 derived artificial chromosome (PAC) library. Mapping of the cDNA and genomic PAC clone was performed by fluorescence in situ hybridization [Lichter, 1990] to normal human lymphocyte chromosomes counterstained with propidium iodide and DAPI. Biotinylated probe was detected with avidin- fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). Images of metaphase preparations were captured by a thermoelectrically cooled charge coupled camera (Photometries, Tucson, Arizona). Separate images of DAPI banded chromosomes [Heng, 1993] and FITC targeted chromosomes were obtained. Hybridization signals were acquired and merged using image analysis software and pseudo colored blue (DAPI) and yellow (FTIC) [Boyle, 1992] and overlaid electronically. Positive hybridization signals were found to be localized to 10q23-24. The band assignment was determined by measuring the fractional chromosome length and by analyzing the banding pattern generated by the DAPI counterstained image. - 24 - EXAMPLE 10 Regulation of P450RAI transcription - Cloning of P450RAI Promoters Cloning of Zebrafish P450RAI promoter. An adult zebrafish genomic library (1.0 x 10 6 pfu) was screened with the full length cDNA corresponding to ZP450RAI and positive plaques purified through secondary and tertiary screening. Lambda DNA corresponding to positive plaques was prepared, and the inserts from these clones were excised by restriction enzyme digestion with Notl and subcloned into the plasmid SK+ (Stratagene). Genomic clones were analyzed by restriction enzyme digestion using enzymes from the poiylinker of SK+, followed by Southern blotting using an oligonucleotide (5'-GTAGCACGGATGGTG-3') which hybridizes to the nucleotide sequence encoding the N-terminus of the zP450RAI cDNA to identify fragments of the genomic clones which encode the N-terminal region. A 772 base pair Pstl fragment which hybridized with the oligonucleotide probe was purified, iigated into the vector SK+ and sequenced using the Core Facility for Protein/DNA Chemistry at Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. Sequence analysis identified this clone as containing the putative initial methionine followed by 129 base pairs of coding sequence, plus 651 nucleotides upstream (5'). Within this 772 base pair fragment, a 402 base pair Hindlll fragment was found to contain the putative retinoic acid response element (RARE). This fragment was subcloned into the pGL3B luciferase vector, in both the forward and reverse orientations, (Promega) for transient transfection analyses. Cloning Human P450RAI promoter. The full length hP450RAI cDNA was used as a probe to identify PAC (P1 artificial chromosome) clones which contain the hP450RAI gene. cDNA from hP450RAI was sent to Canadian Genome Analysis and Technology Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for screening of PAC libraries. 5 PAC clones were obtained from this screening, which were verified to contain the hP450RAI gene by restriction enzyme digestion and Southern blotting using the full length hP450RAI cDNA as a probe. One of these clones, 245C7, was found to hybridize to an N-terminal probe from hP450RAI. The probe used was an approximately 130 bp Notl fragment generated from the hP450RAI cDNA. Digestion and Southern blotting of clone 245C7 identified an approximately 3.5 Kb BamHI fragment which hybridized with the Notl fragment. This fragment was subcloned into the plasmid SK+ and sequence data generated at the Core Facility for Protein/DNA Chemistry at Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. Comparison of the sequence data generated with the hP450RAI cDNA identified this 3.5 Kb clone as containing the potential initial methionine and approximately 675 bp upstream (5 * ). Cloning of mouse P450RAI promoter. A clone of mouse P450RAI genomic DNA approximately 17 kb long was isolated from an SV129 λDASH library and subcloned into SK. DNA prepared from this plasmid was digested with various restriction endonucleases, electrophoresed on an agarose gel, and Southern blotted onto nitrocellulose. The resulting blot was hybridized with a 32 P-labelled 230 base pair probe from the N-terminal region of a mouse P450RAI cDNA clone. A Sacl fragment approximately 520 base pairs in length was found to hybridize strongly to the probe. This fragment was subcloned into SK cleaved with - 25 - Sacl. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of a DR5-type RARE in the proximal promoter. Flanking this RARE were two BssHII sites 193 base pairs apart. This 193 base pair BssHII fragment was subcloned into the Mlui site of pGL3B. Diagnostic restriction digests with Xhol were done to isolate clones with the BssHII fragments in both forward and reverse orientations. Within the 193 base pair fragment is also found the TATA box, 45 base pairs downstream of the RARE. Also included in the 193 base pair BssHII fragment is 83 base pairs of DNA upstream of the DR5 RARE. The existence of retinoic acid response elements (RAREs), which bind retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and retinoid-x-receptors RXRs is known. The three promoters of P450RAIs from different species described above were thus examined for the presence of RAREs, which might indicate that the regulation of expression of P450RAI is at the transcriptional level. RAREs bind RARs in the form of a heterodimer and typically include a direct repeat of the consensus motif 5'-(A/G)G(T/G)TCA-3'. The repeated sequences can be separated by 1 , 2 or 5 nucleotides. Figure 15 shows the promoter sequences for the zebrafish, human and mouse P450RAI genes. There is a highly conserved motif, indicated by the arrows, which corresponds to a consensus retinoic acid response element known as a DR5, consisting of a direct repeat of a motif AGTTCA separated by 5 nucleotides. This motif in the P450RAI promoters extends over the sequence TGAACT (the complement of AGTTCA). There is also a highly conserved region extending on either side of the DR5, the entire region being boxed. The degree of conservation of this region of the promoter between all three species suggests that this region is important to the control of RA response and that RAR/RXRs are acting in conjunction or competition with other factors binding to this region whose identities are currently unknown. A portion of the conserved region corresponds to the sequence 5'-CAATTAAA-3' which corresponds very closely to a homeodomain binding motif, suggesting that homeobox proteins may facilitate or compete with RAR/RXR heterodimers in the regulation of P450RAI expression. EXAMPLE 11 Transfection with Mouse P450RAI Promoter A 195 basepair fragment of genomic DNA containing a portion of the putative promoter for mP450RAI was cloned into the luciferase vector, pGL3B (Promega). For analyses of promoter activity, HepG2 cells were transfected in 6-well dishes with 2 μg BssHI- pGL3B sense or antisense constructs, described in Example 10, using 5 μl lipofectAMINE reagent (Gibco, BRL). On the first day, 48 hours prior to transfection, cells were replated into 6-well plates, with 2.5-3 mis Minimal Essential Medium (MEM) (Gibco, BRL)+ 10% Fetal Calf Serum (Gibco, BRL). On the third day, cells are generally about 50% confluent (HepG2). Before beginning transfection, the medium was replaced with fresh medium and the cells were allowed to grow while preparing DNA/lipofectamine mix. In individual wells of a 48 well plate were mixed 1-5 μg DNA in 100 μl opti ' MEM (Gibco, BRL) and 5 μl lipofectAMINE reagent in 100 - 26 - μl optiMEM, by addition of the DNA/optiMEM to the hpofectAMINE/optiMEM with gentle mixing This was left to sit 15 mm to 1 hour at room temperature To each well were added 800 μl optiMEM to obtain a final volume of 1 ml The cells were washed 2 times in 1X PBS and once in optiMEM The 1 ml DNA/hpofectamine/optiMEM mixture was added to the cells and incubated for 20 hours at 37°C The effects of retinoic acid on promoter activity were analyzed by cotransfecting with varying amounts (100 ng to 1 μg) of expression vectors including cDNA sequences encoding zebrafish retinoic acid receptor gamma (RAR-γ) and zebrafish retinoid x receptor alpha (RXR-α) Compansons were made between cells transfected with the control pGL3B vector, those with the sense construct and those with the antisense construct by incubating one set of the transfected cells with DMSO and the other set with 10^ M RA in DMSO On the fourth day, the medium was removed and replaced with fresh medium (+ 10% FBS) The RA or vehicle was added as required to the wells and mixed gently by swirling the plate For a 6 well plate 3 μl of 10 3 M RA in DMSO were added Control wells received 3 μl DMSO The plates were covered in foil and incubated for 24 hours at 37°C On the fifth day, cells were harvested by removing the medium and washing twice in 1X PBS Then, on ice, 100 μl lysis buffer (1% Triton X-100, 25 mM glycylglycme, pH 7 8, 15 mM MgS0 4 , 4 mM EGTA, 1mM DTT (added fresh just before use)) were added, and the cells were scraped off the bottom of the dish and transferred to a 1 5 ml microcentnfuge tube, spun for 5 minutes at 12000 x g, and the supernatant recovered To assay for luciferase activity, 20 μl supernatant from lysed, pelleted cells were transferred to a fresh tube 80 μl luciferase assay buffer were added and a reading in millivolts in a luminometer was taken immediately The luciferase assay buffer was 20 mM Tricine, 1 07 mM (MgC0 3 ) 4 Mg(OH) 2 *5H 2 O, 267 mM MgS0 4 , 0 1 mM EDTA, 33 3 mM DTT, 0 27 mM Coenzyme A, 0 47 mM Luciferm, 0 53 mM ATP The results are shown in Figure 16, in which it can be seen that enhanced luciferase activity was observed in the presence of RA, RXRα and RARγ, for both orientations of the promoter sequence, although enhancement appears to be greater for the sense construct EXAMPLE 12 Inhibition of P450RAI Induction by 4-Hydroxyphenylretιnamιde It has recently been reported that 4-hydroxyphenylretιnamιde (4-HPR) inhibits RA-induced RA catabolism by NB4 cells [Taimi, 1997] It was suggested that 4-HPR may inhibit the cytochrome P450 enzyme(s) responsible for RA oxidation to competitively inhibit RA catabolism However, any such enzymes were not identified, no explanation of the nature of 4- HPR inhibition of RA catabolism was provided, and no evidence of 4-HPR metabolism was observed Experiments to determine the effect of 4-HPR on the induction of P450RAI were thus carried out Figure 17 illustrates the ability of the synthetic retinoid, 4-HPR to inhibit - 27 - the induction of P450RAI by RA MCF7 cells were grown in culture in minimal essential medium (MEM) (Gibco) supplemented with 10 % fetal calf serum, insulin ( 01 mg/mL), MEM non-essential ammo acids (as directed by the manufacturer - Gibco), sodium pyruvate (500 nM), L-glutamine (2 mM) gentamycm (10 μg/mL), penicillin (5 μg/mL), streptomycin (5 μg/mL), and fungizone (200 ng/mL) MCF7 cells cultured in parallel were treated for 12 hours with 10 μM 4HPR, 1 μM 4HPR, 1 μM RA, 1 μM RA and 10 μM 4-HPR, or 1 μM RA and 1 μM 4-HPR At the end of the 12 hour treatment, total RNA was extracted from the cells using TRIzol reagent (as outlined by the manufacturer - Gibco) P450RAI message in the total RNA preparations was analyzed by northern blot hybridization The blot was reprobed with a probe corresponding to the GAPDH cDNA to control for equivalent loading of RNA in each lane of the blot The results indicate that 4-HPR treatment alone does not induce the P450RAI message As expected, RA treatment of MCF7 cells results in a marked induction of P450RAI message following 12 hours of incubation However, when cells are treated with RA in the presence of 10 μM 4-HPR, there is a noticeable suppression of P450RAI induction EXAMPLE 13 P450RAI expression in the presence of retinoic acid Figure 18 shows a time course of expression of cytochrome p450 RAI following treatment of MCF7 breast epithelium adenocarcinoma cells with 1 μM all-frans retinoic acid In this northern blot analysis, total RNA was extracted at the indicated time points and transferred to nitrocellulose following electrophoresis in a 1% agarose, 0 66 M formaldehyde gel The nitrocellulose was then probed with radioactively labelled human cytochrome p450RAI cDNA or GAPDH cDNA to control for equivalence of mRNA loading This shows that after 3 hours of incubation with retinoic acid, the MCF7 cells express high levels of P450RAI message and following 12 hours of exposure, the message declines sharply, possibly indicating that the metabolic activity of induced P450RAI protein is reducing the concentration of active retinoic acid in the surrounding medium This strongly suggests that the induction of P450RAI in MCF7 cells forms an autoregulatory negative feedback loop EXAMPLE 14 P450RAI expression in the presence of retinoic acid and ketoconazole Figure 19 shows a time course of P450RAI mRNA expression in MCF7 cells similar to that described in Figure 18, except that the effect of the broad spectrum cytochrome p450 inhibitor ketoconazole on P450RAI expression was examined In the absence of ketoconazole, lanes 1 to 5 in Figure 19 a time course similar to that shown in Figure 18 is shown In cells which were exposed to 1 μM ketoconazole (replenished every 12 hours following initial treatment), cytochrome P450RAI message was detectable at high levels at 24 and 48 hour time points indicating that the breakdown of retinoic acid can be inhibited by a cytochrome P450 inhibitor and that P450RAI metabolism may be responsible for the sharp - 28 - drop in P450RAI message in the absence of ketoconazole. The example illustrates a method of identifying P450RAI inhibitors. EXAMPLE 15 P450RAI expression in the presence of Am580 Figure 20 shows a time course of P450RAI mRNA expression in MCF7 cells similar to that described in Figure 18, except that a comparison was made between the retiπobenzoic acid derivative Am580 and all-frans retinoic acid. Retinoic acid shows a typical time course of induction of P450RAI message, lanes 1 to 4, Figure 20. Am580 induces P450RAI message to levels comparable to those observed following treatment with retinoic acid. Notably, whereas P450RAI message has declined sharply between 24 and 48 hours, for retinoic acid treated cells, the levels of P450RAI in Am580 treated cells remains high at this time point. This indicates that the synthetic retinoid Am580 is resilient to metabolism in these cells and illustrates the utility of identifying such compounds for therapeutic use. For example, the resistance to retinoic acid treatment observed in acute promyelocytic leukemia due to increased retinoic acid metabolism [Warrell, 1994] might be circumvented by treatment with a metabolism-resistant retinoid. P450RAI protein may be a useful agent for screening for these types of compounds. EXAMPLE 16 Monoclonal antibodies to P450RAI Monoclonal antibodies (Mab's) specific for P450RAI are useful, for example, for diagnostic purposes such as for determining P450RAI protein levels in the identification of normal and tumor tissues which metabolize RA. To produce these antibodies, purified P450RAI protein is prepared. The human P450RAI protein is produced in bacterial cells as a fusion protein with glutathione-S-transferase using the vector pGEX2 (Pharmacia). This permits purification of the fusion protein by GSH affinity chromatography. In another approach, P450RAI is expressed as a fusion protein with the bacterial maltose binding domain. The fusion protein is thus recovered from bacterial extracts by passing the extract over an amylose resin column followed by elution of the fusion protein with maltose. For this fusion construct, the vector pMalC2, commercially available from New England Biolabs, is used. This vector has been used in the past, for example, to overexpress nuclear receptor proteins which were recovered in high yields for functional studies and the production of receptor specific antisera [Ohno, 1993]. The preparation of a second fusion protein is also useful in the preliminary screening of MAb's. The generation of hybridomas expressing monoclonal antibodies recognizing P450RAI protein is carried out as follows: BALB/c mice are injected intraperitoneally with protein/adjuvant three times at one-month intervals, followed by a final injection into the tail vein shortly prior to cell fusion. Spleen cells are harvested and fused with NS-1 myeloma cells (American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, MD) using polyethylene glycol 4000 according to - 29 - standard protocols [Kennett, 1979; Mirski, 1989]. The cell fusion process is carried out as described in more detail below. The fused cells are plated into 96-well plates with peritoneal exudate cells and irradiated spleen cells from BALB/Ccmice as feeder layers and selection with hypoxanthine, aminopterin, and thymidine (HAT medium) is performed. An ELISA assay is used as an initial screening procedure. 1-10 μg of purified P450RAI (cleaved from the fusion protein) in PBS is used to coat individual wells, and 50-100 μl per well of hybridoma supernatants is incubated. Horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti- mouse antibodies are used for the colorimetric assay. As a secondary screening, breast epithelial carcinoma MCF-7 ceils are used as a source of P450RAI determinant. As indicated above, untreated MCF-7 cells exhibit no detectable expression of P450RAI message and no detectable RA metabolizing activity, whereas there is a rapid and striking induction of both in cells treated with RA. Untreated MCF- 7 cells thus serve as a negative control for background. MCF-7 cells are aliquotted into 96 well plates one day prior to assay. Cells are fixed and permeabilized with methanol. Hybridoma supernatants are added and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) -conjugated anti-mouse antibodies are used for screening using a standard fluorescence microscope. Positive hybridomas are cloned by limiting-dilution and grown to large-scale for freezing and antibody production. Various positive hybridomas are selected for usefulness in western blotting and immunohistochemistry, as well as for cross reactivity with P450RAI proteins from different species. The selected MAb's are useful for monitoring the levels of expression of P450RAI protein following RA treatment in cell culture and in tissues. P450RAI protein expression may be a prognostic indicator for determining whether a particular tumor will respond to RA treatment. There is also a wide intersubject variability in baseline RA metabolism and there is evidence suggesting that subjects with a high rate of RA metabolism have a higher incidence of squamous or large cell cancers of the lung [Rigas, 1996]. Once useful antibodies are characterized, these antibodies are used to survey tumor tissue samples for P450RAI expression. Protocol For Production of Mouse Hybridomas Fusion. Feeder cells (spleen and peritoneal exudate cells) are plated. 24 to 48 hours before fusion, mouse myeloma cells are taken off drug (8-azaguanine 20 μg/ml) and counted to ensure that there are at least 50 X 10 6 cells. 2 g of PEG 4000 are autoclaved in a glass tube for 15 minutes and maintained at 60°C for use or alternatively stored at room temperture and remelted in a 60°C water bath when needed. BALB/c mice are immunized as per desired schedule. The final injection is given intravenously in the tail vein. Fusion of immunized spleen cells is carried out 3 or 4 days after the intravenous injection. Spleen from each animal is collected separately; eye sera for ELISA if desired. - 30 - A single cell suspension is prepared using a Teflon pestle and decanting connective tissue. The suspension is washed 1x in serum-free medium. Each spleen has about 10 x 10 6 cells. The myeloma cells are collected, counted and wased in in serum-free medium. The cells are then fused. A small beaker of water, and serum-free medium (37 β C) are prepared and the PEG melted at 50-60°C. The immunized spleen cells and myeloma cells are mixed in a 50 ml TC tube (recommended ratios vary from 1 :1 to 2:1) and the cells are washed once with serum-free medium. The supernatant is carefully discarded. 2.4 ml pre-warmed serum-free medium is added immediately with pipette to the melted PEG and mixed, maintaining the temperature at 37°C in beaker of warm water. The PEG should be light pink. If it is yellow, another aiiquot should be used. 0.5-1.0 ml of PEG is added dropwise to the cell pellet over 1 minute with gentle rotation of the tube or gentle stirring to ensure mixing. The tip of the addition pipette is placed directly over the cell pellet. The tube is swirled gently in 37°C water bath for 90 seconds with the blunt end of a 3 ml pipette tip and 10 ml warm serum- free medium added slowly over 6-10 minutes while rotating tube gently to bring the volume up to 20-50 ml. The tube is maintained at 37°C for at least 20 minutes to obtain cell fusion and then the cells are washed 2x with serum-free medium. The cells are centrifuged and gently resuspended in 100 ml of pre-warmed medium + 10-20% FBS. 100 μl/well aliquotted in 96- well plates. Assuming one spleen fused with 100 x 10 6 cells myeloma fusion partner, about 10 plates are needed. On the following day, 100 μl medium is removed and 100 ul 2 x HAT added. Feed with with 1 x HAT medium for 1 to 3 weeks, then feed with HT medium (i.e., remove 1/2 HAT medium and replace with equal volume HT medium). Preparation of Peritoneal Exudates and Spleen Feeder Cells. A sacrificed mouse is sprayed with 70% alcohol, skin is nicked and torn apart, with care being taken not to cut the peritoneum. The peritoneum is lifted with forceps and a needle is introduced; 5 ml of serum- free medium is slowly injected. The abdomen is massaged and the fluid is slowly sucked up, collected in a sterile tube and kept on ice. The volume is brought up to 5 ml. The spleen is obtained and placed in a sterile tube containing serum-free medium. The spleen is gently mashed with a sterile Teflon pestle. Clumps are allowed to settle and the cells are decanted into a clean tube, care being taken to avoid including connective tissue, in order to minimize fibroblast growth. The sample is irradiated at 4500 R. Cells are washed once with serum-free medium, placed into 96-well plates [one spleen/10 plates (approximately 2-5 x 10 5 cells/well) and peritoneal exudate cell suspension (PECS) (< 3 x 10 3 cells/well) in a total volume of 100 μl/well] and incubated at 37°C until ready to be used. They can also be stored in sterile tube overnight at 4°C. Discussion It is possible to compare the ZP450RAI, mP450RAI and hP450RAI sequences described above. Of the 492 amino acids of ZP450RAI (SEQ ID NO:2), it is possible to align 334 amino acids with the 497 amino acids of hP450RAI (SEQ ID NO:4). See Figure 9. On this - 31 - basis, there is about 68% homology between the human and fish proteins The degree of homology between the two ammo acid sequences is slightly greater towards the C-termmus than in the N-terminal region It also appears as though nucleic acid sequences encoding the conserved sequence Met-Lys-Arg-Gln-Lys (ammo acid numbers 70 to 74 of ZP450RAI) can be used as a probe to obtain corresponding proteins from cDNA libraries of other species The ammo acid identity between the human and mouse P450RAI sequences is greater than 93% As shown above, RA-induced expression of a protein by the cells described herein involves a regulatory sequence which is located upstream of the coding sequence of DNA that it controls As it occurs in nature, the protein is P450RAI, whether in cells of the zebrafish, human, mouse or other organism Such a cell can be modified by incorporating DNA encoding a different protein into the region of the gene which encodes P450RAI, as exemplified above with DNA encoding luciferase An aspect of the present invention is thus a regulatory DNA sequence, responsive to the presence of RA, operably linked to a protein- encoding sequence and incorporated into a conventional genetically engineered protein- producing cell Production of the desired protein can be induced by exposure of the cell to RA Antisense nucleic acids or ohgonucleotides (RNA or preferably DNA) that inhibit cellular RA-induced P450RAI production can be used to inhibit metabolism of RA by P450RAI [Monia, 1996] Antisense ohgonucleotides, typically 15 to 20 bases long, bind to the sense mRNA or pre mRNA region coding for the protein of interest which can inhibit translation of the bound mRNA to protein The cDNA sequence encoding hP450RAI can thus be used to design a series of ohgonucleotides which together span a large portion, or even the entire cDNA sequence These ohgonucleotides can be tested to determine which provides the greatest inhibitory effect on the expression of the protein [Stewart, 1996] This can be done by exposing cells to the various ohgonucleotides and measuring subsequent changes in hP450RAI activity or by using antibodies to screen for inhibition of P450RAI synthesis The most suitable mRNA target sites include 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions as well as the initiation codon Other regions might be found to be more or less effective Alternatively, an antisense nucleic acid or oligonucleotide may bind to P450RAI DNA coding or regulatory sequences. Rather than reducing RA metabolism by inhibiting P450RAI gene expression at the nucleic acid level, activity of the P450RAI protein may be directly inhibited by binding to an agent, such as, for example, a suitable small molecule or a monoclonal antibody The present invention thus includes a method of screening drugs for their effect on activity of a retinoic acid inducibie protein The method includes exposing the protein to a prospective inhibitor drug and determining the effect on protein activity The measured activity might be hydroxylation of a retinoid, particularly all-frans retinoic acid, or hydroxylation of a retinoic acid, particularly all-frans retinoic acid, at the 4 position of the β-ionone ring thereof For screening drugs for use in humans, hP450RAI itself is particularly useful for testing the effectiveness of such drugs Prospective drugs could also be tested for inhibition of the activity of other P450 cytochromes, which are desired not to be inhibited In this way, drugs which selectively inhibit hP450RAI over other P450s could be identified - 32 - Another system for screening for potential inhibitors of a P450RAI protein includes a stably transfected cell line having incorporated therein DNA of a reporter gene (e g , β-galactosidase, firefly luciferase, or the like) and of the P450RAI, in which expression of both genes is inducibie by exposure of the cells to RA Expression of the reporter gene provides a measure of the induction of the expression system and therefore provides an indication of the amount of RA present Exposure of the cells to RA leads to RA metabolism and, with time, such metabolism leads to a decrease in the degree of induction which is indicated by the reporter protein Exposure of the cells to RA in the presence of an agent that inhibits P450RAI metabolism of RA results in decreased RA metabolism, whereas exposure of the cells to RA in the presence of an agent that does not inhibit P450RAI metabolism of RA has no effect on RA metabolism A comparison of expression of the reporter gene in the presence of RA alone and in the presence of both RA and a potential inhibitory drug thus gives a measure of the effectiveness of the drug in inhibiting metabolism of RA by the P450RAI protein One system for screening for potential mhibitiors of a P450RAI protein includes a cell line in which the endogenous P450RAI gene is not present or not functional or not expressed In this cell line, a cytochrome P450RAI expression vector and an RA-inducible reporter gene are incorporated such that exposure of the cell line to RA results in metabolism of RA by the expressed P450RAI protein and a degree of induction of the reporter gene based on remaining active RA The addition of an inhibitor of P450RAI will decrease the rate of metabolism/degradation of RA and therefore increase the activation/induction of the RA sensitive reporter gene Given the high degree of conservation of the promoter regions of the mouse, human and zebrafish P450RAI promoter regions, it is likely that RA regulates P450RAI expression through a transcπptional mechanism involving the RARE conserved in the promoters of all three species This is supported by studies which show the rapid and RA- dependent expression of P450RAI in a number of cell lines Since P450RAI message is induced so strongly a reporter gene may be a useful indicator of RA activity in vivo as well as in vitro Thus, the P450RAI promoter linked to a reporter gene provides a tool for screening retinoids or other compounds which have the ability to block or inhibit P450RAI induction For example, the P450RAI reporter gene could be stably or transiently introduced into a cell line such that when the cells are exposed to a certain level of retinoid or other agent, the concentration will be reflected in reporter gene activity Such transfection assays can be earned out in a manner similar to those described by Petkovich et al , for example [Petkovich, 1987, Ohno, 1994] The invention thus provides a system for screening potential inhibitors of RA catabolism by a P450RAI protein The system includes a transfected cell line having incorporated therein DNA of a reporter gene, for example the luciferase gene exemplified above, in which expression of the reporter gene is inducibie by exposure of the cells to RA In this system, the P450RAI gene is omitted, that is the reporter gene is under the control of the native promoter for the P450RAI gene Expression of the reporter gene provides a measure of - 33 - the induction of the expression system and therefore provides an indication of the amount of mRNA produced in response to exposure of the cells to RA Exposure of the cells to RA in the presence of an agent that inhibits induction of the expression system indicates that the agent is a potential inhibitor of RA catabolism, i e , provides a measure of the effectiveness of the agent as a drug in inhibiting the expression of P450RAI gene and thus metabolism of RA There is the possibility that cellular rebnoic acid-binding protein (CRABP) [Adamson, 1993] is involved in binding of a retinoid substrate to a P450RAI protein of the present invention The effect of the presence of CRABP, derivatives, synthetic fragments or analogs thereof could thus be determined according to screening methods of the present invention, effectiveness of such agents in enhancing RA metabolism can also be determined It will of course be understood, without the intention of being limited thereby, that a variety of substitutions of ammo acids is possible while preserving the structure responsible for retinoid metabolizing acitivity of the proteins disclosed herein Conservative substitutions are described in the patent literature, as for example, in United States Patent No 5,264,558 It is thus expected, for example, that interchange among non-polar aliphatic neutral ammo acids, glycine, alanine, prohne, valine and isoleucme, would be possible Likewise, substitutions among the polar aliphatic neutral ammo acids, seπne, threonine, methionine, asparagine and glutamine could possibly be made Substitutions among the charged acidic ammo acids, aspartic acid and glutamic acid, could probably be made, as could substitutions among the charged basic ammo acids, lysine and arginine Substitutions among the aromatic ammo acids, including phenylalanme, histidme, tryptophan and tyrosine would also likely be possible These sorts of substitutions and interchanges are well known to those skilled in the art Other substitutions might well be possible Of course, it would also be expected that the greater the percentage of homology, i e , sequence similarity, of a variant protein with a naturally occunng protein, the greater the retention of metabolic activity Of course, as protein variants having the activity of P450RAI as described herein are intended to be within the scope of this invention, so are nucleic acids encoding such variants A further advantage may be obtained through chimeπc forms of the protein, as known in the art A DNA sequence encoding the entire protein, or a portion of the protein, could thus be linked, for example, with a sequence coding for the C-termiπai portion of E coli β -galactosidase to produce a fusion protein GST-CYPRAI fusion proteins are described in the above examples An expression system for human respiratory syπcytial virus glycoproteins F and G is described in United States Patent No 5,288,630 issued February 22, 1994 and references cited therein, for example A recombinant expression vector of the mvention can be a plasmid, as described above The recombinant expression vector of the invention further can be a virus, or portion thereof, which allows for expression of a nucleic acid introduced into the viral nucleic acid For example, replication defective retroviruses, adenoviruses and adeno-associated viruses can be used - 34 - The invention provides a recombinant expression vector comprising a DNA molecule of the invention cloned into the expression vector in an antisense orientation. That is, the DNA molecule is operatively linked to a regulatory sequence in a manner which allows for expression, by transcription of the DNA molecule, of an RNA molecule which is antisense to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:31. Regulatory sequences operatively linked to the antisense nucleic acid can be chosen which direct the continuous expression of the antisense RNA molecule in a variety of cell types, for instance a viral promoter and/or enhancer, or other regulatory sequences can be chosen which direct tissue or cell type specific expression of antisense RNA. The recombinant expression vectors of the invention can be used to make a transformant host cell including the recombinant expression vector. The term "transformant host cell" is intended to include prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells which have been transformed or transfected with a recombinant expression vector of the invention. The terms "transformed with", "transfected with", "transformation" and "transfection" are intended to encompass introduction of nucleic acid (e.g. a vector) into a cell by one of many possible techniques known in the art. Prokaryotic cells can be transformed with nucleic acid by, for example, electroporation or calcium-chloride mediated transformation. Nucleic acid can be introduced into mammalian cells via conventional techniques such as calcium phosphate or calcium chloride coprecipitation, DEAE-dextran-mediated transfection, lipofection, electroporation or microinjection. Suitable methods for transforming and transfecting host cells are known [Sambrook, 1989], The number of host cells transformed with a recombinant expression vector of the invention by techniques such as those described above will depend upon the type of recombinant expression vector used and the type of transformation technique used. Plasmid vectors introduced into mammalian cells are integrated into host cell DNA at only a low frequency. In order to identify these integrants, a gene that contains a selectable marker (e.g. resistance to antibiotics) is generally introduced into the host cells along with the gene of interest. Preferred selectable markers include those which confer resistance to certain drugs, such as G418 and hygromycin. Selectable markers can be introduced on a separate plasmid from the nucleic acid of interest or, preferably, are introduced on the same plasmid. Host cells transformed with one or more recombinant expression vectors containing a nucleic acid of the invention and a gene for a selectable marker can be identified by selecting for cells using the selectable marker. For example, if the selectable marker encodes a gene conferring neomycin resistance (such as pRc/CMV), transformant cells can be selected with G418. Cells that have incorporated the selectable marker gene will survive, while the other cells die. Certain nucleic acids of the invention encode proteins which "have biological activity of a cytochrome P450RAI". The biological activity of a cytochrome P450RAI is the ability to oxidize a retinoid. Such activity can be tested for as described above. The invention provides purified proteins having biological activity of P450RAI. The terms "isolated" and "purified" each refer to a protein substantially free of cellular material - 35 - or culture medium when produced by recombinant DNA techniques, or chemical precursors or other chemicals when chemically synthesized. In certain preferred embodiments, the protein having biological activity of P450RAI comprises an amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 or SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:32. Alternatively, preferred proteins encoded by a nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5 or SEQ ID NO:31 , as defined above, are encompassed by the invention. Furthermore, proteins having biological activity of P450RAI that are encoded by nucleic acids which hybridize under stringent conditions, as discussed above, to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5 or SEQ ID NO:31 are encompassed by the invention. P450RAIs of the invention can be obtained by expression in a suitable host cell using techniques known in the art. Suitable host cells include prokaryotic or eukaryotic organisms or cell lines, for example, yeast, E. coli, insect cells and COS 1 cells. The recombinant expression vectors of the invention, described above, can be used to express a protein having P450RAI activity in a host cell in order to isolate the protein. The invention provides a method of preparing an purified protein of the invention comprising introducing into a host cell a recombinant nucleic acid encoding the protein, allowing the protein to be expressed in the host cell and isolating and purifying the protein. Preferably, the recombinant nucleic acid is a recombinant expression vector. Proteins can be isolated from a host cell expressing the protein and purified according to standard procedures of the art, including ammonium suifate precipitation, column chromatography (e.g. ion exchange, gel filtration, affinity chromatography, etc.), electrophoresis, and ultimately, crystallization [see generally, "Enzyme Purification and Related Techniques", Methods in Enzymology, 22, 233-577 (1971)]. Alternatively, the protein or parts thereof can be prepared by chemical synthesis using techniques well known in the chemistry of proteins such as solid phase synthesis [Merrifield, 1964], or synthesis in homogeneous solution [Houbenwcyl, 1987]. The protein of the invention, or portions thereof, can be used to prepare antibodies specific for the proteins. Antibodies can be prepared which bind to a distinct epitope in an unconserved region of a particular protein. An unconserved region of the protein is one which does not have substantial sequence homology to other proteins, for example other members of the P450 family of cytochromes. Conventional methods can be used to prepare the antibodies. For example, by using a peptide of a P450RAI protein, polyclonal antisera or monoclonal antibodies can be made using standard methods. As demonstrated in Example 16, a mammal, (e.g. a mouse, hamster, or rabbit) can be immunized with an immunogenic form of the peptide which elicits an antibody response in the mammal. Techniques for conferring immunogenicity on a peptide include conjugation to carriers or other techniques well known in the art. For example, the peptide can be administered in the presence of adjuvant. The progress of immunization can be monitored by detection of antibody titers in plasma or serum. Standard ELISA or other immunoassay can be used to assess the levels of antibodies. Following immunization, antisera can be obtained and, if desired, polyclonal antibodies isolated from the sera. - 36 - To produce monoclonal antibodies, antibody producing cells (lymphocytes) can be harvested from an immunized animal and fused with myeloma cells by standard somatic cell fusion procedures, thus immortalizing these cells and yielding hybridoma cells Such techniques are well known in the art For example, the hybridoma technique originally developed by Kohler and Milstein [Kohler, 1975] as well as other techniques such as the human B-cell hybridoma technique [Kozbor, 1983], the EBV-hybndoma technique to produce human monoclonal antibodies [Cole, 1985], and screening of combinatorial antibody libraries [Huse, 1989] Hybridoma cells can be screened immunochemically for production of antibodies specifically reactive with the peptide, and monoclonal antibodies isolated The term antibody as used herein is intended to include fragments thereof which are also specifically reactive with a protein having the biological activity of P450RAI, or a peptide fragment thereof Antibodies can be fragmented using conventional techniques and the fragments screened for utility in the same manner as described above for whole antibodies For example, F(ab') 2 fragments can be generated by treating antibody with pepsin The resulting F(ab') 2 fragment can be treated to reduce disulfide bridges to produce Fab' fragments It is also known in the art to make chimeπc antibody molecules with human constant regions See, for example, Morrison et al , Takeda et al , Cabilly et al , Boss et al , Tanaguchi et al , Teng etal [Morrison, 1985, Takeda, 1985, Cabilly, Boss, Tanaguchi, Teng, 1982], European Patent Publication 0173494, United Kingdom Patent GB 2177096B, PCT Publication WO92/06193 and EP 0239400 It is expected that such chimenc antibodies would be less immunogenic in a human subject than the corresponding non-chimeπc antibody Another method of generating specific antibodies, or antibody fragments, reactive against protein having the biological activity of a P450RAI, or a peptide fragment thereof, is to screen expression libraries encoding immunoglobulin genes, or portions thereof, expressed in bacteria, with peptides produced from the nucleic acid molecules of the present invention For example, complete Fab fragments, VH regions and FV regions can be expressed in bacteria using phage expression libraries See for example Ward et al , Huse et al , and McCafferty et al [Ward, 1989, Huse, 1989, McCafferty, 1990] Screening such libraries with, for example, a P450RAI peptide can identify immunoglobulin fragments reactive with P450RAI Alternatively, the SCID-hu mouse developed by Genpharm can be used to produce antibodies, or fragments thereof The polyclonal, monoclonal or chimenc monoclonal antibodies can be used to detect the proteins of the invention, portions thereof or closely related isoforms in various biological materials, for example they can be used in an ELISA, radioimmunoassay or histochemical tests Thus, the antibodies can be used to quantify the amount of a P450RAI protein of the invention, portions thereof or closely related isoforms in a sample in order to determine the role of P450RAI proteins in particular cellular events or pathological states Using methods described hereinbefore, polyclonal, monoclonal antibodies, or chimenc monoclonal antibodies can be raised to nonconserved regions of P450RAI and used to distinguish a particular P450RAI from other proteins - 37 - The polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies can be coupled to a detectable substance or reporter system. The term "coupled" is used to mean that the detectable substance is physically linked to the antibody. Suitable detectable substances include various enzymes, prosthetic groups, fluorescent materials, luminescent materials and radioactive materials. Examples of suitable enzymes include horseradish peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, β-galactosidase, and acetylcholinesterase; examples of suitable prosthetic group complexes include streptavidin/biotin and avidin/biotin; examples of suitable fluorescent materials include umbelliferone, fluorescein, fluorescein isothiocyanate, rhodamine, dichlorotriazinylamine fluorescein, dansyl chloride and phycoerythrin; an example of a luminescent material includes luminol; and examples of suitable radioactive material include 12S |. i3i | 3S g anc j 3 j_| | n a p re f er red embodiment, the reporter system allows quantitation of the amount of protein (antigen) present. Such an antibody-linked reporter system could be used in a method for determining whether a fluid or tissue sample of a subject contains a deficient amount or an excessive amount of the protein. Given a normal threshold concentration of such a protein for a given type of subject, test kits could thus be developed. The present invention allows the skilled artisan to prepare bispecific antibodies and tetrameric antibody complexes. Bispecific antibodies can be prepared by forming hybrid hybridomas [Staerz, 1986a &b]. The present invention includes three types of compounds related to retinoids: those that inhibit enzymatic activity of P450RAI, thereby inhibiting metabolism of RA; those retinoids that evade metabolism by P450RAI, for example Am580, shown above; and those compounds that repress induction of P450RAI gene expression, for example 4-HPR, as shown above. Compositions of the invention are administered to subjects in a biologically compatible form suitable for pharmaceutical administration in vivo. By "biologically compatible from suitable for administration in vivo" is meant a form of the composition to be administered in which any toxic effects are outweighed by the therapeutic effects of the composition. The term "subject" is intended to include living organisms in which a desired therapeutic response can be elicited, e.g. mammals. Examples of subjects include human, dogs, cats, mice, rats and transgenic species thereof. Administration of a therapeutically active amount of the therapeutic compositions of the present invention is defined as an amount effective, at dosages and for periods of time necessary to achieve the desired result. For example, a therapeutically active amount of a compound that inhibits catabolism of RA by a P450RAI protein may vary according to factors such as the disease state, age, sex, and weight of the individual, as well as target tissue and mode of delivery. Dosage regimes may be adjusted to provide the optimum therapeutic response. For example, several divided doses may be administered daily or the dose may be proportionally reduced as indicated by the exigencies of the therapeutic situation. Compounds of the present invention, such as those that are found to inhibit metabolism of RA by P450RAI enzymes and that are useful as anticancer agents and in the - 38 - treatment, amelioration, or prevention of skin disorders for which retinoic acid is useful, for example, may be used topically In this regard they may be included in compositions for therapy in animals, including humans, for premahgnant epithelial cell lesions, as a prophylaxis against tumor promotion in epithelial cells and treatment for dermatoses such as ichthyoses, folhcular disorders, benign epithelial disorders, and other proliferative skin diseases, such as acne, psoriasis, eczema, atopic dermatitis, nonspecific dermatitis and the like Topical compositions are usually formulated with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier in liquid, semi-solid or solid form A pharmaceutically acceptable carrier is a material that is πontoxic and generally inert and does not affect the functionality of the active ingredients adversely Such matenals are well known and include those materials sometimes referred to as diluents or vehicles (excipients) in the pharmaceutical formulation art The earner may be organic or inorganic in nature Examples of pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are water, gelatin, lactose, starch, mineral oil, cocoa butter, dextrose, sucrose, sorbitol manmtol, gum, acacia, algmates, cellulose, talc, magnesium stearate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate, and other commonly used pharmaceutical carriers In addition to an active ingredient and carrier, the formulation may contain minor amounts of additives such as flavoring agents, coloring agents, thickening or gelling agents, emulsifiers, wetting agents, buffers, stabilizers, and preservatives such as antioxidants Certain compositions may be administered enterally For oral administration, suitable forms are, for example, tablets, pills, syrups, suspensions, emulsions, solutions, powders and granules As anti-tumor agents or as part of an anti-tumor formulation, for example, compounds of the present invention can be used in a similar manner to retinoids used for treating various tumours, such as all-frans retinoic acid The dose to be administered whether a single dose, multiple does or daily dose, will of course vary with the particular compound employed because of the varying potency of the active ingredient, the chosen route of administration, the size of the recipient, the type of tumor, and the nature of the patient's condition The dosage to be administered is not subject to definite bounds, but it will usually be an effective amount, or the equivalent on a molar basis of the pharmacologically active free form produced from a dosage formulation upon the metabolic release of the active drug to achieve its desired pharmacological and physiological effects An oncologist skilled in the art of cancer treatment will be able to ascertain without undue experimentation, appropriate protocols for the effective administration of the compounds of this present invention Nucleic acids which encode proteins having biological activity of a P450RAI protein can be used to generate either transgenic animals or "knock out" animals which, in turn, are useful in the development and screening of therapeutically useful reagents A transgenic animal (e g , a mouse) is an animal having cells that contain a transgene, which transgene was introduced into the animal or an ancestor of the animal at a prenatal, e g , an embryonic stage A transgene is a DNA which is integrated into the genome of a cell from which a transgenic animal develops In one embodiment, a human P450RAI cDNA, comprising the nucleotide - 39 - sequence shown in SEQ ID NO 5, or an appropriate variant or subsequence thereof, can be used to generate transgenic animals that contain cells which express human P450RAI protein Methods for generating transgenic animals, particularly animals such as mice, have become conventional in the art are described, for example, in U S Patent Nos 4,736,866 and 4,870,009 In a preferred embodiment, plasmids containing recombinant molecules of the invention are micromjected into mouse embryos In particular, the plasmids are microinjected into the male pronuclei of fertilized one-cell mouse eggs, the injected eggs are transferred to pseudo-pregnant foster females, and, the eggs in the foster females are allowed to develop to term [Hogan, 1986] Alternatively, an embryonal stem cell line can be transfected with an expression vector comprising nucleic acid encoding a protein having P450RAI activity, and cells containing the nucleic acid can be used to form aggregation chimeras with embryos from a suitable recipient mouse strain The chimenc embryos can then be implanted into a suitable pseudopregnant female mouse of the appropriate strain and the embryo brought to term Progeny harboring the transfected DNA in their germ cells can be used to breed uniformly transgenic mice Typically, particular cells would be targeted for P450RAI transgene incorporation by use of tissue specific enhancers operatively linked to the P450RAI encoding gene For example, promoters and/or enhancers which direct expression of a gene to which they are operatively linked preferentially in cardiac muscle cells can be used to create a transgenic animal which expresses a P450RAI protein preferentially in cardiac muscle tissue Examples of suitable promoters and enhancers include those which regulate the expression of the genes for cardiac myosm and cardiac actin Transgenic animals that include a copy of an P450RAI transgene introduced into the germ line of the animal at an embryonic stage can also be used to examine the effect of increased P450RAI expression in various tissues The pattern and extent of expression of a recombinant molecule of the invention in a transgenic mouse is facilitated by fusing a reporter gene to the recombinant molecule such that both genes are co-transcribed to form a polycistronic mRNA The reporter gene can be introduced into the recombinant molecule using conventional methods such as those described in Sam brook etal , [Sambrook,1989] Efficient expression of both cistrons of the polycistronic mRNA encoding the protein of the invention and the reporter protein can be achieved by inclusion of a known internal translational initiation sequence such as that present in pohovirus mRNA The reporter gene should be under the control of the regulatory sequence of the recombinant molecule of the invention and the pattern and extent of expression of the gene encoding a protein of the invention can accordingly be determined by assaying for the phenotype of the reporter gene Preferably the reporter gene codes for a phenotype not displayed by the host cell and the phenotype can be assayed quantitatively Examples of suitable reporter genes include lacZ (β-galactosidase), neo (neomycm phosphotransferase), CAT (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) dhfr (dihydrofoiate reductase), aphlV (hygromycin phosphotransferase), lux (luciferase), uidA (β-glucuronidase) Preferably, the reporter gene is lacZ which codes for β-gaiactosidase β-galactosidase can be assayed using the lactose - 40 - anaiogue X-gal (5-bromo-4-chloro-3-ιndolyl-b-D-galactopyranosιde) which is broken down by β-galactosidase to a product that is blue in color [Old]. Although experimental animals used in the preferred embodiment disclosed are mice, the invention should not be limited thereto. It can be desirable to use other species such as, for example, rats, hamsters, rabbits and sheep. The transgenic animals of the invention can be used to investigate the molecular basis of RA metabolism. The transgenic animals of the invention can also be used to test substances for the ability to prevent, slow or enhance RA metabolism. A transgenic animal can be treated with the substance in parallel with an untreated control transgenic animal. Cells from the transgenic animals of the invention can be cultured using standard tissue culture techniques. In particular, cells carrying the recombinant molecule of the invention can be cultured and used to test substances for the ability to prevent, slow or enhance RA metabolism Additionally, the non-human homologues of genes encoding proteins having P450RAI activity can be used to construct a "knock out" animal which has a defective or altered P450RAI gene For example, with established techniques, a portion of murine genomic P450RAI DNA (e.g , an exon), can be deleted or replaced with another gene, such as a gene encoding a selectable marker which can be used to monitor integration. The altered P450RAI DNA can then be transfected into an embryonal stem cell line. The altered P450RAI DNA will homologously recombme with the endogenous P450RAI gene in certain cells and clones containing the altered gene can be selected. Cells containing the altered gene are injected into a blastocyst of an animal, such as a mouse, to form aggregation chimeras as described for transgenic animals. Chimenc embryos are implanted as described above Transmission of the altered gene into the germhne of a resultant animal can be confirmed using standard techniques and the animal can be used to breed animals having an altered P450RAI gene in every cell [Lemoine, 1996]. Accordingly, a knockout animal can be made which cannot express a functional P450RAI protem. Such a knockout animal can be used, for example, to test the effectiveness of an agent in the absence of a P450RAI protein. The antisense nucleic acids and ohgonucleotides of the invention are useful for inhibiting expression of nucleic acids (e.g. mRNAs) encoding proteins having P450RAI activity Since proteins having P450RAI activity are associated with metabolism of agents which can act on the cell, e g., RA, decreasing expression of such proteins can increase sensitivity of the cell to such agents. Antisense nucleic acids can be introduced into a drug resistant cell in culture to inhibit P450RAI expression. One or more antisense nucleic acids, such as ohgonucleotides, can be added to cells in culture media, typically, for example, at 200 μg/ml. The antisense nucleic acids of the invention, or ohgonucleotides thereof, can thus be used in gene therapy to correct or prevent retinoic acid or other retinoid resistance in a subject. For example, antisense sequences can be used to render retinoic acid or other retinoid resistant malignant cells sensitive to chemotherapeutic agents. Administration of - 41 - antisense nucleic acids to a subject may be most effective when the antisense nucleic acid is contained in a recombinant expression vector which allows for continuous production of antisense RNA. Recombinant molecules comprising an antisense nucleic acid or oligonucleotide thereof, can be directly introduced into tissues, including lung tissue in vivo, using delivery vehicles such as liposomes, retroviral vectors, adenoviral vectors and DNA virus vectors. A delivery vehicle can be chosen which can be targeted to a cell of interest in the subject (e.g. a retinoid resistant tumor cell). Antisense nucleic acids can also be introduced into isolated cells, such as those of the haematopoietic system, ex vivo using viral vectors or physical techniques such as microinjection and electroporation or chemical methods such as coprecipitation and incorporation of DNA into liposomes, and such cells can be returned to the donor. Recombinant molecules can be delivered in the form of an aerosol or by lavage. Accordingly, the invention provides a method for inhibiting retinoic acid or other retinoid resistance of a resistant cell by introducing into the resistant cell a nucleic acid which is antisense to a nucleic acid which encodes the protein identified as SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:32, or particularly, the in case of human cells SEQ ID NO:4. The nucleic acids of the invention can further be used to design ribozymes which are capable of cleaving a single-stranded nucleic acid encoding a protein having P450RAI activity, such as an mRNA. A catalytic RNA (ribozyme) having ribonuclease activity can be designed which has specificity for a P450RAI-encoding mRNA based upon the sequence of a nucleic acid of the invention. For example, a derivative of a Tetrahymena L- 19IVS RNA can be constructed in which the base sequence of the active site is complementary to the base sequence to be cleaved in a P450RAI-encodiπg mRNA. [Cech a and b]. Alternatively, a nucleic acid of the invention could be used to select a catalytic RNA having a specific ribonuclease activity from a pool of RNA molecules [Bartel, 1993]. The isolated nucleic acids and antisense nucleic acids of the invention can be used to construct recombinant expression vectors as described previously. These recombinant expression vectors are then useful for making transformant host cells containing the recombinant expression vectors, for expressing protein encoded by the nucleic acids of the invention, and for isolating proteins of the invention as described previously. The isolated nucleic acids and antisense nucleic acids of the invention can also be used to construct transgenic and knockout animals as described previously. The isolated proteins of the invention are useful for making antibodies reactive against proteins having P450RAI activity, as described previously. Alternatively, the antibodies of the invention can be used to isolate a protein of the invention by standard immunoaffinity techniques. Furthermore, the antibodies of the invention, including bispecific antibodies are useful for diagnostic purposes. Molecules which bind to a protein comprising an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:4 can also be used in a method for killing a cell which expresses the protein, wherein the cell takes up the molecule. Preferably, the cell is a tumor cell. Destruction of such cells can be accomplished by labeling the molecule with a substance having toxic or - 42 - therapeutic activity. The term "substance having toxic or therapeutic activity" as used herein is intended to include molecules whose action can destroy a ceil, such as a radioactive isotope, a toxin (e.g. diphtheria toxin or ricin), or a chemotherapeutic drug, as well as cells whose action can destroy a cell, such as a cytotoxic cell. The molecule binding to the P450RAI can be directly coupled to a substance having a toxic or therapeutic activity or may be indirectly linked to the substance. In one example, the toxicity of the molecule taken up by the cell is activated by P450RAI protein. The invention also provides a diagnostic kit for identifying tumor cells comprising a molecule which binds to a protein comprising an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:4, for example, for incubation with a sample of tumor cells; means for detecting the molecule bound to the protein, unreacted protein or unbound molecule; means for determining the amount of protein in the sample; and means for comparing the amount of protein in the sample with a standard. Preferably, the molecule is a monoclonal antibody. In some embodiments of the invention, the detectability of the molecule which binds to P450RAI is activated by said binding (e.g., change in fluorescence spectrum, loss of radioisotopic label). The diagnostic kit can also contain an instruction manual for use of the kit. The invention further provides a diagnostic kit for identifying tumor cells comprising a nucleotide probe complementary to the sequence, or an oligonucleotide fragment thereof, shown in SEQ ID NO:3, for example, for hybridization with mRNA from a sample of tumor cells; means for detecting the nucleotide probe bound to mRNA in the sample with a standard. The diagnostic kit can also contain an instruction manual for use of the kit. Those skilled in the art will know, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the following claims. - 43 - References Particulars of references cited above are given below All of the listed references are incorporated herein by reference Adamson, P C , Boylan, J F , Balis, F M , Murphy, R F , Godwin, K A , Gudas, L J and Poplack, D G (1993) Time course of induction of metabolism of all-frans retinoic acid and the up-regulation of cellular retinoic acid-binding protein Cancer Research 53, 472-476 Achkar, C C , Derguini, F , Blumberg, B , Langston, A , Arthur, A L , Speck, J , Evans, R M , Bolado, Jr , J Nakamshi, K and Buck, J (1996) 4-Oxoreιnol, a new natural ligand and transactivator of the retinoic acid receptors Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93, 4879-84 Akimenko, M A and Ekker, M (1995a) Anterior duplication of the Sonic hedgehog expression pattern in the pectoral fin buds of zebrafish treated with retinoic acid Developmental Biology 170, 243-7 Akimenko, M A . Johnson, S L , Westerfield, M and Ekker, M (1995b) Differential induction of four msx homeobox genes during fin development and regeneration in zebrafish Development al 347-57 Akiyoshi-Shibata, M , Sakaki, T , Ohyama, Y , Noshiro, M , Okuda, K and Yabusaki, Y (1994) Further oxidation of hydroxycalcidiol by calcidiol 24-hydroxylase A study with the mature enzyme expressed in Escherichia coli European Journal of Biochemistry 224, 335-43 Barrel, D and Szostak, J W (1993) Science 261 , 1411-1418 Blaner, W (1994) Retinol and retinoic acid metabolism In The Retinoids (M Sporn Roberts, A and Goodman, D S , Editors) Raven Press, Inc New York Bligh, E G and Dyer, W J (1957) A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification Canadian Journal of Biochemistry 37, 911-917 Blumberg, B , Bolado, Jr , J , Derguini, F , Craig, A G , Moreno, T A , Chakravarti, D Heyman, R A , Buck, J and Evans, R M (1996) Novel retinoic acid receptor hgands in Xenopus embryos Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93, 4873-78 Boss et al , United States Patent No 4,816,397 Boylan, J F , Lufkm, T , Achkar, C C , Taneha, R , Chambon, P and Gudas, L J (1995) Targeted Disruption of Retinoic Acid Receptor a (RARa) and RARg Results in Receptor- Specific Alterations in Retinoic Acid-Mediated Differentiation and Retinoic Acid Metabolism Mol Cell Biol 15, 843-851 Boyle, A L et al (1992) Genomics 12, 106-15 Cabilly et al United States Patent No 4,816,567 Cech et al , (a) United States Patent No 4,987,071 Cech ef a/ , (b) United States Patent No 5,116,742 Chambon, P (1995) The molecular and genetic dissection of the retinoid signaling pathway [Review] Recent Progress in Hormone Research 50, 317-32 Chen, K S and DeLuca, H F (1995) Cloning of the human 1 alpha,25-dιhydroxyvιtamιn D-3 24-hydroxylase gene promoter and identification of two vitamin D-responsive elements Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1263, 1-9 - 44 - Chomienne, C , Fenaux and Degos, L (1996) Retinoid differentiation therapy in promyelocytic leukemia FASEB J 1025-1030 Chytil, F (1984) Retinoic acid Biochemistry, toxicology, pharmacology, and therapeutic use Pharmacol Rev 36, 93-99 Cole et al (1985) Monoclonal Antibodies in Cancer Therapy Allen R Bliss, Inc Costandis, P , Horton, C , Zeithnger, J , Holder, N and Maden, M (1996) Endogenous Retinoids in the Zebrafish Embryo and Adult Developmental Dynamics 205, 41-51 Creech Kraft, J , Schuh, T , Juchau, M R. and Kimelman, D (1994) Temporal distribution, localization and metabolism of all-frans retinol, didehydroretinol and all-frans retinal during Xenopus development Biochem J 301 , 111-119 De Coster, R , Wouters, W and Bruynseels, J (1996) P450-dependent enzymes as targets for prostate cancer therapy J Ster Biochem Mol Biol 56, 133-43 Duell, E A , Astrom, A , Griffiths, C E , Chambon, P and Voorhees, J J (1992) Human skin levels of retinoic acid and cytochrome p-450-denved 4-hydroxyretinoιc acid after topical application of retinoic acid in vivo compared to concentrations required to stimulate retinoic acid receptor-mediated transcription in vitro Journal of Clinical Investigation 90, 1269-74 Duell, E A , Astrom, A , Kang, S , Griffiths, C E M and Voorhees, J (1994) All-frans, 9-c/s and 13-c/s retinoic acid each induce a cytochrome P4504-retιnoιc acid hydroxylase which causes all-frans but not 9-c/s or 13-c/s retinoic acid to self-metabohze Society for investigative Dermatology Abstracts 102, 641 Fioretla, P D , Giguere, V and Napoli, J L (1993) Expression of Cellular Retinoic Acid-binding Protein (Type II) in Escherichia coli The Journal of Biological Chemistry 268, 21545-21552 Formelli, F , Barua, A and Olson.J (1996) Bioachvities of N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retimmide and retinoyl B-glucuronide FASEB J 10, 1014-1024 Frolik, C A , Roberts, A B , Tavela, T E., Roller, P P , Newton, D L. and Sporn, M B (1979) Isolation and identification of 4-hydroxy- and 4-oxoretinoιc acid In vitro metabolites of all-frans retinoic acid in hamster trachea and liver Biochemistry 18, 2092-7 Gotoh, O and Fujn-Kuriyama, Y (1989) Evolution, structure, and gene regulation of cytochrome P-450 Green, S , Issemann, I and Sheer, E (1988). A versatile in vivo and in v/fro eukaryotic expression vector for protein engmeenng Nucleic Acids Research 16, 369-370 Gudas, L , Sporn, M and Roberts, A (1994) Cellular biology and biochemistry of the retinoids In The Retinoids (M Sporn, Roberts, A and Goodman, D S , Editors) Raven Press, Inc • New York Heng, H and Tsui, L-C (1993) Chromosome 102, 325-32 Hogan, B et al , (1986) A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor, N Y , Cold Spπng Harbor Laboratory Hong, W (1994) Retinoids and human cancer In The Retinoids (M Sporn, Roberts, A and Goodman, D S , Editors) Raven Press, Inc New York Houbenwcyl, (1987) Methods of Organic Chemistry, ed E Wansch Vol 15 I and II Thieme, Stuttgart - 45 - Hozumi, N and Sandhu, J S. (1993) Recombinant antibody technology, its advent and advances Cancer Invest 11 , 714-723. Huse et al , (1989) Science 246, 1275 -1281 Jones, B B , Ohno, C K , Allenby, G , Boffa, M., Levin, A A , Gnppo, J F and Petkovich, M (1995) New Retinoid X Receptor Subtypes in Zebra Fish (Danio reno) Differentially Modulate Transcription and Do Not Bind 9-c/s Retinoic Acid Mol Cell Biol 15, 5226-5234 Kennett, R (1979) Cell fusion Methods Enzymol 58, 345-359 Kohler and Milstem (1975) Nature 256, 495-497 Kozbor ef al (1983) Immunol Today 4, 72 Lammer, E J , Chen, D T , Hoar, R M , Agnish, N D , Benke, P J , Braun, J T , Curry, C J , Fernhoff, P M , Grix, A J , Lott, I T et al (1985) Retinoic acid embryopathy New England Journal of Medicine 313, 837-41 Lansdorp, United States Patent 4,868,109 Lemome, N R and Cooper, D N (1996) Gene Therapy, Human Molecular Genetics Series, BIOS Scientific Publishers, Oxford, U K Leo et al (1989) Metabolism of retinol and retinoic acid by human liver cytochrome P450IIC8 Arch Biochem Biophys 269, 305-312 Liang, P and Pardee, A B (1992) Differential display of eukaryotic messenger RNA by means of the polymerase chain reaction Science 257, 967-71 Lichter, P etal (1990) High Resolution Mapping of Chromosome 11 by in situ hybridization by cosmid clones Science 247, 64-9 Lippman, S M , Heyman, R A Kune, J M , Benner, S E and Hong, W K (1995) Retinoids and chemoprevention clinical and basic studies J Cellular Biochem Supplement 22, 1-10 Lotan, R M (1995) Squamous differentiation and retinoids Cancer Treat Res 74, 43-72 Lotan, R (1996) Retinoids in Cancer Chemoprevention Faseb J 10, 1031-1039 Maden, M and Holder, N (1992) Retinoic acid and development of the central nervous system [Review] Bioessays 14 431-8 Makm, G., Lohnes, D , Byford, V , Ray, R and Jones, G (1989) Target cell metabolism of 1 ,25-dιhydroxyvιtamιn D3 to calcitroic acid Evidence for a pathway in kidney and bone involving 24-oxιdation Biochemical Journal 262, 173-80 Maniatis et al (1982) Molecular Cloning A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spnng Harbor, New York Mangelsdorf, D J and Evans, R M (1995) The RXR Heterodimers and Orphan Receptors Cell 83, 841-850 Mernfield, (1964] J Am Chem Assoc 85, 2149-2154 McCafferty et al , (1990) Nature 348, 552-554 Mirski, S and Cole, S P C (1989) Antigens associated with multidrug resistance in H69AR, a small cell lung cancer cell line Cancer Res 49, 5719-5724 - 46 - Monia, B. P., Johnston, J. F., Geiger, T., Muller, M. and Fabbro, D. (1996). Antitumor activity of a phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotide targeted against C-raf kinase. Nature Medicine 2, 668-75. Moon, R. C, Mehta, R.G. and Rao, K.V.N. (1994). Retinoids and cancer in experimental animals. In: The Retinoids. (M. Sporn, Roberts, A. and Goodman, D.S., Editors) Raven Press, Inc.: New York. Morriss-Kay, G. (1993). Retinoic acid and craniofacial development: molecules and morphogenesis. [Review]. Bioessays 15, 9-15. Morriss-Kay, G. M. (1996). Embryonic development and pattern formation. FASEB J. 10, 961- 968. Morrison etal., (1985). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81, 6851. Muindi, J. R. F., Frankel, S. R., Huselton, C, DeGrazia, F., Garland, W., Young, C. W. and Warrell, R. P., Jr. (1992). Clinical pharmacology of oral all-frans retinoic acid in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Cancer Research 52, 2138-2142. Muindi, J. R., Young, C. W. and Warrell, R. J. (1994a). Clinical pharmacology of all-trans retinoic acid. Leukemia 8, 1807-1812. Muindi, J. R., Young, C. W. and Warrell, R. J. (1994b). Clinical pharmacology of all-trans retinoic acid. Leukemia 8, s16-s21. Napoli, J. L., Boerman, M. H., Chai, X., Zhai, Y. and Fiorella, P. D. (1995). Enzymes and binding proteins affecting retinoic acid concentrations. J. Ster. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 53, 497-502. Napoli, J. (1996). Retinoic acid biosynthesis and metabolism. FASEB J. 10, 993-1001. Nelson, D. R., Kamataki, T., Waxman, D. J., Guengerich, F. P., Estabrook, R. W., Feyereisen, R., Gonzalez, F. J., Coon, M. J., Gunsalus, I. C, Gotoh, O., Okuda, K. and Nebert, D. W. (1993). The P450 superfamily: update on new sequences, gene mapping, accession numbers, early trivial names of enzymes, and nomenclature. DNA & Cell Biology 12, 1-51. Old, R.W. and Primrose, S.B., In: Principles of Gene Manipulation. An Introduction to Genetic Engineering, 4th ed. Oxford University Press. 63-66. Ohno, C. K. and Petkovich, M. (1993). FTZ-F1 beta, a novel member of the Drosophila nuclear receptor family. Mechanisms of Development 40, 13-24. Ohno, C. K., Ueda, H. and Petkovich, M. (1994). The Drosophila nuclear receptors FTZ-F1 alpha and FTZ-F1 beta compete as monomers for binding to a site in the fushi tarazu gene. Mol. Cell Biol. 14, 3166-75. Ohyama, Y., Ozono, K., Uchida, M., Shinki, T., Kato, S., Suda, T., Yamamoto, O., Noshiro, M. and Kato, Y. (1994). Identification of a vitamin D-responsive element in the 5'-flanking region of the rat 25-hydroxyvitamin D324-hydroxylase gene. Journal of Biological Chemistry 269, 10545- 50. Petkovich, M., Brand, N. J., Krust, A. and Chambon, P. (1987). A human retinoic acid receptor which belongs to the family of nuclear receptors. Nature 330, 444-50. Pijnappel, W. W., Hendriks, H. F., Folkers, G. E., van den Brink, C, Dekker, E. J., Edeienbosch, C, van der Saag, P. and Durston, A. J. (1993). The retinoid ligand 4-oxo-retiπoic acid is a highly active modulator of positional specification. Nature 366, 340-4. - 47 - Reddy, A P , Chen, J , Zacharewski, T , Gronemeyer, H , Voorhees, J J and Fisher, G J (1992) Characterization and purification of human retinoic acid receptor-g1 overexpressed in the baculovirus-msect cell system Biochem J 287, 833-840 Rigas, J , Miller, V , Zhang, Z F , Khmstra, D , Tong, W , Kris, M and Warrell, R (1996) Metabolic phenotypes of retinoic acid and the risk of lung cancer Cancer Res 56, 2692-2696 Roberts, A B , Nichols, M D , Newton, D L and Sporn, M B (1979a) In vitro metabolism of retinoic acid in hamster intestine and liver. Journal of Biological Chemistry 254, 6296-302 Roberts, A B , Frolik, C A , Nichols, M D and Sporn, M B (1979b) Retinoid-dependent induction of the in vivo and in vitro metabolism of retinoic acid in tissues of the vitamin A- deficient hamster Journal of Biological Chemistry 254, 6303-9 Sambrook, J , Fπtsch E F and Maniatis, T (1989) Molecular Cloning A Laboratory Manual Cold Spring Harbor Lab Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York Staerz & Bevan (1986a) Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) 83, 1453 Staerz & Bevan (1986b) Immunology Today 7, 241 Stewart, A J , Canitrot, Y , Baracchini, E , Dean, N M , Deeley, R G , and Cole, S P C (1996) Reduction of Expression of the multidrug resistance protein (MRP) in human tumor cells by antisense phophorothioate ohgonucleotides Biochem Pharamcol 51 461-469 Taimi, M and Brertman, T R (1997) N-4-hydroxyphenylretιnamιde enhances retinoic acid- mduced differentiation and retinoylation of proteins in the human acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line, NB4, by a mechanism that may involve inhibition of retinoic acid catabolism Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 232, 432-435 Takatsuka, J , Takahashi, N and De Luca, L M (1996) Retinoic Acid Metabolism and Inhibition of Cell Proliferation An Unexpected Liaison Cancer Research 56, 675-678 Takeda et al , (1985) Nature 314, 452 Tanaguchi et al , European Patent Publication EP171496 Teng, etal (1982) Meth Enzymol 92 3-16 Thaller, C and Eichele, G (1990) Isolation of 3,4-dιdehydroretinoιc acid a novel morphogenetic signal in the chick wing bud Nature 345, 815-9 Van Wauwe, J P , Coene, M -C , Goossens, J , Van Nijen, G , Cools, W and Lauwers, W (1988) Ketoconazole inhibits the in vitro and in vivo metabolism of all-frans retinoic acid The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 245, 718-722 Van Wauwe, J P , Coene, M -C , Goossens, J , Cools, W and Monbaliu, J (1990) Effects of cytochrome P450 inhibitors on the in vivo metabolism of all-frans-retinoic acid in rats The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 252, 365-369 Van Wauwe, J , Van Nyen, G , Coene, M , Stoppie, P , Cools, W , Goossens, J , Borghgraef, P and Janssen, P A J (1992) Liarazole, an Inhibitor of Retinoic Acid Metabolism, Exerts Retinoid-Mimetic Effects in Vivo The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 261 , 773-779 Ward et al , (1989) Nature 341 544-546 Warrell, R J (1994) Applications for retinoids in cancer therapy Seminars in Hematol 31 , 1- 13 - 48 - Warrell, R J , Maslak, P , Eardley, A , Heller, G , Miller, W J and Frankel, S R (1994) Treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia with all-frans retinoic acid an update of the New York experience Leukemia 8, 929-933 White, J A , Boffa, M B., Jones, B and Petkovich, M (1994) A zebrafish retinoic acid receptor expressed in the regenerating caudal fin Development 120, 1861-72 Williams, J B and Napoli, J L (1987) Inhibition of retinoic acid metabolism by imidazole antimycotics in F9 embryonal carcinoma cells Biochemical Pharmacology 36, 1386-1388 Wilson, G M and Deeley, R G (1995) An episomal expression vector system for monitoring sequence-specific effects on mRNA stability in human cell lines Plasmid 33, 198-207 Windhorst, D B (1982) The use of isotretinom in disorders of keratinization Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 6, 708-9 Wouters, W , van, D J , Dillen, A , Coene, M C , Cools, W and De, C R (1992) Effects of liarazole, a new antitumoral compound, on retinoic acid-induced inhibition of cell growth and on retinoic acid metabolism in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells Cancer Research 52, 2841-6 Zierold, C , Darwish, H M and DeLuca, H F (1995) Two vitamin D response elements function m the rat 1 ,25-dιhydroxyvιtamιn D 24-hydroxylase promoter Journal of Biological Chemistry 270, 1675-8 - 49 - SEQUENCE LISTING (1) GENERAL INFORMATION: (l) APPLICANTS: (A) NAME: QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY AT KINGSTON (B) STREET: (C) CITY: Kingston (D) PROVINCE: Ontario (E) COUNTRY: CA (F) POSTAL CODE (ZIP) : K7L 1J7 (A) NAME: PETKOVICH, P. Martin (B) STREET: 875 Eveπtt Avenue (C) CITY: Kingston (D) PROVINCE: Ontario (E) COUNTRY: CA (F) POSTAL CODE (ZIP) : K7M 4R1 (A) NAME: WHITE, Jay A. (B) STREET: 913 Purcell Crescent (C) CITY: Kingston (D) PROVINCE: Ontario (E) COUNTRY: CA (F) POSTAL CODE (ZIP) : K7P 1C1 (A) NAME: BECKETT, Barbara R. (B) STREET: 112 Westmorland Road (C) CITY: Kingston (D) PROVINCE: Ontario (E) COUNTRY: CA (F) POSTAL CODE (ZIP) : K7M 1J7 (A) NAME: JONES, Glenville (B) STREET: 66 Inverness Crescent (C) CITY: Kingston (D) PROVINCE: Ontario (E) COUNTRY: CA (F) POSTAL CODE (ZIP) : K7M 6N7 (ll) TITLE OF INVENTION: RETINOID METABOLIZING PROTEIN (ill) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 38 (iv) COMPUTER READABLE FORM: (A) MEDIUM TYPE: Diskette, 3 1/2 inch, 1.4 Mb storage (B) COMPUTER: COMPAQ, IBM PC compatible (C) OPERATING SYSTEM: MS-DOS 5.1 (D) SOFTWARE: WORD PERFECT (v) CURRENT APPLICATION DATA: APPLICATION NUMBER: (vi) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA: (A) APPLICATION NUMBER: US 08/667,546; US 08/724,466 (B) FILING DATE: 21-JUN-1996; 01-OCT-1996 - 50 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:l (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 337 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:l TGCCAGTGGA CAATCTCCCT ACCAAATTCA CTAGTTATGT CCAGAAATTA GCCTAAACCG 60 GAGCCTTTGT ACATATGTTT TTATTTTAGA TGAACTGTGA TGTATTGGAT ATTTTCTAAT 120 TTGTTTATAT AAAGCAGATG TGTATATAAG TCTATGCGAA GAAGCGAAAA CGAGGGCACT 180 ACTTTCTCAT GGATCACTGT AATGCTACAG AGTGTCTGTG ATGTATATTT ATAATGTAGT 240 TGTGTCATAT AGCTTTTGTA CTGTATGCAA CTTATTTAAC TCGCTCTTTA TCTCATGGGT 300 TTTATTTAAT AAAACATGTT CTTACAAAAA AAAAAAA 337 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2 (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 492 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2 Met Gly Leu Tyr Thr Leu Met Val Thr Phe Leu Cys Thr lie Val Leu 1 5 10 15 Pro Val Leu Leu Phe Leu Ala Ala Val Lys Leu Trp Glu Met Leu Met 20 25 30 lie Arg Arg Val Asp Pro Asn Cys Arg Ser Pro Leu Pro Pro Gly Thr 35 40 45 Met Gly Leu Pro Phe lie Gly Glu Thr Leu Gin Leu lie Leu Gin Arg 50 55 60 Arg Lys Phe Leu Arg Met Lys Arg Gin Lys Tyr Gly Cys lie Tyr Lys 65 70 75 80 Thr His Leu Phe Gly Asn Pro Thr Val Arg Val Met Gly Ala Asp Asn 85 90 95 Val Arg Gin lie Leu Leu Gly Glu His Lys Leu Val Ser Val Gin Trp 100 105 110 Pro Ala Ser Val Arg Thr lie Leu Gly Ser Asp Thr Leu Ser Asn Val 115 120 125 His Gly Val Gin His Lys Asn Lys Lys Lys Ala lie Met Arg Ala Phe 130 135 140 Ser Arg Asp Ala Leu Glu His Tyr lie Pro Val lie Gin Gin Glu Val 145 150 155 160 Lys Ser Ala lie Gin Glu Trp Leu Gin Lys Asp Ser Cys Val Leu Val 165 170 175 Tyr Pro Glu Met Lys Lys Leu Met Phe Arg lie Ala Met Arg lie Leu 180 185 190 - 51 - Leu Gly Phe Glu Pro Glu Gin lie Lys Thr Asp Glu Gin Glu Leu Val 195 200 205 Glu Ala Phe Glu Glu Met lie Lys Asn Leu Phe Ser Leu Pro lie Asp 210 215 220 Val Pro Phe Ser Gly Leu Tyr Arg Gly Leu Arg Ala Arg Asn Phe lie 225 230 235 240 His Ser Lys lie Glu Glu Asn lie Arg Lys Lys lie Gin Asp Asp Asp 245 250 255 Asn Glu Asn Glu Gin Lys Tyr Lys Asp Ala Leu Gin Leu Leu lie Glu 260 265 270 Asn Ser Arg Arg Ser Asp Glu Pro Phe Ser Leu Gin Ala Met Lys Glu 275 280 285 Ala Ala Thr Glu Leu Leu Phe Gly Gly His Glu Thr Thr Ala Ser Thr 290 295 300 Ala Thr Ser Leu Val Met Phe Leu Gly Leu Asn Thr Glu Val Val Gin 305 310 315 320 Lys Val Arg Glu Glu Val Gin Glu Lys Val Glu Met Gly Met Tyr Thr 325 330 335 Pro Gly Lys Gly Leu Ser Met Glu Leu Leu Asp Gin Leu Lys Tyr Thr 340 345 350 Gly Cys Val He Lys Glu Thr Leu Arg He Asn Pro Pro Val Pro Gly 355 360 365 Gly Phe Arg Val Ala Leu Lys Thr Phe Glu Leu Asn Gly Tyr Gin He 370 375 380 Pro Lys Gly Trp Asn Val He Tyr Ser He Cys Asp Thr His Asp Val 385 390 395 400 Ala Asp Val Phe Pro Asn Lys Glu Glu Phe Gin Pro Glu Arg Phe Met 405 410 415 Ser Lys Gly Leu Glu Asp Gly Ser Arg Phe Asn Tyr He Pro Phe Gly 420 425 430 Gly Gly Ser Arg Met Cys Val Gly Lys Glu Phe Ala Lys Val Leu Leu 435 440 445 Lys He Phe Leu Val Glu Leu Thr Gin His Cys Asn Trp He Leu Ser 450 455 460 Asn Gly Pro Pro Thr Met Lys Thr Gly Pro Thr He Tyr Pro Val Asp 465 470 475 480 Asn Leu Pro Thr Lys Phe Thr Ser Tyr Val Arg Asn 485 490 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 3 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 1850 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear - 52 - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3 TGTCGCCGTT GCTGTCGGTT GCTGTCGGAC GCTGTCTCCT CTCCAGAAGC TTGTTTTTCG 60 TTTTGGCGAT CAGTTGCGCG CTTCAAC ATG GGG CTG TAC ACC CTT ATG GTC ACC 114 Met Gly Leu Tyr Thr Leu Met Val Thr 1 5 TTT CTC TGC ACC ATC GTG CTA CCC GTT TTA CTC TTT CTC GCC GCG GTG 162 Phe Leu Cys Thr He Val Leu Pro Val Leu Leu Phe Leu Ala Ala Val 10 15 20 25 AAG TTG TGG GAG ATG TTA ATG ATC CGA CGA GTC GAT CCG AAC TGC AGA 210 Lys Leu Trp Glu Met Leu Met He Arg Arg Val Asp Pro Asn Cys Arg 30 35 40 AGT CCT CTA CCG CCA GGT ACC ATG GGC TTG CCG TTC ATT GGA GAA ACG 258 Ser Pro Leu Pro Pro Gly Thr Met Gly Leu Pro Phe He Gly Glu Thr 45 50 55 CTC CAG CTG ATC CTC CAG AGA AGG AAG TTT CTG CGC ATG AAA CGG CAG 306 Leu Gin Leu He Leu Gin Arg Arg Lys Phe Leu Arg Met Lys Arg Gin 60 65 70 AAA TAC GGG TGC ATC TAC AAG ACG CAC CTC TTC GGG AAC CCG ACT GTC 354 Lys Tyr Gly Cys He Tyr Lys Thr His Leu Phe Gly Asn Pro Thr Val 75 80 85 AGG GTG ATG GGA GCT GAT AAT GTG AGG CAG ATT CTG CTG GGC GAA CAC 402 Arg Val Met Gly Ala Asp Asn Val Arg Gin He Leu Leu Gly Glu His 90 95 100 105 AAG CTG GTG TCT GTT CAG TGG CCA GCA TCA GTG AGA ACC ATC CTG GGC 450 Lys Leu Val Ser Val Gin Trp Pro Ala Ser Val Arg Thr He Leu Gly 110 115 120 TCT GAC ACC CTC TCC AAT GTC CAT GGA GTT CAA CAC AAA AAC AAG AAA 498 Ser Asp Thr Leu Ser Asn Val His Gly Val Gin His Lys Asn Lys Lys 125 130 135 AAG GCC ATT ATG AGG GCG TTC TCT CGA GAT GCT CTG GAG CAC TAC ATT 546 Lys Ala He Met Arg Ala Phe Ser Arg Asp Ala Leu Glu His Tyr He 140 145 150 CCC GTG ATC CAG CAG GAG GTG AAG AGC GCC ATA CAG GAA TGG CTG CAA 594 Pro Val He Gin Gin Glu Val Lys Ser Ala He Gin Glu Trp Leu Gin 155 160 165 AAA GAC TCC TGC GTG CTG GTT TAT CCA GAA ATG AAG AAA CTC ATG TTT 642 Lys Asp Ser Cys Val Leu Val Tyr Pro Glu Met Lys Lys Leu Met Phe 170 175 180 185 CGG ATA GCT ATG AGA ATC CTG CTT GGT TTT GAA CCA GAG CAA ATA AAG 690 Arg He Ala Met Arg He Leu Leu Gly Phe Glu Pro Glu Gin He Lys 190 195 200 ACG GAC GAG CAA GAA CTG GTG GAA GCT TTT GAG GAA ATG ATC AAA AAC 738 Thr Asp Glu Gin Glu Leu Val Glu Ala Phe Glu Glu Met He Lys Asn 205 210 215 TTG TTC TCC TTG CCA ATC GAC GTT CCT TTC AGT GGT CTG TAC AGG GGT 786 Leu Phe Ser Leu Pro He Asp Val Pro Phe Ser Gly Leu Tyr Arg Gly 220 225 230 - 53 - TTG AGG GCA CGC AAT TTC ATT CAC TCC AAA ATT GAG GAA AAC ATC AGG 834 Leu Arg Ala Arg Asn Phe He His Ser Lys He Glu Glu Asn He Arg 235 240 245 AAG AAA ATT CAA GAT GAC GAC AAT GAA AAC GAA CAG AAA TAC AAA GAC 882 Lys Lys He Gin Asp Asp Asp Asn Glu Asn Glu gin Lys Tyr Lys Asp 250 255 260 265 GCC CTT CAG CTG TTG ATC GAG AAC AGC AGA AGA AGT GAC GAA CCT TTT 930 Ala Leu Gin Leu Leu He Glu Asn Ser Arg Arg Ser Asp Glu Pro Phe 270 275 280 AGT TTG CAG GCG ATG AAA GAA GCA GCT ACA GAG CTT CTA TTT GGA GGT 978 Ser Leu Gin Ala Met Lys Glu Ala Ala Thr Glu Leu Leu Phe Gly Gly 285 290 295 CAT GAA ACC ACC GCC AGC ACT GCA ACC TCA CTT GTC ATG TTT CTG GGT 1026 His Glu Thr Thr Ala Ser Thr Ala Thr Ser Leu Val Met Phe Leu Gly 300 305 310 CTG AAC ACA GAA GTG GTG CAG AAG GTC AGA GAG GAG GTT CAG GAG AAG 1074 Leu Asn Thr Glu Val Val Gin Lys Val Arg Glu Glu Val Gin Glu Lys 315 320 325 GTT GAA ATG GGC ATG TAT ACA CCT GGA AAG GGC TTG AGT ATG GAG CTG 1122 Val Glu Met Gly Met Tyr Thr Pro Gly Lys Gly Leu Ser Met Glu Leu 330 335 340 345 TTG GAC CAG CTG AAG TAC ACT GGA TGT GTG ATT AAA GAG ACT CTT AGA 1170 Leu Asp Gin Leu Lys Tyr Thr Gly Cys Val He Lys Glu Thr Leu Arg 350 355 360 ATC AAC CCT CCT GTT CCC GGA GGA TTC AGA GTC GCA CTC AAA ACC TTT 1218 He Asn Pro Pro Val Pro Gly Gly Phe Arg Val Ala Leu Lys Thr Phe 365 370 375 GAA TTG AAT GGT TAC CAA ATT CCT AAA GGA TGG AAC GTC ATT TAC AGC 1266 Glu Leu Asn Gly Tyr Gin He Pro Lys Gly Trp Asn Val He Tyr Ser 380 385 390 ATC TGT GAC ACG CAC GAT GTG GCC GAC GTC TTT CCA AAC AAA GAG GAG 1314 He Cys Asp Thr His Asp Val Ala Asp Val Phe Pro Asn Lys Glu Glu 395 400 405 TTC CAG CCG GAG AGA TTC ATG AGC AAA GGT CTG GAG GAC GGG TCC AGG 1362 Phe Gin Pro Glu Arg Phe Met Ser Lys Gly Leu Glu Asp Gly Ser Arg 410 415 420 425 TTT AAC TAC ATC CCC TTC GGA GGA GGA TCC AGG ATG TGT GTG GGC AAA 1410 Phe Asn Tyr He Pro Phe Gly Gly Gly Ser Arg Met Cys Val Gly Lys 430 435 440 GAG TTC GCC AAA GTG TTA CTC AAG ATC TTT TTA GTT GAG TTA ACG CAG 1458 Glu Phe Ala Lys Val Leu Leu Lys He Phe Leu Val Glu Leu Thr Gin 445 450 455 CAT TGC AAT TGG ATT CTC TCA AAC GGA CCC CCG ACA ATG AAA ACA GGC 1506 His Cys Asn Trp He Leu Ser Asn Gly Pro Pro Thr Met Lys Thr Gly 460 465 470 CCG ACT ATT TAC CCA GTG GAC AAT CTC CCT ACC AAA TTC ACT AGT TAT 1554 Pro Thr He Tyr Pro Val Asp Asn Leu Pro Thr Lys Phe Thr Ser Tyr 475 480 485 - 54 - GTC AGA AAT TAGCCTAACC GGAGCTTTGT ACATATGTTT TTATTTTAGA 1603 Val Arg Asn 490 TGAACTGTGA TGTATTGGAT ATTTTCTATT TTGTTTATAT AAAGCAGATG TGTATATAAG 1663 TCTATGCGAG GAAGCGAAAA CGAGGGCACT ACTTTCTCAT GGATCACTGT AATGCTACAG 1723 AGTGTCTGTG ATGTATATTT ATAATGTAGT TGTGTTATAT AGCTTTTGTA CTGTATGCAA 1783 CTTATTTAAC TCGCTCTTTA TCTCATGGGT TTTATTTAAT AAAACATGTT CTTACAAAAA 1843 AAAAAAA 1850 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 4 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 497 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 4 Met Gly Leu Pro Ala Leu Leu Ala Ser Ala Leu Cys Thr Phe Val Leu 1 5 10 15 Pro Leu Leu Leu Phe Leu Ala Ala He Lys Leu Trp Asp Leu Tyr Cys 20 25 30 Val Ser Gly Arg Asp Arg Ser Cys Ala Leu Pro Leu Pro Pro Gly Thr 35 40 45 Met Gly Phe Pro Phe Phe Gly Glu Thr Leu Gin Met Val Leu Gin Arg 50 55 60 Arg Lys Phe Leu Gin Met Lys Arg Arg Lys Tyr Gly Phe He Tyr Lys 65 70 75 80 Thr His Leu Phe Gly Arg Pro Thr Val Arg Val Met Gly Ala Asp Asn 85 90 95 Val Arg Arg He Leu Leu Gly Asp Asp Arg Leu Val Ser Val His Trp 100 105 110 Pro Ala Ser Val Arg Thr He Leu Gly Ser Gly Cys Leu Ser Asn Leu 115 120 125 His Asp Ser Ser His Lys Gin Arg Lys Lys Val He Met Arg Ala Phe 130 135 140 Ser Arg Glu Ala Leu Glu Cys Tyr Val Pro Val He Thr Glu Glu Val 145 150 155 160 Gly Ser Ser Leu Glu Gin Trp Leu Ser Cys Gly Glu Arg Gly Leu Leu 165 170 175 Val Tyr Pro Glu Val Lys Arg Leu Met Phe Arg He Ala Met Arg He 180 185 190 Leu Leu Gly Cys Glu Pro Gin Leu Ala Gly Asp Gly Asp Ser Glu Gin 195 200 205 Gin Leu Val Glu Ala Phe Glu Glu Met Thr Arg Asn Leu Phe Ser Leu 210 215 220 - 55 - Pro He Asp Val Pro Phe Ser Gly Leu Tyr Arg Gly Met Lys Ala Arg 225 230 235 240 Asn Leu He His Ala Arg He Glu Gin Asn He Arg Ala Lys He Cys 245 250 255 Gly Leu Arg Ala Ser Glu Ala Gly Gin Gly Cys Lys Asp Ala Leu Gin 260 265 270 Leu Leu He Glu His Ser Trp Glu Arg Gly Glu Arg Leu Asp Met Gin 275 280 285 Ala Leu Lys Gin Ser Ser Thr Glu Leu Leu Phe Gly Gly His Glu Thr 290 295 300 Thr Ala Ser Ala Ala Thr Ser Leu He Thr Tyr Leu Gly Leu Tyr Pro 305 310 315 320 His Val Leu Gin Lys Val Arg Glu Glu Leu Lys Ser Lys Gly Leu Leu 325 330 335 Cys Lys Ser Asn Gin Asp Asn Lys Leu Asp Met Glu He Leu Glu Gin 340 345 350 Leu Lys Tyr He Gly Cys Val He Lys Glu Thr Leu Arg Leu Asn Pro 355 360 365 Pro Val Pro Gly Gly Phe Arg Val Ala Leu Lys Thr Phe Glu Leu Asn 370 375 380 Gly Tyr Gin He Pro Lys Gly Trp Asn Val He Tyr Ser He Cys Asp 385 390 395 400 Thr His Asp Val Ala Glu He Phe Thr Asn Lys Glu Glu Phe Asn Pro 405 410 415 Asp Arg Phe Ser Ala Pro His Pro Glu Asp Ala Ser Arg Phe Ser Phe 420 425 430 He Pro Phe Gly Gly Gly Leu Arg Ser Cys Val Gly Lys Glu Phe Ala 435 440 445 Lys He Leu Leu Lys He Phe Thr Val Glu Leu Ala Arg His Cys Asp 450 455 460 Trp Gin Leu Leu Asn Gly Pro Pro Thr Met Lys Thr Ser Pro Thr Val 465 470 475 480 Tyr Pro Val Asp Asn Leu Pro Ala Arg Phe Thr His Phe His Gly Glu 485 490 495 He (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 5 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 1494 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 5 ATG GGG CTC CCG GCG CTG CTG GCC AGT GCG CTC TGC ACC TTC GTG CTG 4? Met Gly Leu Pro Ala Leu Leu Ala Ser Ala Leu Cys Thr Phe Val Leu 1 5 10 15 - 56 - CCG CTG CTG CTC TTC CTG GCT GCG ATC AAG CTC TGG GAC CTG TAC TGC 96 Pro Leu Leu Leu Phe Leu Ala Ala He Lys Leu Trp Asp Leu Tyr Cys 20 25 30 GTG AGC GGC CGC GAC CGC AGT TGT GCC CTC CCA TTG CCC CCC GGG ACT 144 Val Ser Gly Arg Asp Arg Ser Cys Ala Leu Pro Leu Pro Pro Gly Thr 35 40 45 ATG GGC TTC CCC TTC TTT GGG GAA ACC TTG CAG ATG GTA CTG CAG CGG 192 Met Gly Phe Pro Phe Phe Gly Glu Thr Leu Gin Met Val Leu Gin Arg 50 55 60 AGG AAG TTC CTG CAG ATG AAG CGC AGG AAA TAC GGC TTC ATC TAC AAG 240 Arg Lys Phe Leu Gin Met Lys Arg Arg Lys Tyr Gly Phe He Tyr Lys 65 70 75 80 ACG CAT CTG TTC GGG CGG CCC ACC GTA CGG GTG ATG GGC GCG GAC AAT 288 Thr His Leu Phe Gly Arg Pro Thr Val Arg Val Met Gly Ala Asp Asn 85 90 95 GTG CGG CGC ATC TTG CTC GGA GAC GAC CGG CTG GTG TCG GTC CAC TGG 336 Val Arg Arg He Leu Leu Gly Asp Asp Arg Leu Val Ser Val His Trp 100 105 110 CCA GCG TCG GTG CGC ACC ATT CTG GGA TCT GGC TGC CTC TCT AAC CTG 384 Pro Ala Ser Val Arg Thr He Leu Gly Ser Gly Cys Leu Ser Asn Leu 115 120 125 CAC GAC TCC TCG CAC AAG CAG CGC AAG AAG GTG ATT ATG CGG GCC TTC 432 His Asp Ser Ser His Lys Gin Arg Lys Lys Val He Met Arg Ala Phe 130 135 140 AGC CGC GAG GCA CTC GAA TGC TAC GTG CCG GTG ATC ACC GAG GAA GTG 480 Ser Arg Glu Ala Leu Glu Cys Tyr Val Pro Val He Thr Glu Glu Val 145 150 155 160 GGC AGC AGC CTG GAG CAG TGG CTG AGC TGC GGC GAG CGC GGC CTC CTG 528 Gly Ser Ser Leu Glu Gin Trp Leu Ser Cys Gly Glu Arg Gly Leu Leu 165 170 175 GTC TAC CCC GAG GTG AAG CGC CTC ATG TTC CGA ATC GCC ATG CGC ATC 576 Val Tyr Pro Glu Val Lys Arg Leu Met Phe Arg He Ala Met Arg He 180 185 190 CTA CTG GGC TGC GAA CCC CAA CTG GCG GGC GAC GGG GAC TCC GAG CAG 624 Leu Leu Gly Cys Glu Pro Gin Leu Ala Gly Asp Gly Asp Ser Glu Gin 195 200 205 CAG CTT GTG GAG GCC TTC GAG GAA ATG ACC CGC AAT CTC TTC TCG CTG 672 Gin Leu Val Glu Ala Phe Glu Glu Met Thr Arg Asn Leu Phe Ser Leu 210 215 220 CCC ATC GAC GTG CCC TTC AGC GGG CTG TAC CGG GGC ATG AAG GCG CGG 720 Pro He Asp Val Pro Phe Ser Gly Leu Tyr Arg Gly Met Lys Ala Arg 225 230 235 240 AAC CTC ATT CAC GCG CGC ATC GAG CAG AAC ATT CGC GCC AAG ATC TGC 768 Asn Leu He His Ala Arg He Glu Gin Asn He Arg Ala Lys He Cys 245 250 255 GGG CTG CGG GCA TCC GAG GCG GGC CAG GGC TGC AAA GAC GCG CTG CAG 816 Gly Leu Arg Ala Ser Glu Ala Gly Gin Gly Cys Lys Asp Ala Leu Gin 260 265 270 - 57 - CTG TTG ATC GAG CAC TCG TGG GAG AGG GGA GAG CGG CTG GAC ATG CAG 864 Leu Leu He Glu His Ser Trp Glu Arg Gly Glu Arg Leu Asp Met Gin 275 280 285 GCA CTA AAG CAA TCT TCA ACC GAA CTC CTC TTT GGA GGA CAC GAA ACC 912 Ala Leu Lys Gin Ser Ser Thr Glu Leu Leu Phe Gly Gly His Glu Thr 290 295 300 ACG GCC AGT GCA GCC ACA TCT CTG ATC ACT TAC CTG GGG CTC TAC CCA 960 Thr Ala Ser Ala Ala Thr Ser Leu He Thr Tyr Leu Gly Leu Tyr Pro 305 310 315 320 CAT GTT CTC CAG AAA GTG CGA GAA GAG CTG AAG AGT AAG GGT TTA CTT 1008 His Val Leu Gin Lys Val Arg Glu Glu Leu Lys Ser Lys Gly Leu Leu 325 330 335 TGC AAG AGC AAT CAA GAC AAC AAG TTG GAC ATG GAA ATT TTG GAA CAA 1056 Cys Lys Ser Asn Gin Asp Asn Lys Leu Asp Met Glu He Leu Glu Gin 340 345 350 CTT AAA TAC ATC GGG TGT GTT ATT AAG GAG ACC CTT CGA CTG AAT CCC 1104 Leu Lys Tyr He Gly Cys Val He Lys Glu Thr Leu Arg Leu Asn Pro 355 360 365 CCA GTT CCA GGA GGG TTT CGG GTT GCT CTG AAG ACT TTT GAA TTA AAT 1152 Pro Val Pro Gly Gly Phe Arg Val Ala Leu Lys Thr Phe Glu Leu Asn 370 375 380 GGA TAC CAG ATT CCC AAG GGC TGG AAT GTT ATC TAC AGT ATC TGT GAT 1200 Gly Tyr Gin He Pro Lys Gly Trp Asn Val He Tyr Ser He Cys Asp 385 390 395 400 ACT CAT GAT GTG GCA GAG ATC TTC ACC AAC AAG GAA GAA TTT AAT CCT 1248 Thr His Asp Val Ala Glu He Phe Thr Asn Lys Glu Glu Phe Asn Pro 405 410 415 GAC CGA TTC AGT GCT CCT CAC CCA GAG GAT GCA TCC AGG TTC AGC TTC 1296 Asp Arg Phe Ser Ala Pro His Pro Glu Asp Ala Ser Arg Phe Ser Phe 420 425 430 ATT CCA TTT GGA GGA GGC CTT AGG AGC TGT GTA GGC AAA GAA TTT GCA 1344 He Pro Phe Gly Gly Gly Leu Arg Ser Cys Val Gly Lys Glu Phe Ala 435 440 445 AAA ATT CTT CTC AAA ATA TTT ACA GTG GAG CTG GCC AGG CAT TGT GAC 1392 Lys He Leu Leu Lys He Phe Thr Val Glu Leu Ala Arg His Cys Asp 450 455 460 TGG CAG CTT CTA AAT GGA CCT CCT ACA ATG AAA ACC AGT CCC ACC GTG 1440 Trp Gin Leu Leu Asn Gly Pro Pro Thr Met Lys Thr Ser Pro Thr Val 465 470 475 480 TAT CCT GTG GAC AAT CTC CCT GCA AGA TTC ACC CAT TTC CAT GGG GAA 1488 Tyr Pro Val Asp Asn Leu Pro Ala Arg Phe Thr His Phe His Gly Glu 485 490 495 ATC TGA 1494 He - 58 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 6 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 6 Pro Phe Gly Gly Gly Pro Arg Leu Cys Pro Gly Tyr Glu Leu Ala Arg 1 5 10 15 Val Ala Leu Ser 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 7 Pro Phe Ser Gly Gly Ala Arg Asn Cys He Gly Lys Gin Phe Ala Met 1 5 10 15 Ser Glu Met Lys 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 8 (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 8 Pro Phe Ser Gly Gly Ala Arg Asn Cys He Gly Lys Gin Phe Ala Met 1 5 10 15 Asn Glu Leu Lys 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 9 (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 ammo acids (B) TYPE: ammo acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 9 Pro Phe Gly Thr Gly Pro Arg Asn Cys He Gly Met Arg Phe Ala He 1 5 10 15 Met Asn Met Lys 20 - 59 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 10 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 ammo acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 10 Pro Phe Ser Gly Gly Ser Arg Asn Cys He Gly Lys Gin Phe Ala Met 1 5 10 15 Asn Glu Leu Lys 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:11 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 351 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 11 GAACTCCTCT TTGGAGGACA CGAAACCACG GCCAGTGCAG CCACATCTCT GATCACTTAC 60 CTGGGGCTCT ACCCACATGT TCTCCAGAAA GTGCGAGAAG AGCTGAAGAG TAAGGGTTTA 120 CTTTGCAAGA GCAATCAAGA CAACAAGTTG GACATGGAAA TTTTGGAACA ACTTAAATAC 180 ATCGGGTGTG TTATTAAGGA GACCCTTCGA CTGAATCCCC CAGTTCCAGG AGGGTTTCGG 240 GTTGCTCTGA AGACTTTTGA ATTAAATGGA TACCAGATTC CCAAGGGCTG GAATGTTATC 300 TACAGTATCT GTGATACTCA TGATGTGGCA GAGATCTTCA CCAACAAGGA A 351 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 12 (1) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 12 TTTTTTTTTT TTGG 14 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 13 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 13 TTTTTTTTTT TTGA 14 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 14 (1) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (XI) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 14 TTTTTTTTTT TTGT 14 - 60 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 15 (1) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 15 ττττττττττ TTGC ι 4 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 16 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 16 ττττττττττ TTAG 2 4 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 17 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 17 ττττττττττ TTAA 14 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 18 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 18 ττττττττττ TTAT 14 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 19 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (XI) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 19 TTTTTTTTTT TTAC 14 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:20 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:20 TTTTTTTTTT TTCG 14 - 61 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:21 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:21 ττττττττττ TTCA 14 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:22 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (XI) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:22 TTTTTTTTTT TTCT 14 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:23 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 14 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:23 TTTTTTTTTT TTCC 14 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:24 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 10 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:24 AAGCGACCGA 10 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 25 (1) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 10 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:25 TGTTCGCCAG 10 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:26 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 10 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 26 TGCCAGTGGA 10 - 62 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:27 (1) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 10 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:27 GGCTGCAAAC 10 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 28 (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 10 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:28 CCTAGCGTTG 10 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:29 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:29 GTAGCGGCCG CTGCCAGTGG A 21 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 30 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 12 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 30 GTAGCGGCCG CT 12 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 31 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 1725 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 31 GCACGAGGGA GGCTGAAGCG TGCC ATG GGG CTC CCG GCG CTG CTG GCC AGT 51 Met Gly Leu Pro Ala Leu Leu Ala Ser 1 5 GCG CTC TGC ACC TTC GTG CTG CCG CTG CTG CTC TTC CTG GCG GCG CTC 99 Ala Leu Cys Thr Phe Val Leu Pro Leu Leu Leu Phe Leu Ala Ala Leu 10 15 20 25 AAG CTC TGG GAC CTG TAC TGT GTG AGC AGC CGC GAT CGC AGC TGC GCC 147 Lys Leu Trp Asp Leu Tyr Cys Val Ser Ser Arg Asp Arg Ser Cys Ala 30 35 40 - 63 - CTC CCC TTG CCC CCC GGT ACC ATG GGC TTC CCA TTC TTT GGG GAA ACA 195 Leu Pro Leu Pro Pro Gly Thr Met Gly Phe Pro Phe Phe Gly Glu Thr 45 50 55 TTG CAG ATG GTG CTT CAG CGG AGG AAG TTT CTG CAG ATG AAG CGC AGG 243 Leu Gin Met Val Leu Gin Arg Arg Lys Phe Leu Gin Met Lys Arg Arg 60 65 70 AAA TAC GGC TTC ATC TAC AAG ACG CAT CTG TTT GGG CGG CCC ACG GTG 291 Lys Tyr Gly Phe He Tyr Lys Thr His Leu Phe Gly Arg Pro Thr Val 75 80 85 CGG GTG ATG GGC GCG GAT AAT GTG CGG CGC ATC TTG CTG GGA GAG CAC 339 Arg Val Met Gly Ala Asp Asn Val Arg Arg He Leu Leu Gly Glu His 90 95 100 105 CGG TTG GTG TCG GTG CAC TGG CCC GCG TCG GTG CGC ACC ATC CTG GGC 387 Arg Leu Val Ser Val His Trp Pro Ala Ser Val Arg Thr He Leu Gly 110 115 120 GCT GGC TGC CTC TCC AAC CTG CAC GAT TCC TCG CAC AAG CAG CGA AAG 435 Ala Gly Cys Leu Ser Asn Leu His Asp Ser Ser His Lys Gin Arg Lys 125 130 135 AAG GTG ATT ATG CAG GCC TTC AGC CGC GAG GCA CTC CAG TGC TAC GTG 483 Lys Val He Met Gin Ala Phe Ser Arg Glu Ala Leu Gin Cys Tyr Val 140 145 150 CTC GTG ATC GCT GAG GAA GTC AGC AGT TGT CTG GAG CAG TGG CTA AGC 531 Leu Val He Ala Glu Glu Val Ser Ser Cys Leu Glu Gin Trp Leu Ser 155 160 165 TGC GGC GAG CGC GGC CTC CTG GTC TAC CCC GAG GTG AAG CGC CTC ATG 579 Cys Gly Glu Arg Gly Leu Leu Val Tyr Pro Glu Val Lys Arg Leu Met 170 175 180 185 TTC CGC ATC GCC ATG CGC ATC CTG CTG GGC TGC GAG CCG GGT CCA GCG 627 Phe Arg He Ala Met Arg He Leu Leu Gly Cys Glu Pro Gly Pro Ala 190 195 200 GGC GGC GGG GAG GAC GAG CAA CAG CTC GTG GAG GCT TTC GAG GAG ATG 675 Gly Gly Gly Glu Asp Glu Gin Gin Leu Val Glu Ala Phe Glu Glu Met 205 210 215 ACC CGC AAT CTC TTC TCT CTT CCC ATT GAC GTG CCC TTT AGC GGC CTG 723 Thr Arg Asn Leu Phe Ser Leu Pro He Asp Val Pro Phe Ser Gly Leu 220 225 230 TAC CGG GGC GTG AAG GCG CGG AAC CTT ATA CAC GCG CGC ATC GAG GAG 771 Tyr Arg Gly Val Lys Ala Arg Asn Leu He His Ala Arg He Glu Glu 235 240 245 AAC ATT CGC GCC AAG ATC CGC CGG CTT CAG GCT ACA GAG CCG GAT GGG 819 Asn He Arg Ala Lys He Arg Arg Leu Gin Ala Thr Glu Pro Asp Gly 250 255 260 265 GGT TGC AAG GAC GCG CTG CAG CTC CTG ATT GAG CAC TCG TGG GAG AGG 867 Gly Cys Lys Asp Ala Leu Gin Leu Leu He Glu His Ser Trp Glu Arg 270 275 280 GGA GAG AGG CTG GAT ATG CAG GCA CTA AAA CAA TCG TCA ACA GAG CTC 915 Gly Glu Arg Leu Asp Met Gin Ala Leu Lys Gin Ser Ser Thr Glu Leu 285 290 295 - 64 - CTC TTT GGT GGT CAT GAA ACT ACA GCC AGT GCT GCG ACA TCA CTG ATC 963 Leu Phe Gly Gly His Glu Thr Thr Ala Ser Ala Ala Thr Ser Leu He 300 305 310 ACT TAC CTA GGA CTC TAC CCA CAT GTC CTC CAG AAA GTT CGA GAA GAG 1011 Thr Tyr Leu Gly Leu Tyr Pro His Val Leu Gin Lys Val Arg Glu Glu 315 320 325 ATA AAG AGC AAG GGC TTA CTT TGC AAG AGC AAT CAA GAC AAC AAG TTA 1059 He Lys Ser Lys Gly Leu Leu Cys Lys Ser Asn Gin Asp Asn Lys Leu 330 335 340 345 GAC ATG GAA ACT TTG GAA CAG CTT AAA TAC ATT GGG TGT GTC ATT AAG 1107 Asp Met Glu Thr Leu Glu Gin Leu Lys Tyr He Gly Cys Val He Lys 350 355 360 GAG ACC CTG CGA TTG AAT CCT CCG GTT CCA GGA GGG TTT CGG GTT GCT 1155 Glu Thr Leu Arg Leu Asn Pro Pro Val Pro Gly Gly Phe Arg Val Ala 365 370 375 CTG AAG ACT TTT GAG CTG AAT GGA TAC CAG ATC CCC AAG GGC TGG AAT 1203 Leu Lys Thr Phe Glu Leu Asn Gly Tyr Gin He Pro Lys Gly Trp Asn 380 385 390 GTT ATT TAC AGT ATC TGT GAC ACC CAC GAT GTG GCA GAT ATC TTC ACT 1251 Val He Tyr Ser He Cys Asp Thr His Asp Val Ala Asp He Phe Thr 395 400 405 AAC AAG GAG GAA TTT AAT CCC GAC CGC TTT ATA GTG CCT CAT CCA GAG 1299 Asn Lys Glu Glu Phe Asn Pro Asp Arg Phe He Val Pro His Pro Glu 410 415 420 425 GAT GCT TCC CGG TTC AGC TTC ATT CCA TTT GGA GGA GGC CTT CGG AGC 1347 Asp Ala Ser Arg Phe Ser Phe He Pro Phe Gly Gly Gly Leu Arg Ser 430 435 440 TGT GTA GGC AAA GAG TTT GCA AAA ATT CTT CTT AAG ATA TTT ACA GTG 1395 Cys Val Gly Lys Glu Phe Ala Lys He Leu Leu Lys He Phe Thr Val 445 450 455 GAG CTG GCT AGG CAC TGT GAT TGG CAG CTT CTA AAT GGA CCT CCT ACA 1443 Glu Leu Ala Arg His Cys Asp Trp Gin Leu Leu Asn Gly Pro Pro Thr 460 465 470 ATG AAG ACA AGC CCC ACT GTG TAC CCT GTG GAC AAT CTC CCT GCA AGA 1491 Met Lys Thr Ser Pro Thr Val Tyr Pro Val Asp Asn Leu Pro Ala Arg 475 480 485 TTC ACC TAC TTC CAG GGA GAT ATC TGATAGCTAT TTCAATTCTT 1535 Phe Thr Tyr Phe Gin Gly Asp He 490 495 GGACTTATTT GAAGTGTATA TTGGTTTTTT TTAAAAATAG TGTCATGTTG ACTTTATTTA 1595 ATTTCTAAAT GTATAGTATG ATATTTATGT GTCTCTACTA CAGTCCCGTG GTCTTTAAAT 1655 ATTAAAATAA TGAATTTGTA TGATTTCCCA ATAAAGTAAA ATTAAAAAGT GAAAAAAAAA 1715 AAAAAAAAAA 1725 - 65 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:32 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 497 amino acids (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (XI) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 32 Met Gly Leu Pro Ala Leu Leu Ala Ser Ala Leu Cys Thr Phe Val Leu 1 5 10 15 Pro Leu Leu Leu Phe Leu Ala Ala Leu Lys Leu Trp Asp Leu Tyr Cys 20 25 30 Val Ser Ser Arg Asp Arg Ser Cys Ala Leu Pro Leu Pro Pro Gly Thr 35 40 45 Met Gly Phe Pro Phe Phe Gly Glu Thr Leu Gin Met Val Leu Gin Arg 50 55 60 Arg Lys Phe Leu Gin Met Lys Arg Arg Lys Tyr Gly Phe He Tyr Lys 65 70 75 80 Thr His Leu Phe Gly Arg Pro Thr Val Arg Val Met Gly Ala Asp Asn 85 90 95 Val Arg Arg He Leu Leu Gly Glu His Arg Leu Val Ser Val His Trp 100 105 110 Pro Ala Ser Val Arg Thr He Leu Gly Ala Gly Cys Leu Ser Asn Leu 115 120 125 His Asp Ser Ser His Lys Gin Arg Lys Lys Val He Met Gin Ala Phe 130 135 140 Ser Arg Glu Ala Leu Gin Cys Tyr Val Leu Val He Ala Glu Glu Val 145 150 155 160 Ser Ser Cys Leu Glu Gin Trp Leu Ser Cys Gly Glu Arg Gly Leu Leu 165 170 175 Val Tyr Pro Glu Val Lys Arg Leu Met Phe Arg He Ala Met Arg He 180 185 190 Leu Leu Gly Cys Glu Pro Gly Pro Ala Gly Gly Gly Glu Asp Glu Gin 195 200 205 Gin Leu Val Glu Ala Phe Glu Glu Met Thr Arg Asn Leu Phe Ser Leu 210 215 220 Pro He Asp Val Pro Phe Ser Gly Leu Tyr Arg Gly Val Lys Ala Arg 225 230 235 240 Asn Leu He His Ala Arg He Glu Glu Asn He Arg Ala Lys He Arg 245 250 255 Arg Leu Gin Ala Thr Glu Pro Asp Gly Gly Cys Lys Asp Ala Leu Gin 260 265 270 Leu Leu He Glu His Ser Trp Glu Arg Gly Glu Arg Leu Asp Met Gin 275 280 285 Ala Leu Lys Gin Ser Ser Thr Glu Leu Leu Phe Gly Gly His Glu Thr 290 295 300 - 66 - Thr Ala Ser Ala Ala Thr Ser Leu He Thr Tyr Leu Gly Leu Tyr Pro 305 310 315 320 His Val Leu Gin Lys Val Arg Glu Glu He Lys Ser Lys Gly Leu Leu 325 330 335 Cys Lys Ser Asn Gin Asp Asn Lys Leu Asp Met Glu Thr Leu Glu Gin 340 345 350 Leu Lys Tyr He Gly Cys Val He Lys Glu Thr Leu Arg Leu Asn Pro 355 360 365 Pro Val Pro Gly Gly Phe Arg Val Ala Leu Lys Thr Phe Glu Leu Asn 370 375 380 Gly Tyr Gin He Pro Lys Gly Trp Asn Val He Tyr Ser He Cys Asp 385 390 395 400 Thr His Asp Val Ala Asp He Phe Thr Asn Lys Glu Glu Phe Asn Pro 405 410 415 Asp Arg Phe He Val Pro His Pro Glu Asp Ala Ser Arg Phe Ser Phe 420 425 430 He Pro Phe Gly Gly Gly Leu Arg Ser Cys Val Gly Lys Glu Phe Ala 435 440 445 Lys He Leu Leu Lys He Phe Thr Val Glu Leu Ala Arg His Cys Asp 450 455 460 Trp Gin Leu Leu Asn Gly Pro Pro Thr Met Lys Thr Ser Pro Thr Val 465 470 475 480 Tyr Pro Val Asp Asn Leu Pro Ala Arg Phe Thr Tyr Phe Gin Gly Asp 485 490 495 He (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 33 (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 33 CGCACCCCAG GAGGCGCGCT CGGAGGGAAG CCGCCACCGC CGCCGCCTCT GCCTCGGCGC 60 GGAACAAACG GTTAAAGATT TTGGGCCASC GCCTCCGCGG GGGGAGGAGC CAGGGGCCCC 120 AATCCCGCAA TTAAAGATGA ACTTTGGGTG AACTAATTGT CTGACCAAGG TAACGTGGGC 180 AGCAACCTGG GCCGCCTATA AAGCGGCAGC GCCGTGGGGT TTGAAGCGCT GGCGGCGGCG 240 GCAGGTGGCG CGGGAGGTCG CGGCGCGCCA TGG 273 - 67 - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:34 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:34 CGCACCCCCA GGAGGCGCGC TCAGAGGGAA GCCGCCAGTG CGCCGCCTCT GCCTCGGCGC 60 GGAACAAACG GTTAAAGATT TTTTTGGGCA GCGCCTCGAG GGGGGAGGAG CCAGGGGCCC 120 GATCCGCAAT TAAAGATGAA CTTTGGGTGA ACTAATTTGT CTGACCAAGG TAACGTGGGC 180 AGTAACCTGG GCGGCCTTAT AAAGAGGGCG CGCGGCGGGG TTCGGAGCTA GGGAGGCGGC 240 GGCAGGTGGC GCGGGAGGCT GAAGCGTGCC ATGG 274 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 35 (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 319 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:35 TCGGGGGAAT TAACACCTTT TCAAAGTGAA ATCTCAGGAT TGTCTGCCTT CTACAGGAGG 60 TGGTATTAAA ATGCGCCTAT AACAAATGGT TGAGAGTTTG GAGCCGCTTC TGCCCTGTGG 120 GCGGGGCGAG ATGACACCAC AATTAAAGAT GAACTTTGGG TGAACTAATT TATCTGAGGA 180 AGTTAACAGG AGGAGACCTG CGCGCAATGG ATATATAAGG GCGCGCAGGC GAGGACGCCC 240 TCAGTTTGTG CGTAAAGACG CGTCTCCTCT CCAGAAGCTT GTTTTTCGTT TTGGCGATCA 300 GTTGCGCGCT TCAACATGG 319 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:36 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:36 GATCCCAGATCTGCCTATTGCGCCCGATGCCCCGAGGCTCTCTCTTGGAC TCTGGCCCTGAGTTCTTCTGCGCGATCCTTCGGAGACGTCTGGAGGCCTG CTTTATGCATCTCTCTTGGACCTCAGTTTCCCCACACGTGGGAGGAGGCA GCTGGACGATTCCTGAAAGGACTTTCCCTTGCTTCCTCATCACGTGGAAG AGAGCCCACCCGGCACCTGGAAATGGAAAGCCAGTGAAGGCTGCTTTGGG CCGGGGCAKCGGGTGGGACCGGGCGGGAGGGATTCCAAAGAGACCGCCGG GAAGGCTAGAGCTTGGAATTCCGGCTCCTCGGAGTCCTGGCCCTCCCCCA CCGCCGCCTCGGAGCTCAGCACACCTTGGATGGGGGAGGCGGGCAGCTCC TAGCCCCGCACCCCAGGAGGCGCGCTCGGAGGGAAGCCGCCACCGCCGCC GCCTCTGCCTCGGCGCGGAACAAACGGTTAAAGATTTTGGGCCASCGCCT CCGCGGGGGGAGGAGCCAGGGGCCCCAATCCCGCAATTAAAGATGAACTT TGGGTGAACTAATTGTCTGACCAAGGTAACGTGGGCAGCAACCTGGGCCG CCTATAAAGCGGCAGCGCCGTGGGGTTTGAAGCGCTGGCGGCGGCGGCAG GTGGCGCGGGAGGTCGCGGCGCGCCATGGGGCTCCCGGCGCTGCTGGCCA GTGCGCTCTGCACCTTCGTGCTGCCGCTGCTGCTCTTCCTGGCTGCGATC AAGCTCTGGGACCTGTACTGCGTGAGCGGCCGCGACCGCAGTTGTGCCCT CCCATTGCCCCCCGGGACTATSGGSTTCCCCTTCTTTGGGGAAACCTTGC - 68 - AGATGNTACTNCAGGTAAGGGAGGGTGGGGCGGGACAGGCTGCTTCCCCG GAGCCCGGCGCGGCTCTGGGCTTCTGCTGAAGTCGGGGTAGGCGCCCCCG GGAGGCATGCTATTGCGGCTAGGAGCAGGGCTGGCGGGAGCGCGGCGCTC CCCGGMKYMCSCTCAWGCSCRCWWKTMWCCTCCGCCTYMCTCCCAMAGCG GARSAARWKCYKGMRGATGAAGCGCAGGAAATACGGCTTCATCTACAAGA CGCATCTGTTCGGGCGGCCCACCGTACGGGTGATGGGCGCGGACAATGTG CGGCGCATCTTGCTCGGAGAGCACCGGCTGGTGTCGGTCCACTGGCCAGC GTCGGTGCGCACCATTCTGGGATCTGGCTGCCTCTCTAACCTGCACGACT CCTCGCACAAGCAGCGCAAGAAGGTGGGGGCAGGAGGCGACGGCTGGACA GGGAGGGGGACCCCATTTATGAGCGGAATTCCGGCTGATGGATGCTAGGC GCGGGCTAGCAGCTTGAGGTGGGCTAGGACCCTCTGCCAGCTCCAGGTTA GCTTTCCCAGCTCGGAGAGTGCCATGTGTCTGGCAGGACTGGGGGTGTCT GGAAGGGGACGGCGGTAGACGAGAGGGGCGGATGGAGGCTTTTAACGCTG TCCCCTCCTCGGGACTCAGGTGATTATGCGGGCCTTCAGCCGCGAGGCAC TCGAATGCTACGTGCCGGTGATCACCGAGGAAGTGGGCAGCAGCCTGGAG CAGTGGCTGAGCTGCGGCGAGCGCGGCCTCCTGGTCTACCCCGAGGTGAA GCGCCTCATGTTCCGAATCGCCATGCGCATCCTACTGGGCTGCGAACCCC AACTGGCGGGCGACGGGGACTCCGAGCAGCAGCTTGTGGAGGCCTTCGAG GAAATGACCCGCAATCTCTTCTCGCTGCCCATCGACGTGCCCTTCAGCGG GCTGTACCGGGTAAGGGCGGCAAACGGGCTGCGGACTAGGGGCGCGGGAC CTGGGCGTCTGCTCACCGCCGCGCGCTCTCTGCGCTCAGGGCATGAAGGC GCGGAACCTCATTCACGCGCGCATCGAGCAGAACATTCGCGCCAAGATCT GCGGGCTGCGGGCATCCGAGGCGGGCCAGGGCTGCAAAGACGCGCTGCAG CTGTTGATCGAGCACTCGTGGGAGAGGGGAGAGCGGCTGGACATGCAGGT GAGTAGCAGCTTCAGACCAGGCACTGCGGAGTTTGGTCCCCTGGCTTTCC AAGGCGCTGTTCCTGGGGCCCCCAAAGCGCGCGCCTGGGGCCCAGCTTTC TGGAGTGGGCGGCCGGCTCAGACTACAGCTATGGAATCCCGAAGGAAGGC TGAGACACCCGGTCAGGAGAGCTGCGGAAGGGGCTGCGGMGGAAACTGGG AGCATCCCCTAGCCTTTAMCAGGTTTCAAAGGGAAAGTTGGAATTTGCAA AAATGTTAATAAAGAACCTTGCGATTTTAATAAAACTAAGACTTTAACTC AGGAGTTTCCGGTAGRGCGGGGTCGTACTCGCCTTACTGCTCCAGCTGAA CTAAAGGGACGTTGCATTTTGTTTAAAGATATTGCTTTCCTTGACTTTCT GTCAGCAAAACATTTAGCCCTTCTAGTCTTCCCTCCAGAACTCTCAGTTC GATTCTGAGTAATCCTTCTGTCAAACCGCAGGCAGACTTGTGAGAATGTG GGTCTCACTCTATTCTTAGGCACTAAAGCAATCTTCAACCGAACTCCTCT TTGGAGGACACGAAACCACGGCCAGTGCAGCCACATCTCTGATCACTTAC CTGGGGCTCTACCCACATGTTCTCCAG (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 37 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (XI) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 37 GATCCAGGTTGCTGAAACATATCTCCATATAGGGCAGAACAATTATCAAA AGCATAAGAATTGCAGCCACAGCATAGGGAAGAAAGAGGAGTTTTTAAAC CACAACAAAAGGGAGAAAGAAGAGAATTTTAACTTACATTTAATTCAAAA GTCTTCAGAGCAACCCGAAACCCTCCTGGAACTGGGGGATTCAGTCGAAG GGTCTCCTTAATAACACACCCGATGTATYTAAGTTGTTCCAAAATTTCCA TGTCCAACTTGTTGTCTTGATTGCTCTTGCAAAGTAAACCCTAYCAAAAY AGTCATACAGAGGTGAACAGTYATTTTGTGCTCCAATTAAAATCAGCCCA GCAGACGTAAACAGGGCTTAAGTGGAGACTAAACCCAAAGGGCCCCATGA TGGGAGAGACTGGGAGGGGGAAACAGCAGCTAATGGCCATTTGCCTGCCC AAATCCACTATCTATTTACAATCCCAGGAGAATGCTGCTCACCAGTTAGA AGGACCAAGTTTCTCCCCACGCCCCCCCACCCCACACTCACCACCACCAC CCACACTAATCAGCTATTCACACTATGTATGCCCTTGGACACACCAATTC AAGAAAAGTGGAACCTATCTGAGAATCTCCACGGTTCACAAAAAGGTGGA GGAGGGGTAGGAATACAAGGTCAAACCCTGCCC (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 38 (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: - 69 - (A) LENGTH: base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (XI) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 38 TCGCGAGGAGCGACCACGGCTTGAAGAGGGGTAGACGAGACCAGATGCTC CCCGGCGCCCCCTCATGCGGGTTGCGGTCTCTCTCCTCCACCTCCCTCTC AGCGGAGGAAGTTTCTGCAGATGAAGCGCAGGAAATACGGCTTCATCTAC AAGACGCATCTGTTTGGGCGGCCCACGGTGCGGGTGATGGGCGCGGATAA TGTGCGGCGCATCTTGCTGGGAGAGCACCGGTTGGTGTCGGTGCACTGGC CCGCGTCGGTGCGCACCATCCTGGGCGCTGGCTGCCTCTCCAACCTGCAC GATTCCTCGCACAAGCAGCGAAAGAAGGTGAGGGTGAGCTGGCAACTCCT TGGCTGGCAGGGAGACCTCATCCTATGGCTTGGTTCAGGCAAAATAGAAT GCGGGGCGAGGGCTAGTCCTATGTGGTGGGGACCAGGACCCTCTCTATCT GAGATCCACTTTAGCTTTTCTGCTAGCACGTGGGTTAGTCCTGGGGGGGA CTGAAATTCTTGAAAGGGTACTCGGAAAGGCGAAGGGGGGGGGGCTGAGG GAAAGTAGAGGATTGTAACACTCTCTGCTCCTGGGGGGTGCTCAGGTGAT TATGCAGGCCTTCAGCCGCGAGGCACTCCAGTGCTACGTGCCCGTGATCG CTGAGGAAGTCAGCAGTTGTCTGGAGCAGTGGCTAAGCTGCGGCGAGCGC GGCCTCCTGGTCTACCCCGAGGTGAAGCGCCTCATGTTCCGCATCGCCAT GCGCATCCTGCTGGGCTGCGAGCCGGGTCCAGCGGGCGGCGGGGAGGACG AGCAGCAGCTCGTGGAGGCTTTCGAGGAGATGACCCGCAATCTCTTCTCT CTTCCCATTGACGTGCCCTTTAGCGGCCTGTACCGGGTAAGGGCGGTTTG CGGAGTCGGAGTAGGGGAACGCAAGCTCGGGCATCCGCTCACCGCCACGC TCTCTCCGCGCTCAGGGCGTGAAGGCGCGGAACCTTATACACGCGCGCAT CGAGGAGAACATTCGCGCCAAGATCCGCCGGCTTCAGGCTACAGAGCCGG ATGGGGGTTGCAAGGACGCGCTGCAGCTCCTGATTGAGCACTCGTGGGAG AGGGGAGAGAGGCTGGATATGCAGGTGAGAAGCAATTTCAAAAGGTGCCA AGGGCCGGGGAGTGCCTCTGACTTTCCAGACACACTTTCTGGGGTCTCCA AAGCCCTGTCAAGGCCCCAGCTACTTCCAAGTGGGCGGCGATGCTAGGTC TAGAGCTTTTCAACCTGTGGGTCGTGACCCCTTCACGGAGCCAAACAACC CTTTCAGAAGGGTCGCCTAAGAGCATCTGCATATCCGATATTTACATCAA GAAACATAACAGTAGCAAAATTACCGTTATGAAGTAGCAACAAAGATAAT TTTATCGTTGGGGGTCACCACAACACGAGGAACCGTATTAAAGGGTGGCA TTGGTCTAGAGAGCTGTGGAAGGGGGTGGCTGAGCAATGGGGAAGATCCC AAAGTTCAAAGGGCAAGGCTCATCTACAAAGGTTAAAGCGGAAGAGCAGG ATTAAGGGAGTTTTGCGTTTTTGTTTGTGGTCTTTGACTTTCTATGAACA AAACGGATTTTACCCTTGAAGTCTTCCGTGCAATATTCTCAGGTCAGGTC TTTGTAACAGTGCTATAAACTGCACTCAGATCTGTATAAACTTCCGTTTT TATCCTTAGGCACTAAAACAATCGTCAACAGAGCTCCTCTTTGGTGGTCA TGAAACTACAGCCAGTGCTGCGACGTCACTGATCACTTACCTAGGACTCT ACCCACATGTCCTCCAGAAAGTTCGAGAAGAGATAAAGAGCAAGGTAGGA TGATTCTAGAGGTTCCCCATTTGCCTAGGACATTCCTCTATTAACCACCA CCACCACCCCCACTGTATATAAGTTTGCTCGATACACCCAGTACTATGAC AGTGAAGATCTGAGAGCTAGGTGGGACTGTGGGGGAGAGACTCCACCTCG TGAATTTAAAAAGGCAGTTGTTTGTACTGGGCTCTCTCTTGGGCAGAATT TGACCCTCTCCTCCTCCTCCTCCTCCTCCTCCTCTTCCTCCTCCACCACC ACCACCATCACCACCTTTTATAGAGCAAGGTTCTCCTTTCCCTGACCAAG AACATGAATAATGTGATTAGAGCCAATAGCTGATCAGGGTCGCAGTGTTG GTGAGGGCTCAGGGTATGACCCTTTATATACCTGATAAGCAACATTGTCT GGATAATGGGTTTAGGCTGAGGAAGTGTGGAAAGGAAGGCCATCAGGCCA TCAGCTCTTTCCCTTTTATCCTCTCCCATCCAGACGCCTTCAGGTTTAGT TAACAGGTGAGTCCTGCTGGGCTGACTTTTTTTTTGGAGTGCCCAGGGAT CCATCACTCACTTTTTTATCTGTTTCCATAGGGCTTACTTTGCAAGAGCA ATCAAGACAACAAGTTAGACATGGAAACTTTGGCACAGCTTAAATACACT GGGTGTGTCATTAAGGAGACCCTGCGATTGAATCCTCCGGTTCCAGGAGG GTTTCGGGTTGCTCTGAAGACTTTTGAGCTGAATGTGAGTGCACCTCCTG TCCCCCACCCCCAGCCCTCGTCCACGTCCACTCTGCTATGCTGTTGAGCA TCAGCTGCCCAGAGCAGTGGCTCACTGCCCTTGACAGTGTCCTGCCTCCT ATGGTACTGGGAACCAATTTGCTCTCCTCTCTTAATGCCATCCATGCTAG TAATGACTTTTTGTTGTTGCAAGCTCAGGGCCGGGATTGTCAATTCTTAG GATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAAACAGGGATACCAGATCCCCAAGGGCTGGAAT GTTATTTACAGTATCTGTGACACCCACGATGTGGCAGATATCTTCACTAA CAAGGAGGAATTTAATCCCGACCGCTTTATAGTGCCTCATCCAGAGGATG

Claims: - 70 - CTTCCCGGTTCAGCTTCATTCCATTTGGAGGAGGCCTTCGGAGCTGTGTA GGCAAAGAGTTTGCAAAAATTCTTCTTAAGATATTTACAGTGGAGCTGGC TAGGCACTGTGATTGGCAGCTTCTAAATGGACCTCCTACAATGAAGACAA GCCCCACTGTGTACCCTGTGGACAATCTCCCTGCAAGATTTACCCACTTC CAGGGAGATATCTGATAGCTATTTCAATTCTTGGACTTATTTGAAGTGTA TATTGTTTTTTTTAAAATAGTGTCATGTTGACTTTATTTAATTTCTAAAT GTATAGTATGATATTTATGTGTCTCTACTACAGTCCCGTGGTCTTAAATA TTAAAATAATGAATTTGTATGATTTCCCAATAAAGTAAAATTAAAAAGTG CTTCTCTTGCTTTTTAAGATTCTTGTTGGCAAGCTGCCCATGGTGGTACA TTGCTGTAATACTAGGACTTGGAAGGTGGAGGCAAGAAGAGCAGGCATTC AAGGCTAGCCTGGGCTACAGAAATCCTGTCTTAAACAAACACTACAACAA AAAGTCCTGTTAGGGAATCTGACTGGCTCAGTGTTTGTACTTTGTGTATT TAAAATGATTTAGAGTGAAACCATAGGTCTCTCCCCCATGTCAGAAAATA TATATTATTATGTGTATGCTGATCCAAAGTATCTTTGTAACTTTTTCTAA GGTCATTGAGACTTCATATTTTGAAATTGTATGGAGGCTAGTTATATTAC ATTATTTATTTATTTATTTATTTACATTTTTATGGTGCTGGGGATTGGAT CGAAGGCTTCACACCTCTAGGGCAAGCCCTTTGTCATTAAGGCGCTGCCT CTCCCTTTCAGCCCAACGTTAATTCTAGATTCTTTTTCTTTGGTGCTTTT GGGAGGTAAACCTGGGATGCTGCAGTTATTTGGTGGTGGTCGTTGGTTTT ACTCTAGAGAGAAGGCAACTTTGGGAAGGCAACACTGCTGCTGGTGAGTC GGGAAGCATCATCCCAGAGCAACGGGGTCAGCATAGCTAACATTTTAAAT CAGCATAATGAATCCCTGTCATATGGAGGAGGCAGAACTCCTCTTTGAAG TTGATATTTTAGATAAGACAGAGCCAGCCCCTCTGGTTATGGACAGTTCT TACCCAAAATGAAACAGAGAAGAAAACCACTGGTGTGTCACCTTTCCTTA GAAGTGCTTCAGGA - 71 - WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A purified protein having the ability to oxidize a retinoid, and having an amino acid sequence which is at least about 30% conserved in relation to the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 or identified as SEQ ID NO:4 or identified as SEQ ID NO:32, or a functionally equivalent homoiog thereof. 2. A said protein of claim 1 , in which the protein is at least about 35% conserved in relation to the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 or identified as SEQ ID NO:4 or identified as SEQ ID NO:32, or a functionally equivalent homoiog thereof. 3. A said protein of claim 1 , in which the protein is at least about 50% conserved in relation to the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 or identified as SEQ ID NO:4 or identified as SEQ ID NO:32, or a functionally equivalent homoiog thereof. 4. A protein according to claim 1 , or a conservatively substituted variant thereof. 5. The protein of claim 1 , wherein the retinoid is a retinol and/or a retinoic acid. 6. The protein of claim 1 , wherein the protein has the ability to oxidize the carbon at the 4- position of the β-ionone ring of the retinoid. 7. The protein of claim 6, wherein the retinoid is an all-frans retinoid. 8. A purified protein having the ability to hydroxylate retinoic acid at the 4 position of the β- ionone ring of retinoic acid, and having an amino acid sequence which is at least about 30% conserved in relation to the amino acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:2 or identified as SEQ ID NO:4 or identified as SEQ ID NO:32, or a functionally equivalent homoiog thereof. 9. A purified protein having the ability to oxidize a retinoid at the carbon in the 4-position of the β-ionone ring of the retinoid. 10. The protein of claim 9 wherein the retinoid is an all-frans retinoid. 11. The protein of claim 10 wherein the retinoid is a retinoic acid. 12. The protein of claim 1 , or a conservatively substituted variant thereof. 13. An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein of claim 1 , or a nucleic acid strand capable of hybridizing with the nucleic acid molecule under stringent hybridization conditions. 14. An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein of claim 8. 15. An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a DNA molecule having the sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5 or SEQ ID NO:31 , or which varies from the sequence due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, or a nucleic acid strand capable or hybridizing with at least one said nucleic acid molecule under stringent hybridization conditions. 16. A said nucleic acid molecule of claim 15 wherein the sequence of the nucleic acid molecule corresponds to a part of a human genome or of a fish genome or of a mouse genome, or varies therefrom due to the degeneracy of the genetic code. 17. Isolated mRNA transcribed from DNA having a sequence which corresponds to a nucleic acid molecule according to claim 15. 18. A microbial cell containing and expressing heterologous DNA encoding a retinoid inducibie protein. 19. A microbial cell according to claim 18 in which the protein is capable of oxidizing a retinoid. - 72 - 20. A microbial cell containing and expressing heterologous DNA encoding a retinoid inducibie protein having all-frans retinoic acid 4-hydroxylase activity. 21. The cell of claim 18 wherein the retinoid is retinoic acid. 22. A microbial cell containing and expressing heterologous DNA which is complementary a nucleic acid molecule of claim 13. 23. Isolated DNA having a sequence according to claim 15 in a recombinant cloning vector. 24. A stably transfected cell line which expresses a protein according to claim 1. 25. A culture of cells transformed with a recombinant DNA molecule having a nucleic acid sequence according to claim 15. 26. A host cell that has been engineered genetically to produce a protein according to claim 1 , the cell having incorporated expressibly therein heterologous DNA encoding said protein. 27. The cell of claim 26 wherein production of the protein is inducibie by exposing the cell to retinoic acid. 28. The cell of claim 26 wherein the cell is eukaryotic. 29. A process for producing the protein of claim 1 comprising: preparing a DNA fragment including a nucleotide sequence which encodes said protein; incorporating the DNA fragment into an expression vector to obtain a recombinant DNA molecule which includes the DNA fragment and is capable of undergoing replication; transforming a host cell with said recombinant DNA molecule to produce a transformant which can express said protein; culturing the transformant to produce said protein; and recovering said protein from resulting cultured mixture. 30. An antibody to a protein of claim 1. 31. An antibody of claim 30 wherein the antibody is a monoclonal antibody. 32. An antibody to a protein having a sequence included in the sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:4. 33. A protein of claim 1 for use in metabolizing retinoic acid in an organism or cell in need of such metabolizing. 34. A method for metabolizing retinoic acid in an organism or cell in need of retinoic acid metabolizing comprising administering a protein of claim 1. 35. A method for inhibiting retinoic acid hydroxylation in an organism in need of such inhibition, comprising administering to the organism an effective amount of an antisense nucleic acid or oligonucleotide substantially complementary to at least a portion of the sequence identified as SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5 or SEQ ID NO:31. 36. The method of claim 35 wherein the portion is at least 5 bases in length. 37. The method of claim 35 wherein the organism is human. 38. The method of claim 35 wherein the organism is being treated for a disease selected from the group consisting of cancer, actinic keratosis, oral leukoplakia, a secondary tumor of the head and/or neck, a non-small cell lung carcinoma, a basal cell carcinoma, acute - 73 - promyeiocytic leukemia, skin cancer, and a premahgnancy associated actinic keratosis, acne, psoriasis and/or ichthyosis 39 The method of claim 38 wherein the disease is acute promyelocytic leukemia 40 A method for producing a desired protein, comprising providing a cell which can produce an endogenous protein in response to exposure to a retinoid; incorporating into DNA of the cell a DNA sequence encoding the desired protein at or near a site which is normally occupied by a DNA sequence encoding the endogenous protein, and exposing the cell to the retinoid so as to induce production of the desired protein 41 A kit for determining the presence of a protein according to claim 1 or having an ammo acid sequence identified as SEQ ID NO 4, comprising an antibody to said protein linked to a reporter system, wherein the reporter system produces a detectable response when a predetermined amount of the protein and the antibody are bound together 42 A kit for determining the presence of a first said nucleic acid molecule of claim 13, the kit comprising a second nucleic acid molecule capable of hybridizing with at least a portion of a the first nucleic acid molecule under stnngent conditions, in which the second nucleic acid molecule is linked to a reporter system wherein the reporter system produces a detectable response when a predetermined amount of the first and second molecules are hybridized together 43 The kit of claim 42, wherein the nucleic acid molecule is at least about 5 bases in length 44 An isolated DNA molecule having a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of (a) SEQ ID NO 33, (b) SEQ ID NO 34, (c) SEQ ID NO 35, and (d) a fragment of (a), (b) or (c), wherein said DNA molecule possesses promoter activity 45 A DNA molecule of claim 44 wherein said DNA molecule includes the sequence TGAACT(N),TGAACT, wherein x has a value of up to 5 46 A DNA molecule of claim 45 wherein x is 5 47 A DNA molecule of claim 45 wherein said DNA molecule further includes the sequence TCTGASSAAGKTAAC downstream from the sequence TGAACT(N)JGAACT 48 A DNA molecule of claim 47 further including the sequence AATT between the sequence TGAACT(N)„TGAACT and the sequence TCTGASSAAGKTAAC 49 A DNA molecule of claim 48 wherein there are up to six nucleotides between the sequence TGAACT(N) JGAACT and the sequence TCTGASSAAGKTAAC 50. A DNA molecule of claim 45 further comprising the sequence CAATTAAAGA upstream of the sequence TGAACT(N) X TGAACT - 74 - 51. A DNA molecule of claim 44 wherein said DNA molecule includes the sequence CAATTAAAGATGAACTTTGGGTGAACTAATT. 52. A DNA molecule of claim 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 or 51 wherein the said DNA molecule includes the sequence TATAA. 53 A DNA molecule of claim 45, 46 or 50, wherein the said DNA molecule includes the sequence TATAA downstream of the sequence TGAACT(N)TGAACT. 54. A DNA molecule of claim 47 or 48, wherein the said DNA molecule includes the sequence TATAA downstream of the sequence TCTGASSAAGKTAAC. 55. A DNA molecule of claim 45 wherein said DNA molecule includes the sequence TATAA located downstream of the sequence TGAACT(N) X TGAACT and spaced up to about 55 nucleotides therefrom. 56. A recombinant DNA comprising the isolated DNA molecule according to claim 44. 57. A recombinant DNA according to claim 51 , further comprising one or more structural genes. 58. A recombinant DNA according to claim 56, wherein the one or more structural genes encodes cytochrome P450 protein(s). 59. An expression plasmid comprising the recombinant DNA according to claim 56. 60. An isolated cell containing the recombinant DNA according to claim 57. 61. An isolated cell according to claim 56 wherein said cell is eukaryotic. 62. A process for the production of recombinant protein(s), comprising culturing a cell according to claim 60 and recovering the protein(s) produced. 63. A process according to claim 62 wherein the protein(s) comprise a cytochrome P450. 64. A process according to claim 62 wherein the protein(s) comprise a fusion protein. 65. A method of screening drugs for their effect on activity of a retinoic acid inducibie protein comprising exposing a purified said protein to a said drug and determining the effect on the activity. 66. The method of claim 65 wherein the activity is hydroxylation of a retinoic acid, particularly all-frans retinoic acid. 67. A method of screening drugs for their effect on activity of a protein of claim 1 comprising exposing a purified said protein to a said drug and determining the effect on the activity. 68. The method of claim 67 wherein said method includes ascertaining the effect a said drug has on the oxidation of retinoic acid. 69. The method of claim 68 wherein said retinoid is all-frans retinoic acid. 70. A method of screening drugs for their effect on expression of a gene wherein the gene is inducibie by a retinoid, comprising exposing a recombinant DNA of claim 60 to a said drug and determining the effect on gene expression. 71. The method of claim 70 including exposing the recombinant DNA in the presence of a said retinoid. 72. The method of claim 70 wherein said structural gene is a reporter gene which does not metabolize retinoic acid.

Inventors: BECKETT BARBARA R, JONES GLENVILLE, PETKOVICH P MARTIN, WHITE JAY A, BECKETT, BARBARA, R., JONES, GLENVILLE, PETKOVICH, P., MARTIN, WHITE, JAY, A.
Applicants: BECKETT BARBARA R, JONES GLENVILLE, PETKOVICH P MARTIN, UNIV KINGSTON, WHITE JAY A, BECKETT, BARBARA, R., JONES, GLENVILLE, PETKOVICH, P., MARTIN, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY AT KINGSTON, WHITE, JAY, A.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: C12N15
IPC codes: A61K38, A61K48, C07K16, C12N1, C12N5, C12N9, C12N15, C12P21, C12Q1, G01N33