PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH AND ICH-3

Abstract: This invention relates to modulation of programmed cell death. It also relates to transgenic non-human animals comprising a disrupted Ich-3 gene and methods of making these animals. The Ich-3 mutant animals exhibit resistance to septic shock and defects in folliculogenesis. This invention also relates to methods of using the transgenic animals to screen for compounds to treat septic shock and defective folliculogenesis. Moreover, this invention also relates to methods of treating septic shock in normal individuals by inhibiting ICH-3.

Description: Programmed Cell Death and ICH-3 Background of the Invention Part of the work performed during the development of this invention was supported by U.S. Government funds. The U.S. Government may have certain rights in this invention. Field of the Invention The invention is generally in the field of molecular biology as related to the control of programmed cell death. The invention also relates to transgenic non-human animals comprising a disrupted Ich-3 gene. This invention further relates to methods of making and using the transgenic animals. RelatedArt Programmed Cell Death Apoptosis, also referred to as programmed cell death or regulated cell death, is a process by which organisms eliminate unwanted cells. Such cell death occurs as a normal aspect of animal development as well as in tissue homeostasis and during aging (Glucksmann, A., Biol. Rev. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 26:59-86 (1950); Ellis et al., Dev. 772:591-603 (1991); Vaux et al. , Cell 76:777-779 (1994)). Programmed cell death can also act to regulate cell number, to facilitate morphogenesis, to remove harmful or otherwise abnormal cells and to eliminate cells that have already performed their function. Additionally, programmed cell death is believed to occur in response to various physiological stresses such as hypoxia or ischemia. The morphological characteristics of apoptosis include plasma membrane blebbing, condensation of nucleoplasm and cytoplasm and degradation of chromosomal DNA at inter- nucleosomal intervals. (Wyllie, A. H., in Cell Death in Biology and Pathology, Bowen and Lockshin, eds., Chapman and Hall (1981), pp. 9-34). Apoptosis is achieved through an endogenous mechanism of cellular suicide (Wyllie, A. H., in Cell Death in Biology and Pathology, Bowen and Lockshin, eds., Chapman and Hall (1981), pp. 9-34) and occurs when a cell activates its internally encoded suicide program as a result of either internal or external signals. The suicide program is executed through the activation of a carefully regulated genetic program (Wylie, A.H., et al. , lnt. Rev. Cyt. 68: 251 (1980); Ellis, R.E.. et al., Ann. Rev. Cell Bio. 7: 663 (1991); Yuan, Y. Curr. Op. Cell. Biol. 7.21 1-214 (1995)). In many cases, gene expression appears to be required, since cell death can be prevented by inhibitors of RNA or protein synthesis (Cohen et al. , J. Immunol. 52:38-42 (1984); Stanisic et al., Invest. Urol. 76:19-22 (1978); Maπin et al. , J. Cell Biol. 706:829-844 (1988). A genetic pathway of programmed cell death was first identified in the nematode C. elegans (Ellis, R.E., et al, Annu. Rev. Cell Biol. 7:663-698 (1991)). In this pathway, the function of two genes, ced-3 and ced-4, are required for cells to undergo programmed cell death. Genetic mosaic analysis indicated that both ced-3 and ced-4 most likely act in dying cells to induce cell death; thus, they are essential parts of intracellular machinery involved in execution of cell death (Yuan & Horvitz, Dev. Biol. 755:33-41 (1990)). Furthermore, in C. elegans, the products of ced-5 and ced-4 genes cairy out the program of cellular suicide (Yuan & Horvitz, Dev. Bio. 138: 33 (1990)). Amino acid sequence of CED-3 protein is homologous to mammalian interleukin-1 β converting enzyme (ICE) with 28% amino acid identity (Yuan et al., Cell 75:641-652 (1993)). The C terminal half of the CED-3 is more homologous to ICE (43% identity), which includes the active pentapeptide QACRG present in all members of the ICE/CED-3 family. Interleukin-1-β Converting Enzyme (ICE) Family The interleukin-1 βconverting enzyme (ICE) family is a growing family of cysteine proteases involved in cytokine maturation and apoptosis (Yuan, J., Curr. Opin. in Cell Biology 7:21 1 -214 (1995)). ICE is a cytoplasmic cysteine protease responsible for proteolytically processing pro-interleukin-1 β (31 kDa) into active form (17 kDa) (Thornberry, N.A., Nature 556:768-77 '4 (1992), Cerretti, D.P., et al., Science 256:97-100 (1992)). ICE is synthesized as a precursor of 45kDa which is proteolytically cleaved during activation to generate two subunits of 22kDa (p20) and lOkDa (plO) (Thornberry, N.A., et al., Nature 556:768-774 (1992)). X-ray crystallography analysis of three dimensional structure of ICE showed that ICE is a homodimer of activated ICE p20 and plO subunits (Wilson, K.P., et al., Nature 370:270-275 (1994); Walker, N.P.C., et al., Cell 75:343-352 (1994)). Activated ICE can cleave the inactive ICE precursor; however, in vitro synthesized ICE precursor cannot cleave itself (Thornberry, N.A., et al., Nature 556:768-774 (1992)), suggesting that ICE may need to be activated by another protease in vivo. The amino acid sequence of ICE shares 29% identity with C. elegans cell death gene product Ced-3 (Yuan et al., Cell 75:641-752 (1993)) which suggests that ICE may play a role in controlling mammalian apoptosis.. Expression of 7ce in a number of mammalian cell lines induces apoptosis (Miura el al, Cell 75:653- 660 (1993); Wang et al, Cell 57:739-750 (1994)). Microinjection of an expression vector of crmA, a cowpox virus gene encoding a serpin that is a specific inhibitor of ICE, prevents not only death of neurons from dorsal root ganglia induced by trophic factor deprivation but also the death of ciliary ganglia (Gagliardini et al, Science 265:826-828 (1994); Li et al. Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995); Allsopp et al, Cell 75:295-307, (1993)). Expression of crmA can also suppress apoptosis induced by TNF-α and Fas (Enari et al, Nature 575:78-81 (1995); Los et al, Nature 575:81-83 (1995); Kuide et al, Science 267:2000-2002 (1995); Miura et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:8318-8322 (1995)). These experiments suggest that the members of the ICE family play important roles in controlling mammalian apoptosis. These results did not indicate, however, which member of the ICE family is critical for cell death since CrmA may cross-inhibit other members of the ICE family. The mammalian ICE/CED-3 family now includes eight members: ICE, TX/ICE rel II/ICH-2, ICE rel III, ICH-1/NEDD2, CPP32/Yama/Apopain, MCH2, MCH-3/ICE-LAP3/MCH-2 and ICH-3 (Kumar et al, Genes Dev. 5:1613-1626 (1994); Fernandes-Alnemri, et al, J. Biol. Chem. 269:30761-30764 (1994); Fernandez-Alnemri et al, Cancer Res. 55:2737-2742 (1995); Fernandes-Alnemri et al, Cancer Res. 55:6045-6052 (1996); Wang et al, Cell 75:739-750 (1994); Faucheu, et al, EMBOJ. 74: 1914-1922 (1995); Tewari & Dixit, J. Biol. Chem. 270:3255-3260 (1995); Kamens et al, J. Biol. Chem. 270:15250-15256 (1995); Munday, N.A., et al, J. Biol. Chem. 270:15870-15876 (1995); Duan, H.J., et al, J. Biol. Chem. 277:1621-1625 (1996); Lippke, J.A., et al, J. Biol Chem. 277:1825-1828 (1996)). Since ICH-3 is most homologous to TX, it may be the mouse version of human TX. This cannot be concluded at the moment, however, because TX has been shown to cleave pro-ICE (Faucheu, et al, EMBO J. 74:1914-1922 (1995)) whereas ICH-3 has not been shown to cleave pro-ICE in a similar assay (data not shown). Overexpression of Nedd-2/Ich- 1 , induces cell death very effectively (Kumar et al, Genes Dev. 5:1613-1626 (1994); Wang et al, Cell 57:739-750 (1994)). Expression of CPP32/Yama in full length cDNA induces apoptosis of insect Sf9 cells but not that of mammalian cells (Fernandes-Alnemri et al, J. Biol. Chem 269:30761-30764 (1994); E. S. Alnemri, personal communication). Recombinant CPP32/Yama is inactive and cleavage of CPP32/Yama by ICE in vitro activates the precursor (Tewari et al. Cell 57:801-809 (1995b)), suggesting that in vivo CPP32/Yama may be activated by another protease to induce apoptosis. Expression of MCH2 also induces apoptosis of insect Sf9 cells but not that of mammalian cells (Fernandes-Alnemri et al. Cancer Res. 55:2737- 2742 (1995)). Thus, the members of the ICE family can be classified into 2 classes: those that when overexpressed in mammalian cells can induces apoptosis (e.g.7ce and Ich-1) and those that when overexpressed in mammalian cells cannot induce apoptosis (e.g. CPP32 and Mch-2). These experimental evidence suggest that in vivo members of the ICE family may be arranged in proteases cascades and certain members of the ICE family may activate other members of the ICE family. The control of apoptosis in mammals is much more complex than that in C. elegans where function of one ced-3 gene controls all programmed cell death (Ellis & Horvitz, Cell 44:817-829 (1986)). In contrast to C. elegans, multiple proteases may be involved in regulation of programmed cell death (apoptosis) in mammals. This hypothesis is supported by many in vitro studies. For instance, peptide inhibitors of ICE such as YVAD-cmk inhibit Fas induced apoptosis but requires much higher doses than that for inhibiting ICE (Enari et al, Nature 575:78-81 (1995)), suggesting that inhibition of additional ICE-Iike protease(s) is required for complete inhibition of Fas induced apoptosis. Similarly, Ac-DEVD-CHO, a peptide inhibitor of CPP32/Yama/Apopain, inhibits poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage at a dose of 1 nM but requires l μM to cause 50% inhibition of apoptosis in an cell-free system (Nicholson, D.W., et al, Nature 576:37-43 (1995)), suggesting that inhibition of protease(s) other than CPP32/Yama/Apopain is required for complete inhibition of apoptosis in this system. Furthermore, inhibitors that are known not to have effects or have little effects on ICE like cysteine proteases such as cysteine protease inhibitors trans-epoxysuccininyl-L-leucyiamido-(4-guanidino) butane (E64) and leupeptin, calpain inhibitors I and II, and serine protease inhibitors diisopropyl fluorophosphate and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluroride, were found to inhibit apoptosis induced by T cell receptor binding-triggered apoptosis (Sarin et al, J. Exp. Med. 178: 1693- 1700 ( 1993)), suggesting that not only cysteine proteases but also serine proteases may play important roles in mammalian cell apoptosis. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are important players in host cell-mediated immunity (reviewed by Henkart & Sitkovsky, Curr. Opin. in Immun. 5:404-410 (1994)). Granzyme B(GraB) is a serine protease Granzyme B is a serine protease required for the cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes (Shi et al. , J. Exp. Med. 176: 1521 - 1529 ( 1992)). It also plays a major role in apoptosis induced by CTLs since mice that are deficient for GraB generated by gene targeting technique are severely defective in CTL induced apoptosis (Heusel, J.W., et al, Cell 76:977-987 (1994)). GraB can induce apoptosis of many if not all cell types in the presence of pore forming protein perforin (Shi et al, J. Exp. Med. 775:553-566 (1992) & Shi et al, J. Exp. Med. 776:1521-1529 (1992)). Recent work showed that apoptosis of embryonic fibroblasts induced by granzyme B is mediated through ICE (Shi et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. , In Press (1996)) Apoptosis induced by granzyme B and perforin can be inhibited by inhibitors of the ICE family, including CrmA, ICH-1 S and a mutant ICE (Shi et al, Submitted (1996)). Most significantly, embryonic fibroblasts from 7ce deficient mice are resistant to granzyme B/perforin induced apoptosis, suggesting that ICE itself is required for cytoxicity of granzyme B/perforin in at least certain cell types (Shi et al, Submitted (1996)). Granzyme B does not, however, cleave and activate ICE precursor directly (Darmon, A.J., et al, J. Biol. Chem. 269:32043-32046 (1994)), suggesting that there are intermediate steps of regulation between granzyme B and ICE. A recent report showed that CPP32, a member of the ICE family, is activated by cytotoxic T-cell-derived GraB, suggesting that CPP32 is important for CTL killing (Darmon, A.J., et al, Nature 377:446-448 (1995)). CPP32, however, cannot be the only ICE family activated by CTL since CrmA is a very poor inhibitor of CPP32 (Nicholson, D.W., et al, Nature 576:37-43 (1995)). Tewari et al, Chem. 270:22605-22708 (1995) showed that expression of crmA completely blocks the Ca" -independent component of CTL -killing (i.e. Fas-mediated); if CPP32 were the Only ICE family member responsible for CTL cytotoxicity, expression of crmA should not suppress CTL killing. It is predicted that there are additional members of the ICE family which play an important role in CTL induced apoptosis. The amino acid sequence of GraB is not homologous with ICE; however, GraB and ICE share many enzymatic similarities. Like ICE, GraB requires Asp at PI position for cleavage. Inhibitors of ICE or the ICE family, CrmA, ICH- 1, and a mutant ICE are effective inhibitors of GraB/perforin induced apoptosis (Shi et al. Submitted (1996)). Embryonic fibroblasts that are deficient in ICE from 7ce-/- mice are resistant to GraB/perforin induced apoptosis (Shi et al, Submitted (1 96)), suggesting that ICE is critical for GraB/perforin induced apoptosis in at least certain cell types. ICE itself cannot be directly cleaved by GraB (Darmon, A.J., et al, J. Biol. Chem. 269:32043-32046 (1994)) and thus, although ICE is required for GraB/perforin induced apoptosis in certain cells, GraB does not activate ICE directly. One possibility is that GraB activates another ICE family member which may then directly or indirectly activate ICE and the activator of ICE can be inhibited by CrmA. Transgenic Animals With so many members in the ICE/CED-3 family, it is important to determine the ICE/CED-3 family member's functions individually. Transgenic mice are an ideal model for accomplishing this by generating mutations in the genes of interest, resulting in "knock-out" mice. Using such models, it has already been shown that mice deficient in 7ce develop normally but are resistant to endotoxic shock induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This can be attributed to their defect in production of mature IL-1 β (Li et al, Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995); Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)). Furthermore, 7ce deficient thymocytes undergo apoptosis normally when stimulated with dexamethasone and γ-irradiation but are resistant to Fas induced apoptosis (Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)), suggesting that ICE is required for Fas but not dexamethasone and γ-irradiation induced apoptosis in thymocytes. Ice may be involved, however, in γ-irradiation induced cell death in concanavalin A (conA)-stimulated splenocytes (Tamura et al, Nature 576:596-599 (1995)). Expression of 7ce is induced in splenocytes stimulated by conA and induction of 7ce expression enhances the susceptibility of mitogen activated T cells to cell death induced by γ-irradiation and DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agents such as adriamycin or etoposide induced cell death. Generation of mutant mice by gene targeting technique and ultimately, making crosses all of potential candidate genes, should provide vital information about the genetic and biochemical pathways of apoptosis. Over the last several years, transgenic animals containing specific genetic defects, e.g., resulting in the development of, or predisposition to, various disease states, have been made. These transgenic animals can be useful in characterizing the effect of such a defect on the organism as a whole, and developing pharmacological treatments for these defects. The relevant techniques whereby foreign DNA sequences can be introduced into the mammalian germ line have been developed in mice. See Manipulating the Mouse Embryo (Hogan et α/.,eds., 2d ed., Cold Spring Harbor Press, 1994) (ISBN 0-87969-384-3). At present, one route of introducing foreign DNA into a germ line entails the direct microinjection of a few hundred linear DNA molecules into a pronucleus of a fertilized one-cell egg. Microinjected eggs may then subsequently be transferred into the oviducts of pseudo-pregnant foster mothers and allowed to develop. It has been reported by Brinster et al (1985), that about 25% of the mice that develop inherit one or more copies of the micro- injected DNA. More specifically, "knock-out" mice, a specific type of transgenic animal, are obtained by first making mutant ES cells. Chimeric mice are then made by injecting ES cells into blastocytes and the chimera are bred to obtain the germline transmitted mutation. In addition to transgenic mice, other transgenic animals have been made. For example, transgenic domestic livestock have also been made, such as pigs, sheep, and cattle. Once integrated into the germ line, the foreign DNA may be expressed in the tissue of choice at high levels to produce a functional protein. The resulting animal exhibits the desired phenotypic property resulting from the production of the functional protein. In light of the various biological roles of apoptosis, there exists a need in the art to develop transgenic animals, e.g., transgenic mice, wherein genes involved in apoptosis have been modified. There also exists a need in the art to develop methods to test compounds directed to modifying the apoptotic condition using these transgenic animals. A further need in the art is to develop treatments for various pathological states in which apoptosis has been found to occur. Summary of the Invention It has now been found that overexpression of Ich-3 in rat-1 and HeLa cells induces apoptosis which can be inhibited by CrmA and Bcl-2. These results indicate that ICH-3 acting as an upstream regulator of ICE may play an important role in apoptosis and inflammatory responses. It has further been found that inactivation of the Ich-3 gene by gene targeting produces a transgenic animal (mutant mouse) which is resistant to endotoxic shock (septic shock)induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This invention satisfies a need in the art for a means to study the modulation of apoptosis regulated by the 7cΛ-5 gene by providing a method for modulating programmed cell death and by providing a transgenic non-human animal comprising a disrupted Ich-3 gene. Surprisingly, such an animal is resistant to septic shock. The invention is first directed to a method for modulating programmed cell death comprising the use of ICH-3. The method is further directed to promoting proIL-β processing by using ICH-3. More preferably the processing occurs in the presence of interleukin converting enzyme (ICE). The invention is also directed to an antibody (monoclomal or polyclonal) which specifically binds to ICH-3. Preferably the antibody binds to a 38 kDa or a 43 kDa portion of the ICH-3 protein or to the amino acid peptide TEFKHLSLRYGAKFD. The invention is further directed to a transgenic non-human animal in which the Ich-3 gene is disrupted. Preferably the non-human animal is a mouse. Such ICH-3 deficient mice exhibit resistance to septic shock. Furthermore, neonatal ICH-3 deficient female mice show delayed follicle activation, a reduced endowment of primordial oocytes and abnormal follicles. In a specific embodiment of the invention, the transgenic non-human animal is a mouse. Moreover, in an additional specific embodiment of this invention, the Ich-3 gene comprises an insertion/substitution resulting in deletion of 16 amino acids from the coding region of Ich-3 in exon 5 which includes the QACRG active site. In an additional embodiment, this invention provides a method of making the transgenic non-human animal of the invention comprising providing a first DNA molecule with an intact 7cΛ-5 gene; providing a targeting vector capable of disrupting said Ich-3 gene upon homologous recombination with said DNA molecule; placing said first DNA molecule and said targeting vector in contact under conditions where the DNA molecules undergo homologous recombination to produce a second DNA molecule comprising a disrupted 7cΛ-5 gene; introducing said second DNA molecule into blastocytes; implanting the blastocytes into the uterus of a pseudopregnant female; and delivering transgenic animals of the invention from said pseudopregnant female. In an additional embodiments, this invention provides a method of testing compounds affecting sepsis by providing a transgenic non-human animal having a disrupted 7cΛ-5 gene, wherein the animal exhibits an increased resistance to sepsis. One administers a compound to be tested to the transgenic animal, and determines the effect of the compound on the resistance to sepsis. In another embodiment, the invention provides for increasing the resistance to sepsis or septic shock by inhibiting ICH-3 in normal animals. In additional embodiments, this invention provides a method of testing compounds affecting follicular development by providing a transgenic non- human animal having a disrupted Ich-3 gene, wherein the animal exhibits delayed follicle activation as characterized by a reduced endowment of primordial oocytes and abnormal follicles. One administers a compound to be tested to the transgenic animal, and determines the effect of the compound on the delayed follicular development of the animal. Brief Description of the Figures Figures 1Λ-1B. The nucleotide sequence of Ich-3 cDNA and predicted amino acid sequence of ICH-3 protein. The initiation codon and stop codon are indicated in bold. The sequence coding for QACRG active site and polyadenylation signal are underlined. Potential cleavage sites are indicated by arrows below the residue. Figure 2Λ. Sequence and structural comparison of the mouse ICH-3 with other closely related members of cysteine protease family. TX, ICE τel -II and ICH-2 are the same protein. Dotted lines are spaces in the sequence to allow optimal alignment. The catalytic Gly 23 „ Cys 2! , and His-,,, residues are marked by an asterisk above the residues as indicated by x-ray crystallography analysis (Wilson et al., 1994; Walker et al., 1994). The residues whose amino acid side chains form the PI pocket are indicated by a " Λ " above the residue. And those for binding P2-P4 residues are indicated by a "♦". Known and predicted Asp-X cleavage sites which result in the p20/ρl0 subunits are indicated by arrows below the residue. The potential processing residues are underlined. Residues conserved in more than three ICE members are in bold. The numbers at the end of each lane are the numbers of amino acid of the protein. Figure 2B. The structure motifs of hICE, mICE, ICH-3 and hICH-2. The predicted Asp residues of ICH-3 cleavage sites are indicated. The position of the absolutely conserved pentapeptide sequence QACRG , which includes the catalytic Cysteine residue, is indicated above the bars. The black bar and hatched bar represent p20 and p 10 domains, respectively. Figure 3A. Induction of Ich-3 mRNA expression by LPS. Total RNAs were isolated from tissues of 7-10 weeks old mice with or without LPS injection (40mg/kg). The "+" and "-" sign represent with or without LPS injection. 5 μg total RNA from each tissue was loaded per lane. Lane 1, 2. 3 , 4, and 5 are total RNAs isolated from thymus, spleen, kidney, lung and brain, respectively. The amount of RNA was adjusted by β-actin blotting. Figure 3B. Expression pattern of/cΛ-3 in different tissues from wild type mice. 1 μg of total RNA was used for RT-PCR. The amount of PCR product was adjusted by β-actin. Figure 3C. Induction of ICH-3 protein expression by LPS. Proteins were isolated from tissues of 7-10 weeks old mice before and after LPS injection. The numbers (0, 4, 20) represent the hours after LPS injection. The amount of protein loaded from each sample was 60μg per lane except thymus, which was 20 μg. The western blot was probed with a rat anti-ICH-3 monoclonal antibody. Figures 4A-4D. ICH-3 induces apoptosis in Rat-1 cells. Rat-1 cells were transiently transfected with βactGal control (pβactGal vector alone)- Fig. 4A, mutant Ich-3-lacZ fusion under the control of β-actin promoter (pβactSόZ)- Fig. 4B, mouse Ice-lacZ fusion under the control of β actin promoter (p βactM 10Z)-Fig. 4C and Ich-3-lacZ fusion under the control of CM V promoter (pCMVM26Z)-Fig. 4D. 24 hours after transfection, the cells were fixed and stained with X-Gal solution for 3 hours. Figure 5. Cleavage of ICH-3 protein by granzyme B. 10 μg His-tagged ICH-3 protein purified from E. coli was incubated with 20 ng of GraB in the presence of 10 mM DTT at 30°C for 1 hour. The result was detected by Western blotting with a peptide antibody against p20 portion of ICH-3. Figure 6. ICH-3 does not process proIL-1 β directly but promotes processing of proIL-1 β by ICE. COS cells were cotransfected with mouse proIL-1 β (pCMVSl 1) and with either 7ce (pβactMIOZ) or Ich-3 (pCMVM26Z) or both. Vector DNA was added to each transfection to eqi lize the total amount of transfected DNA so that total amount of DNA is the same in each group of transfection. Each set of data was from at least three independent transfection results. 24 hours after transfection, supernatant was collected and subjected for ELISA test. The height of the bars represent the concentration of detected mature IL-l β in pg/ml. Figures 7Λ-7C. Targeted disruption of the Ich-3 Gene. Figure 7 A. Structure of the mouse Ich-3 gene. Exons are depicted as open boxes and are numbered from the exon encoding ATG translation initiation codon. Amino acids residues of each exon are indicated in the parenthesis. The locations and transcription orientation of PGKneo and HS Vtk selection cassettes are indicated. Restriction enzyme sites used for construction and Southern blotting are shown. Diagnostic probes used for Southern blot analysis are shown on the top of the figure. Figure 7B. Southern blot analysis of ES cell DNA. DNA was digested with BamHl and blot was hybridized to probe A. The wild-type allele contains a 10 kb BamHl fragment and the mutant allele contains a 8.7 kb BamHl fragment because of an additional BamHl site in the neo cassette. Random integration of the targeting vector gives a 2.7 kb BamHl fragment because the vector has an additional BamHl site next to the insert. Homologous recombinant ES clones were successfully screened using an internal probe. Two criteria to recognize the homologous recombination event were used: the disappearance of 2.7 kb BamHl fragment and appearance of 8.7 kb BamHl fragment. Figure 7C. Southern blot analysis of tail DNA from wild type, heterozygous and mutant. DNA was digested with BamHl and blot was hybridized to probe A. The wild-type allele is a 10 kb BamHl fragment and the mutant allele is a 8.7 kb BamHl fragment. Figures 8A-8D. Expression of Ich-3 in Mutant Mice. Figure 8A. Expression oiIclι-3 in Endotoxic Shock. Total RNA was isolated from the tissues 5 hr after administration of LPS. Expression was analyzed by Northern blotting with Ich-3 cDNA (0.8 kb Pstl fragment of BSNO12) as a probe. Genotypes were indicated as +/+ (wild-type) and -/- (mutant). Figure 8B. Absence of ICH-3 protein in Ich-3 mutant mice. Proteins were isolated from different tissues of both wild type (+/+) and homozygous mutant Ich-3 (-/-) mice 4 hours after LPS injection (40mg/kg). 20 μg proteins were loaded in each lane for western blot analysis using a rat-anti-Ich-3 monoclonal antibody. Figure 8C. Northern blot analysis of Ice and /c/ι-5 expression. Poly (A) + RNA was isolated from thymus of wild-type and Ich-3 mutant. 2 (g of poly(A) + RNA was loaded in each lane, and the blot was hybridized with Ich-3 cDNA (0.8 kb Pstl fragment of BSNO12), 7ce cDNA (PCR fragment of primer set MICE3 and MICE4) or chicken β-actin. A 1.4 kb Ich-3 transcript was detected in wild type but not in Ich-3 mutant. A 1.4 kb 7ce transcript was detected in both wild type and Ich-3 mutant in comparable amount. Figure 8D. Reverse-transcription PCR analysis of Ice and Ich-3 expression. The cDNA templates were reverse transcribed from mRNA isolated from thymus (Lanes 1, 3, 6, and 8) and kidney (lanes 2, 4, 7, and 9). Lanes 5 and 10 are negative control (no cDNA template). Lanes 1. 2, 6, and 7 are results by using cDNA templates from wild-type mice. Lanes 3. 4, 8, and 9 are results by using cDNA templates from mutant mice. Lanes 1 -5 are using primer set for Ich-3 exon 4 and 6 (NOV2 and mNOp20R primer set), lanes 6-10 are using primer set for Ice exon 6 (MICE3 and MICE4 primer set). Figures 9A-9B. Ich-3 deficient EF cells are resistant to Granzyme B and Granzyme 3 induced apoptosis. Embryonic fibroblasts from Ich-3-l- and wild type controls were treated with varying concentrations of granzyme B (Fig. 9A) or granzyme 3 (Fig. 9B) in the presence of a constant amount of perforin (50ng/ml) for a period of 2 and 8 hrs, respectively. The percentage of apoptosis cells was determined from cell counts after staining with Hoechst dye (Chen et al., 1995). Control wells contained cells alone incubated with or without perforin. Data points represent the percentage of apoptotic cells for a particular dilution of granzyme minus the percentage of apoptotic cells observed in medium alone. Figure 10. Partial Resistance to Fas-Induced Thymocytes Cell Death in cA-5-deficient mice. Freshly isolated thymocytes were incubated for 20 hr with antibody at the concentrations indicated. Cell viability was determined by trypan blue dye exclusion. Values represent the percentage dead cell from three independent wells (±S.D). Two independent experiments were performed and showed similar results. Figure 11. Survival of /cΛ-5-Deficient Mice After Administration with Lethal Dose of LPS. Survival of 7cΛ-5-deficient (-/-), heterozygous (+/-) and wild-type (+/+) mice after injection of lethal dose of LPS (40 mg LPS/kg body weight) were tested. A total of 10 Ich-3 mutant (5 males, 5 females), 9 heterozygous (8 males, 1 females), and 9 wild-type (3 males and 6 females) were tested in at least three independent experiments. Figures 12A-12B. Normal Secretion of IL-1 by Macrophages from /cA-5-Deficient Mice. Figure 12A. Northern blot analysis of Ice and /c/ι-5 expression in PECs and splenocytes. Northern blots were probed with 7ce or Ich-3 cDNA probes as indicated. Lane 1 : 2.5 (g of total RNA from splenocytes stimulated with conA (5 (g/ml) and murine IL-2 (100 u ml) for 3 days. Lane 2: 2.5 (g of total RNA from splenocytes stimulated with conA (5 (g/ml) for 3 days. Lane 3: 2.5 (g of total RNA from freshly isolated splenocytes. Lane 4 and 5: total RNA from PECs (lane 4, 2.5 (g RNA., lane 5, 10 (g total RNA). Figure 12B. IL-1 production by macrophages from /c/ι-5-deficient and wild-type mice. Peritoneal macrophages (PECs) were isolated and stimulated with LPS, and then ATP was added to induce apoptosis. [ 35 S]-methionine labeled cytokines in the supernatants were collected and then processed for immunoprecipitation. Antibodies used for immunoprecipitations were indicated in the figure. Genotypes were indicated as in +/+ (wild-type) and -/- (mutant). Figures 13A-13C. The function of Ich-3 in ovary. Figure 13 A. Morphometric analysis of the numbers of follicles at the primordial, primary or small preantral stages of development in ovaries of wild-type (open bars) and lch-3 deficient (hatched bars) female mice at 4 days of age postpartum (N. D. = none detected). Due to the large scale differences in the numbers of follicles at different stages of development, the insert depicts an enlarged frame specifically corresponding to the primary and small preantral follicle numbers. Figure 13B. Representative photomicrograph granulosa cells (GC) without an oocyte (arrows), and granulosa cells with multiple oocyte-like cells (arrow heads), found only in ovaries of Ich-3 mutant mice. Figure 13C. Comparative photograph of ovary from a wild type mouse at day 4 post-partum. Arrows point to normal granulosa cells with an oocyte. Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments In the description that follows, a variety of technical terms are used. Unless the context indicates otherwise, these terms shall have their ordinary well- recognized meaning in the art. In order to provide a clearer and more consistent understanding of the specification and claims, the following definitions are provided. Italicized words such as Ice or Ich refer to the gene or the corresponding RNA, while non-italicized words such as "ICE or ICH" refers to the protein product encoded by the corresponding gene. Apoptosis. As used herein, "apoptosis" refers to the process by which organisms eliminate unwanted cells. The process is regulated by a cellular program. Apoptosis may eliminate cells during normal development, aging, tissue homeostasis or following imposition of an external stress such as hypoxia or trophic factor deprivation. Disrupted gene. As used herein, "disrupted gene" refers to a gene containing an insertion, substitution, or deletion resulting in the loss of substantially all of the biological activity associated with the gene. For example, a disrupted Ich-3 gene would be unable to express a protein a substantial amount of ICH-3 protein. Endotoxic or septic shock. As used herein, "endotoxic or septic shock" means shock produced by bacterial endotoxins, particularly E. coli; particularly with septicemia or infection with gram negative bacilli. (Stedman s Medical Dictionary, 22nd ed., Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 1972). Septic shock may be produced by administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Septic shock is a systemic response to infection with high mortality in human (Morrison & Ryan, Annu. Rev. Med. 55:417-432 (1987)). LPS and other endotoxin products of gram-positive or gram-negative bacteria induce massive systemic release of TNF-α and IL-1, which are the major mediators of pathology in sepsis. The release of these endogenous mediators leads to several characteristic pathophysiological reactions, such as fever, leukopenia, thrombo- cytopenia, disseminated intravascular coagulation, leukocyte infiltration in various organs, hemodynamic changes and eventual death. Some of these responses may be due to the effects of TNF-α or IL-β on vascular endothelial cells which result in cell adhesion, vascular leakage and shock. Neutralization of either TNF-α or IL-β has been shown to prevent lethality in animal models of sepsis (Dinarello, et al, J. Am. Med. Assoc. 269: 106-1 13 (1993)). Expression vector. As used herein, an "expression vector" is a vector comprising a structural gene operably linked to an expression control sequence so that the structural gene can be expressed when the expression vector is transformed into an appropriate host cell. Two DNA sequences are said to be "operably linked" if the nature of the linkage between the two DNA sequences does not (1) result in the introduction of a frame-shift mutation, (2) interfere with the ability of the promoter region sequence to direct the transcription of the desired sequence, or (3) interfere with the ability of the desired sequence to be transcribed by the promoter region sequence. Thus, a promoter region would be operably linked to a desired DNA sequence if the promoter were capable of effecting transcription of that DNA sequence. ICE pathway. As used herein, "ICE pathway" refers to the pathway by which interleukin converting enzyme converts the pro-ILβ to IL-β eventually resulting in programmed cell death. Modulating programmed cell death. As used herein, "modulating programmed cell death" should be understood to mean that one either increases or decreases cell death depending upon the desired end result. Resistant to. As used herein "resistant to" means that an animal exposed to a certain treatment shows a greater degree of survivability than the corresponding control (i.e. the treatment is less lethal than to the corresponding control). This does not necessarily mean that all animals will survive the treatment. Sepsis. As used herein, "sepsis" means the presence of various pus- forming and other pathogenic organisms, or their toxins, in the blood or tissues; septicemia is a common form of sepsis. Septicemia is a systemic disease caused by the presence of microorganisms or their toxins in the circulating blood. (Stedman 's Medical Dictionary, 22nd ed., Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 1972). Targeting vector. As used herein "a targeting vector" is a vector comprising sequences that can be inserted into a gene to be disrupted, e.g., by homologous recombination. Therefore, a targeting vector may contain sequences homologous to the gene to be disrupted. This invention relates to non-human transgenic animals comprising a disrupted Ich-3 gene. Transgenic. As used herein, a "transgenic organism" is an organism containing a defined change to its germ line, wherein the change is not ordinarily found in wild-type organisms. This change can be passed on to the organism's progeny. The change to the organism's germ line can be an insertion, a substitution, or a deletion. Thus, the term "transgenic" encompasses organisms where a gene has been eliminated or disrupted so as to result in the elimination of a phenotype associated with the disrupted gene ("knock-out animals"). The term "transgenic" also encompasses organisms containing modifications to their existing genes and organisms modified to contain exogenous genes introduced into their germ line. Vector. As used herein, a "vector" is a plasmid, phage, or other DNA sequence, which provides an appropriate nucleic acid environment for a transfer of a gene of interest into a host cell. The cloning vectors of this invention will ordinarily replicate autonomously in eukaryotic hosts. The cloning vector may be further characterized in terms of endonuclease restriction sites where the vector may be cut in a determinable fashion. The vector may also comprise a marker suitable for use in identifying cells transformed with the cloning vector. For example, markers can be antibiotic resistance genes. Naturally occurring cell death acts to regulate cell number, to facilitate morphogenesis, to remove harmful or otherwise abnormal cells and to eliminate cells that have already performed their function. Additionally, programmed cell death is believed to occur in response to physiological stresses such as hypoxia or ischemia. Acute and chronic disregulation of cell death is believed to lead to a number of major human diseases (Ban et al. Biotech. 72:487-493, 1995). These diseases include but are not limited to malignant and pre-malignant conditions, neurological disorder, heart disease, immune system disorders, intestinal disorders, kidney disease and aging Malignant and pre-malignant conditions may include solid tumors, B cell lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, prostate hypertrophy, preneoplastic liver foci and resistance to chemotherapy. Neurological disorders may include stroke, Alzheimer's disease, prion-associated disorder and ataxia telangiectasia. Heart disease may include ischemic cardiac damage and chemotherapy-induced myocardial suppression. Immune system disorder may include AIDS, type I diabetes, lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome and glomerulonephritis. Intestinal disorder may include dysentery, inflammatory bowel disease and radiation- and HIV-induced diarrhea. Kidney disease may include polycystic kidney disease and anemia/erythropoiesis. Specific references to these pathophysiological conditions as involving disregulated apoptosis can be found in Barr et al. Id. - Table I. Knowing the genes and substrates involved in the ICE pathway and effects of altering or eliminating expression of apoptotic proteins such as ICE or ICH-3 leads to means for modulating (i.e. increasing or decreasing) cell death thereby altering apoptosis. A better understanding of the apoptosis pathways and specific gene products such as ICE or ICH-3 can also lead to development of assays for agents which may affect the apoptotic process. Interventions may include, inter alia, agents which affect the activities of the gene products (e.g. agents which block receptors, inhibit or stimulate enzymatic activity), modulation of the gene product using gene-directed approaches such as anti-sense oligodeoxynucleotide strategies, transcriptional regulation and gene therapy (Karp et al, Cancer Res. 54:653-665 (1994)). Therefore, apoptosis should be amenable to therapeutic intervention. In this regard, one may either stimulate or inhibit the process depending upon whether wants to increase or decrease the rate of programmed cell death. Proteolytic cleavage by the ICE family may lead to apoptosis in several ways. One possibility is that cleavage of a large number of proteins destroys the entire cellular machinery. This, however, is unlikely because most proteins appear to remain intact when cells undergo apoptosis (Lazebnik et al, Nature 371:346-347 (1994)). The second possibility is that proteolytic cleavage of one critically important substrate leads to cell deadi. This also is unlikely because a number of proteins, including pro-IL-lβ ribose polymerase (PARP), Ul-70 kD ribonuclear protein, and nuclear lamin are cleaved during apoptosis (Miura, et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 92:8318-8322 (1995); Lazebnik et al, Nature 577:346-347 (1994); Casciola-Rosen et al, J. Biol Chem. 269:30757-30760 ( 1994); Lazebnik, Y.A., et al, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 92:9042-9046 (1995)). It is not clear (with perhaps the exception of pro-IL-lβ), whether products of proteins cleaved by the ICE-family mediate downstream events of cell death pathways or whether they are merely the end result of apoptosis. In contrast to pro-IL-1 β, however, are the examples in the specification using ICH-3 which suggest that the Ich-3 gene encodes an upstream-regulator of ICE in vivo. The third possibility for how proteolytic cleavage may lead to apoptosis is that activation of the 7CE pathway and therefore the ICE family may result in cleavage of several substrates, some being activated (mediating cell death) and others being destroyed (required for cell survival). Activation of the pathway may occur due to events such as trophic factor deprivation, hypoxia. G,/S arrest or TNF-α treatment. Results previously obtained lead to favoring this last hypothesis, at least as related to the 7ce gene because the data indicate that endogenously-produced mature IL-1 β is directly involved in cell death and is the first identified substrate of an apoptosis-inducing gene whose product plays a direct role in mediating the apoptotic cascade. While these are proposed mechanisms for how the ICE-family may modulate apoptosis, they should in no way be construed as limiting the claims of the invention to operation by such a mechanism. Additionally, a number of signal transduction mechanisms mediate the biological effect of IL-lβ. Several of these second messengers have been implicated in apoptosis and, following ICE activation, likely mediate cell death following endogenous mature IL-lβ receptor binding. Therefore, blocking receptor binding will modulate apoptosis. IL-lβ induces ceramide production in EL4 thymoma cells (Mathias, S., et al, Science 259:519-522 (1993)). IL-lβ also induces apoptosis in pancreatic Rlm5F cells via a pathway which is dependent on its ability to induce nitric oxide production (Ankarcrona et al , Cell Res. 275:172- 177 (1994)). Both ceramide and nitric oxide are strong candidates for direct mediators of apoptosis (Ankarcrona et al, Cell Res. 275:172-177 (1994); Haimovitz-Friedman, A., et al, J. Exp. Med. 750:525-535 (1994)). A recent report showed that NGF deprivation of PC 12 cells, which induces apoptosis, led to a substantial activation of the JNK and p38 MAP kinases (Xia et al, Science 270: 1326- 1331 (1995)). IL-1 β has been shown to activate the JNK-p38 signaling pathway and NGF withdrawal may induce secretion of IL-l β which then activates the JNK-p38 pathway and cell death (Raingeaud, J., et al, J. Biol Chem. 270:7420-7426 (1995)). By obtaining transgenic animals in which specific genes and proteins of the apoptotic pathway are altered or eliminated (i.e. knock-out mice) a better understanding of the regulation of programmed cell death will be gained. In order to obtain a transgenic animal comprising a disrupted Ich-3 gene, a targeting vector is used. The targeting vector will generally have a 5' flanking region and a 3' flanking region homologous to segments of the gene surrounding an unrelated DNA sequence to be inserted into the Ich-3 gene. For example, the unrelated DNA sequence can encode a selectable marker, such as an antibiotic resistance gene. Specific examples of a suitable selectable marker include the neomycin resistance gene (NEO) and the hygromycin β-phosphotransferase. The 5' flanking region and the 3 ' flanking region are homologous to regions within the Ich- 3 gene surrounding the portion of the gene to be replaced with the unrelated DNA sequence. DNA comprising the targeting vector and the native Ich-3 gene are brought together under conditions where homologous recombination is favored. For example, the targeting vector and native 7cΛ-5 gene sequence can be used to transform embryonic stem (ES) cells, where they can subsequently undergo homologous recombination. The targeting vector pJ476, has been deposited with the A.T.C.C. (12301 Parklawn Dr., Rockville, Md. 20852) under the terms of the Budapest Treaty under A T.C.C accession number 98118 on August 1, 1996 Proper homologous recombination can be tested by Southern blot analysis of restriction endonuclease digested DNA using a probe to a non-disrupted region of the Ich-3 gene. For example, Probe A, identified in Figure 7 A, can be used. Since the native Ich- 3 gene will exhibit a different restriction pattern from the disrupted 7cΛ-5gene, the presence of a disrupted Ich-3 gene can be determined from the size of the restriction fragments that hybridize to the probe In one method of producing the transgenic animals, transformed ES cells containing a disrupted 7cA-5 gene having undergone homologous recombination, are introduced into a normal blastocyst The blastocyst is then transferred into the uterus of a pseudo-pregnant foster mother Pseudo-pregnant foster mothers have been mated with vasectomized males, so that they are in the proper stage of their estrus cycle and their uterus is hormonally primed to accept an embryo The extent of the contribution of the ES cells, containing the disrupted Ich-3 gene, to the somatic tissues of the transgenic mouse can be determined visually by choosing strains of mice for the source of the ES cells and blastocyst that have different coat colors The resulting homozygous Ich-3 mutant animals generated by homologous recombination are viable, fertile, and indistinguishable from wild-type and heterozygous littermates in overall appearance. These mutant animals contains essentially no full length 7cΛ-5 transcripts and no immunoreactive ICH-3 protein as measured by western blot analysis. The Ich-3 mutant animals of the invention can be any non-human mammal In embodiments of this invention, the animals are mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention, the Ich-3 mutant animal is a mouse The mutant mouse of the invention provides, ;«ter aha, a model and/or test system for investigators to manipulate and better understand the mechanisms of apoptosis, sepsis and folliculogenesis In particular, a better understanding is -gained concerning the role of the Ich-3 gene, its protein product and possibly the ICE pathway Such a model, allows the investigator to test various drugs where physiological responses are altered in the mouse, e.g. resistance to sepsis (increased) and thereby determine more effective therapy to address the underlying mechanism of the problem. Therefore, invention also provides, a method of screening compounds, comprising: providing the compound to a transgenic non-human animal having a disrupted Ich-3 gene; determining the effect of the compound on apoptosis of said animal; and correlating the effect of the compound with increases or decreases in apoptosis. The compounds to be tested can be administered to the transgenic non- human animal having a disrupted 7cλ-5gene in a variety of ways well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the compound can be administered by parenteral injection, such as subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intra-abdominal injection, infusion, ingestion, suppository administration, and skin-patch application. Moreover, the compound can be provided in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. See "Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences" (1990). The effect of the compound on apoptosis, septic shock or folliculogenesis can be determined using methods well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. In addition, the Ich-3 mutant animals of this invention unexpectedly exhibit an increased resistance to septic shock resulting from LPS administration The 7cΛ-5mutant animals of this invention, therefore, are useful as an animal model to study septic shock. For example, various compounds could be tested to determine whether they further increase or decrease the resistance of Ich-3 mutant mice to septic shock. This invention relates to Ich-3 mutant animals with defects in early folliculogenesis and germ cell endowment. Therefore, the invention provides methods for screening compounds using the 7cΛ-5mutant animals as an animal model to identify compounds useful in treating problems related to folliculogenesis or germ cell endowment. These aspects of the invention (i.e. those relating to the testing of compounds affecting apoptosis, septic shock, folliculogenesis and germ cell endowment) are useful to screen compounds from a variety of sources. Examples of compounds that can be screened using the method of the invention include but are not limited to rationally designed and synthetic molecules, plant extracts, animal extracts, inorganic compounds, mixtures, and solutions, as well as homogeneous molecular or elemental samples. Establishing that a compound has an effect in the Ich-3 mutant animals has predictive value relating to that compound's effect in other animals, including humans. Such predictive values provides for initial screening of therapeutical ly valuable drugs. The invention, therefore, provides a method of screening compounds, comprising: providing a transgenic non-human animal having a disrupted Ich-3 gene and exhibiting the properties described in this specification, administering a compound to be tested to the transgenic animal; determining the effect of the compound on the properties of interest in said animal; and correlating the effect of the compound on the Ich-3 mutant mouse with the effect of said compound in a control animal. Thus, the mutant animals of this invention are also useful as animal models to study apoptosis, septic shock and folliculogensis. Having now generally described the invention, the same will be more readily understood through reference to the following examples which are provided by way of illustration, and are not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Example Example 1 ICH-3 is a Member of the ICE Family To identify additional members of the ICE family, a mouse thymus cDNA library (Strategene) was screened under low stringency conditions using human 7ce cDNA as a probe. Two positive clones were identified. One of them was murine Ice cDNA and the other, named Ich-3 subsequently, encodes a protein similar but not identical to murine ICE. Cloning and construction ofplasmids A mouse thymus cDNA library containing 10ό plaque-forming units was screened by human Ice cDNA as a probe. Hybridization was performed under low stringency at 40 °C overnight in 5 x SSPE, 20 % formamide, 10 x Denhardt's solution, 1 % SDS. Filters were washed in 1 x SSPE, 0.5 % SDS twice at room temperature, and then twice at 42 °C. Two Ich-3 cDNA clones were originally obtained and subcloned into pBluescript II (named m29 and mNO). Additional 7cΛ-5 clones were also obtained from the same cDNA library by direct screening with a 7cΛ-5 probe and were subcloned in pBluescript II (named BSNO 1 , BSNO3, BSNO9 and BSNO 12). These clones contain inserts with overlapping segments of the Ich-3 gene. mNO contained the longest insert (2 kb) including ATG initiation codon, however, this insert was longer than the size of Ich- 3 mRNA determined by Northern blot. mNO contained an unexpected duplication of Ich-3 3' cDNA sequence at its 5' end. To confirm that the 35 bp upstream sequence from the ATG codon was derived from Ich-3 mRNA, reverse transcriptase PCR analysis was performed by using the primer set mNOF (5'-CTTCACAGTGCGAAAGAAC) and m29P2 (5'-GGTCCACACTGAAGAAT GTCTGGAGAAGCATTTCA). An amplified fragment of expected size was obtained, indicating that the entire coding region of Ich- 3 had been cloned (data not shown). To construct the Ich-3-lacZ fusion gene, full-length Ich-3 cDNA was made by PCR using M34 (CCCTCGAGCGGCCGCCATGGCTGAA AACAAACACCC) and mNOR (AAGTCGACTTGCCAGGAAAGAGG TAGAAATATC). LacZ Satl/BamHl fragment was isolated from pβactGal' and cloned into pBluescript (BSZ). BSZ was digested with^ol and SαTI and then ligated with 7cΛ-5 PCR fragment which was digested with Xbal and Sail (pM23Z). NotI fragment (lch-3-lacZ) of pM23Z was cloned into pβactSTneoB (pβactM24Z) or pcDΝA3 (pCMVM26Z). To construct mutant Ich-3 gene in which the coding region for the active cysteine residue is changed into a glycine residue, two primers containing the mutation were synthesized: NO2GA (GTGCAGGCCGGCAGAGGTGGG) and NO2GB (CCCACCTCTGCCGGCCTGCAC). The mutant construct pβactSόZ was made from two rounds of PCR using two pairs of primers. The first round of PCR was to generate the mutant cDNA as two half cDNA fragments. The 5' fragment from N-terminus to the mutation site was made using 7cΛ-5 cDNA as a template and M34 (CCCTCGAGCGGCCGCCATGGCTG AAAACAAACACCC) and NO2GB as primers. The 3' fragment from mutated site to C-terminus was generated using 7cΛ-5 cDNA as template and NO2GA and mNOR (AAGTCGACTTGCCAGGAAAGAGGTAGAAATATC) as primers. The PCR was performed under the following conditions: lxVent DNA polymerase buffer (Biolabs), 0.3 mM dNTPs, 0.5 μM each primers and 1 unit of Vent DNA polymerase (BioLabs) in a total volume of 25 μl. DNA was denatured at 94 °C for 1 min, annealed at 60 C for 1 min and elongated at 72 C for 1 min with 28 cycles. In the second round PCR, the mixture of 5'-fragment and 3 '-fragment was used as template and M34 and mNR Fusion as primers. The product of second PCR was a complete Ich-3 cDNA with a mutation which changed the active cysteine to a glycine. The conditions of the PCR were the same as in the first round. The PCR product was inserted into EcoRV site of pBluescript II and sequenced to insure that no additional mutation was introduced during the PCR reactions. The expression construct of the mutant 7cΛ-5 (pβactSόZ) was constructed similar to the original wild type construct. The cDNA sequence of Ich- 3 (Figure 1) contains an open reading frame of 373 amino acids. The first ATG translational start codon is at the nucleotide 35-37. An opal stop codon is at the nucleotides 1 154-1 156. There is a canonical poly(A) signal (AATAAA) at its 3' non-coding region. The predicted molecular weight of ICH-3 is 42 kDa. The amino acid sequence of ICH-3 is most homologous to human TX (60% identity), which is also named as ICErelll and ICH2 (Munday, N.A., etal, J. Biol Chem 270: 15870-15876 (1995); Kamens et al, J. Biol Chem. 270:15250-15256 (1995)). ICH-3 shares 46%, 45% and 54% of identities with murine ICE, human ICE and human ICErellll, respectively (Table 1). ICH-3 is less homologous to C. elegans Ced-3, human ICH-1,, human CPP32 and human MCH2 with 26%, 30%, 32% and 24% identities, respectively. Like all the other members of the ICE family, ICH-3 also lacks an extended serine rich region that is present in Ced-3 (Yuan et al, Cell 75:641-752 (1993)). The majority of sequence heterogeneity occurs in the prepeptide region, whereas those areas within and around the conserved pentapeptide QACRG, the active site for the ICE family, is highly homologous. These results indicate that ICH-3 protein is a member of the ICE family. Table 1. Summary of amino acid sequence identities among all the ICE/Ced-3 family members reported to date. The numbers in the table represent % of identity of the sequences compared. The human protein TX, ICE rel II and ICH-2 are the same protein. Percentage of amino acid sequence identity: IX mICE hICE rellll CED3 WCH1CPP32 MCH2 ICH-3 60 46 45 54 26 30 32 24 TX/ICErelII/ICH2 49 53 73 27 28 32 23 mICE 62 49 28 26 32 28 hICE 50 29 27 30 27 ICErel-III 25 25 30 23 CED-3 28 34 33 hICH-1 28 28 CPP32/YAMA 46 ICE is synthesized as a p45 precursor form which is cleaved during activation into the p20 and plO subunits (Thornberry, N.A., Nature 356:768-774 (1992)). The cleavage is dependent on aspartic acid residue in the PI position. Examining the residues involved in the maturation of the ICE precursor (Thornberry, N.A., Nature 556:768-774 (1992); Walker, N.P.C., etal, Cell 75:3434-352 (1994); Wilson, K.P., et al, Nature 570:270-275 ( 1994)), the residue of ICH-3 corresponding to the ICE residue involved in processing plO N-terminal is conserved, whereas the residues corresponding to the processing site for the N-terminus and C-terminus of p20 are not conserved in ICH-3 (Figure 2). Two nearby Asp residues (Asp„ and Asp, 0 ) in the ICH-3 sequence may serve as potential processing sites for the N-terminus of p20, which would produce a subunit of 20 kDa. According to the X-ray crystal structural analysis of ICE (Wilson, K.P., et al, Nature 570:270-275 (1994); Walker, N.P.C., et al, Cell 75:3434-352 (1994)), His 237 , Gly 2J8 and Cys 2g5 of ICE are involved in catalysis and all three are conserved in ICH-3 (His 206 , Gly 207 and Cys 254 ) (Figure 2A). The residues that are part of the PI Asp binding pocket in ICE (Arg l7 „ Gln IU , Arg„, and Ser„ 7 ) are also conserved in ICH-3 ( Arg l4 „ Gln 252 , Arg 3l0 and Ser ll6 )(Figure 2 A). However, the residues in ICE that make up the groove for binding P2-P4 residues of the substrate (ICE Val„„ Trp 340 , His„ 2 , Pro 343 , and Gln 3l5 ) are quite different in ICH-3 and the corresponding amino acids are Leu 307 , Tyr 30 „ Asp 31 „ Lys 312 and His 352 with only one Gln 352 conserved. These comparisons predict that ICH-3 is also a cysteine protease with preference for Asp at P 1 position but it may recognize a slightly different set of substrates than those cleaved by ICE. The molecular cloning and characterization of murine Ich-3, a new member of the Ice/ced-3 family is described. The predicted ICH-3 protein is 373 amino acids long and contains the 100% conserved ICE family signature peptide QACRG. Five additional members of the ICE family have been identified (Wang et al, Cell 57:739-750 (1994); Munday, N.A., et al, J. Biol. Chem 270: 15870-15876 (1995); Kamens et al, J. Biol. Chem. 270:15250-15256 (1995)). These ICE homologs can be classified into two different groups by their sequence homology: one group (ICE) is more homologous to ICE than to Ced-3 (TX/ICErelII/ICH2 and ICErellll) and the other (Ced-3) is more homologous to Ced-3 than to ICE or equally homologous to ICE and Ced-3 (ICH-1 , CPP32 Yama and MCH-2). Murine ICH-3 is more homologous to ICE than to Ced-3 and therefore belongs to the ICE group. The amino acid sequence of ICH-3 is 60% identical to TX, which is close to the identity shared by murine and human ICE (62% identity). The expression pattern of Ich-3 is also similar to TX: both are expressed in many tissues, but are expressed at very low levels in the brain. It is possible that ICH-3 is the murine equivalent of human TX. It cannot be concluded at the moment, however, that Ich-3 is in fact murine version of human TX because TX has been shown to be able to cleave pro-ICE (Faucheu et al, EMBOJ. 74:1914-1922 (1995)) whereas the same thing has not been observed for ICH-3 in a similar assay. Example 2 Ich-3 is Expressed in Many Tissues and is Induced by LPS To study the expression pattern of Ich-3, total RNA was isolated from different tissues of mice. Northern blot analysis and RT-PCR Total RNA from different tissues of mouse was isolated by TRIzol total RNA Isolation (GIBCO BRL). For isolation of total RNA from mice stimulated by LPS, 7-10 weeks old mice were injected with LPS at dose of 40mg/kg body weight and 5 hrs after LPS injection, tissues were isolated for RNA preparation. The 32 P-labeled probe was the 3'-fragment of Ich-3 generated by PCR using two primers NO2GA and mNoR. Hybridization was performed overnight at 62°C in 1% BSA, 1 mM EDTA, 0.5 M Sodium phosphate pH 7.2, and 17.5% SDS. The blots were washed in 40 mM Sodium phosphate (pH 7.2), ImM EDTA, 1% SDS and 70mM NaCl at 65°C and autoradiographed. For RT-PCR, first strand cDNA was synthesized by use of total RNA and random priming with Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase (Gibco BRL) as described previously (Wang et al., 1994). The primers used for PCR to amplify Ich-3 were mNOF (5'-CTTCACAGTGCGAAAGAACT-3') and m29P2 (5'-GGTCCACACTGAAGAATGTCTGGAGAAGCATTTCA-3'). The PCR was performed under the following conditions : lx Taq polymerase buffer (Promega), 0.3 mM dNTPs, 2.5 mM MgCl„ 0.5 μM each primer, 1 unit of Taq DNA polymerase (Promega) in a total volume of 25 μl. DNA was denatured at 94° C for 1 min, annealed at 5° C for 1 min and elongated at 72"C for 1 min with 30 cycles. The PCR of β actin was performed under the same conditions. Expression and purification ofICH-3from E. coli. An EcoRl fragment from the cDNA clone BSNO 12 encoding the full length Ich-3 was subcloned into EcoRl site of pTrcHis (Invitrogen). The construct was named as pTrcHisS9. In this construct, the N-terminal of Ich-3 was fused to a polyhistidine (six histidines) coding region and the fusion gene was placed under the control of the inducible trpB and lacUV5 hybrid promoter. The production of the fusion protein was induced by 0.3 mM IPTG and the protein was purified by His.Bind™ Buffer Kit from Novagen according to the protocol. The protein was stored at -20°C in 10% glycerol. Generation of ICH-3 p20 peptide antibody and Western blotting analysis A 15 amino acid peptide (H-TEFKΗLSLRYGAKFD)8-MAP-linked within the p20 region of ICH-3 was used for the generation of polyclonal antibodies. Standard protocols in the art were used (Liddell, et al, Antibody Technology, 1995; Drenckhahn et al, Methods in Cell Biology, Vol 37, 1993; Catty, D., Practical Approach Series, Vol. I A, 1988; E. Herlow et al. The specificity of these antibodies was verified by Western blot analysis. In addition, an anti-ICH-3 monoclonal antibody was isolated from rats immunized with bacterially expressed ICH-3 protein using conventional protocols (Harlow et al, ). The peptide and rabbit polycolonal antibodies against p20 region of ICH-3 were made by Research Genetics (Huntsville, AL) and purified using 4% N-hydroxy- succinimidyl chloro-formate-activated cross-linked beaded agarose from Sigma (H8635) according to manufacture's protocol. For Western blotting, 10 μg of purified bacterial ICH-3 fusion protein was subjected to SDS-PAGE on a 15 % polyacrylamide gel. Proteins were then transferred onto Immobilon-P membrane (Millipore, Bedford, MA) and incubated with 1 μg/ml rabbit anti-ICH-3 p20 polycolonal antibody for 2 hours at room temperature. After three washes with TBST (10 mM Tris pH 8.0, 0.15 M NaCl, 0.05% Tween 20), the membrane was incubated with horseradish peroxidase linked anti-rabbit Ig antibody for 45 min at room temperature (Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England). After washing three times, antibodies bound to the membrane were revealed with the ECL Western blotting reagent (Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England). To determine induction of ICH-3 by LPS, proteins were isolated from tissues of 7-10 week old mice before injection or 4 and 20 hours after LPS injection (40mg/kg). 60 μg of proteins were loaded in each lane on a 12% polyacrylamide gel for SDS-PAGE. After transferring the proteins onto Immobilon-P membrane, Western blotting was carried out as described above by using rat-anti mouse ICH-3 monoclonal antibodies. Northern blots were probed with an Ich-3 cDNA probe (from the active site to 3'-end) in high stringency conditions where the hybridization mixture contained 17.5% SDS. Under the conditions only sequences with more than 95% identity would hybridize, (see above - "Northern blot analysis") . The Ich-3 probe hybridizes to a single band of 1.4 kb mRNA which is very similar to the sizes of Ice mRNA and the reported size of TX/ICErelII/ICH2 (Figure 3A-3B). The expression pattern of Ich-3 is very similar to that of 7ce, except that of brain where 7ce expression can be detected but Ich-3 is not. Ich-3 expression can be detected in adult heart, lung, thymus, spleen, kidney. Higher levels of 7cΛ-5 is found in adult thymus and spleen, which is similar to the distribution of TX/ICH-2/ICE rel II mRNA (Faucheu etal, EMBOJ. 74:1914-1922 (1995); Kamens etal, J. Biol. Chem. 270: 15250-15256 (1995); Munday, N.A., et al, J. Biol. Chem 270Λ 5870- 15876 (1995)). Only RT-PCR can detect low levels of expression in brain (Figure 3B). The expression levels of Ich- 3 in wild type mice in control conditions are very low. Endotoxins (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) are strong inducers of proIL-1 β synthesis and mature IL-l β secretion. To examine if the expression of Ich-3 can be induced by LPS, RNA was prepared from mice either before injection or 5 hrs after injection of lethal dose LPS (40mg/kg of body weight). Northern blot analysis showed that Ich-3 RNA expression was dramatically induced at least 30 fold after LPS stimulation in thymus, lung, spleen and kidney but not brain where 7cΛ-5 expression is low in control mice (Figure 3A). 7ce transcription was not induced in spleen, kidney, lung, heart and brain after LPS stimulation. 7ce mRNA was only induced significantly in thymus (Figure 3A). The levels of ICH-3 protein before and after LPS stimulation were also investigated. Proteins were isolated from tissues of 7-10 weeks old mice before injection and 4 hrs or 20 hrs after LPS stimulation (40 mg/kg) and then analyzed on western blot using a monoclonal antibody which recognizes ICH-3 specifically. ICH-3 protein was undetectable in western blot of tissues isolated from control mice. In LPS stimulated mice, ICH-3 was detected as two proteins of 43 kDa and 38kDa. 43 kDa is very close to the predicted protein size from the full length Ich-3 cDNA. It is known that these proteins are from the Ich-3 locus because the lch-3-I- knockout mice that have been generated using gene targeting techniques are specifically missing these two proteins. LPS stimulation resulted in at least 20-30 fold increase in levels of ICH-3 proteins. In the spleen, two additional bands of 30 kDa and 26 kDa were detected which may be cleavage products of 43 kDa or 38 kDa. Elevated levels of ICH-3 proteins were found at both 4 hrs and 20 hrs after LPS stimulation, suggesting that LPS induced an immediate and sustained increase in levels of ICH-3 proteins. In contrast, western blot analysis of the same tissue samples using a polyclonal anti-ICE antibody detected no difference in expression before and after LPS stimulation (data not shown). These results suggest that 7cΛ-5 may be an important regulator of endotoxic shock in mice. Example 3 Overexpression ofIch-3 Induces Apoptosis To examine whether expression of Ich-3 may be able to induce apoptosis, the same transient expression system used for 7ce and Ich-1 (Miura et al. Cell 75:653-660 (1993); Wang et al, Cell 57:739-750 (1994)) was used. The mouse Ich-3 cDNA was fused with the E.coli lacZ gene and the fused gene was placed under the control of either a chicken β-actin promoter (pβactM24Z) or CMV promoter (pCMVM26Z). A mutant 7cΛ-5 was generated by site-directed mutagenesis in which the Cys residue in the conserved pentapeptide QACRG domain was converted to a Gly residue. This mutant was also fused to the lacZ gene and placed under the control of chicken β-actin promoter and named pβactSόZ. These expression constructs were transfected into different culture cells and their ability to induce apoptosis was tested by determining the ratio of round dead blue cells to flat live blue cells. Cell culture and transfection studies Rat-1 cells, HeLa cells and COS cells were maintained in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). For transfection, cells were seeded at a density of about 2.5x10 5 in each of the 6-well dishes. 1 μg of expression construct and 3μl of lipofectamine reagent were used according to the protocol from GIBCO BRL. The expression of lacZ fusion genes in cell cultures was detected by X-gal staining as previously described (Miura et al., 1993). For cotransfections using more than one construct, a CaCl 2 transfection method was used. Briefly, for each 6 well dish, 1-5 μg of DNA was mixed with 108 μl of water and 15.5 μl of 2M CaCl 2 . Then the DNA-CaCl 2 mixture was added slowly into 125 μl of 2xHBS(280 mM Nalco, 10 mM KC1, 1.5 mM NazHPO,.2H : O, 12 mM dextrose and 50 mM HEPES, pH7.2). After incubation at room temperature for 20-30 min, the DNA-CaCl 2 mixture was added into the dish and incubated at 37°C for 3-5 hours. The cells were shocked by 15% Glycerol in lxHBS for 1 min and then grown in complete medium until harvesting. As shown in Figures 4A-4D and Table 2, induction of Rat-1 cell apoptosis by 7cA-5 is as efficient as 7ce (both at about 97%). Thus, 7cΛ-5 clearly modulates programmed cell death. The percentage of cell death induced by Ich-3-lacZ under control of the chicken β actin promoter (pβactM24Z) is similar to that of the CMV promoter (pCMV26Z). Ich-3 is less effective in inducing HeLa cell apoptosis (43%) than that of 7ce (94%). Since Rat-1 cells are not transformed whereas HeLa cells are of tumor origin, this result suggests that lch-3 induced apoptosis may be more sensitive to apoptosis suppressors than that of Ice. Consistent with this hypothesis, bcl-2 is somewhat more effective in suppressing 7cΛ-5 induced cell death than that of 7ce (Table 2). Table 2. Overexpression of lch-3 in tissue culture ceils induces apoptosis. The constructs β-gal control (=pβactGal vector ), Ice-lacZ (Ice-lacZ fusion under β-actin promoter control=pβactM10Z), lch-3-lacZ (Ich-3-lacZ fusion under CMV promoter control=pCMVM26Z), and mutant 7cΛ-5 (=pβactS6Z , mutant lch-3 under β-actin promoter control) were transiently transfected in to different cell lines. 24 hours (40 hours in COS cells) after transfection, the cells were fixed and stained for X-Gal. The data (mean±SEM) are the percentage of round blue cells among total number of blue cells counted. The numbers in the parentheses are the number of blue cells counted. The data were from at least three independent experiments. ND, not determined. Constructs % of Cell Death Rat-1 Hela COS Rat-1 bcl-2 Rat-1 /crmA Vector alone 3.6+0.5(946) 9.0+2.6(768) 4.3+1.9(428) 3.0+0.6(987) 7.33+2.3(870) Ice-lacZ 97.7±3.4(746) 93.9+0.3(982) 1 1±0.2(1084) 69+19(81) 56.5+3.4(272) Ich-3-lacZ 97.2+4.2(751 ) 43.5±5.5(220) 12.1+2.1(548) 53.7+ 1 1(446) 55+14(618) mut. lch-3-lacZ 10.2 + 2.8 (654) ND 5.2+2.8(492) ND ND The cowpox virus gene crmA encodes a serpin that is a specific inhibitor of ICE (Ray, C.A., et al, Cell 69:597-604 (1992)). CrmA is much more effective in inhibiting ICE induced apoptosis than ICH-1, induced apoptosis (Wang et al, Cell 57:739-750 (1994)). CrmA is 10 4 fold more potent in inhibiting ICE than CPP32 (Nicholson, D.W., et al, Nature 576:37-43 (1995)). These results suggest that CrmA can discriminate among different members of the ICE family. Since expression of crmA can suppress trophic factor deprivation induced neuronal cell death (Gagliardini et al, Science 265:826-828 (1994)), CTL, Fas and TNFα induced apoptosis (Tewari et al, Chem. 270:22605-22708 (1995a); Talley, A.K., et al, Mol Cell. Biol 75:2359-2366 (1995);Enari et al, Nature 575:78-81 (1995); Los et al. Nature 575:81-83 (1995); Miura et al, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 92:8318-8322 (1995)), it became important to examine whether cell death induced by a particular ICE family member can be suppressed by CrmA. Expression constructs of Ice and lch-3 were transiently transfected into Rat-1 cells stably expressing crmA (Miura et al, Cell 75:653-660 (1993)) and percentage of round dead blue cells among total blue cells were counted. As shown in Table 2, 7cΛ-5 induced only 55% cell death in rat-1 /crmA cells compared with 97% cell death in Rat-1 cells. Similar inhibition of cell death was observed in 7ce induced cell death which is reduced from 97% to 57%. These experiments showed that CrmA is as effective in suppressing 7cΛ-5 induced cell death as that of Ice. Example 4 ICH-3 Can be Cleaved by Granzyme B In Vitro Recent studies suggest that Ice may be involved in GraB/perforin mediated Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) induced apoptosis. CTLs induce apoptosis via granzymes in the presence of the pore forming protein perforin (Shi et al, J. Exp. Med. 775:553-566 (1992a); Shi et al, J. Exp. Med. 776: 1521-1529 (1992b)). It has been shown that ICE cannot be cleaved directly by GraB; nevertheless, ICE is important for GraB induced apoptosis in at least certain cell types (Shi et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (In press, 1996) Other ICE family members may be processed by GraB, which in turn may directly or indirectly activate ICE. ICH-3 cleavage by GraB was examined. In vitro cleavage assay For in vitro cleavage of ICH-3 by GraB, 10 mg purified His-tagged ICH-3 protein was incubated with 20 ng of GraB in the presence of 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 0.5 mM EDTA, 0.5 mM Sucrose and 10 mM DTT in a total volume of 10 μl. The mixture was incubated at 30°C for 1 hour and the cleavage was detected by Western blotting with a peptide antibody against the p20 portion of ICH-3. To examine whether GraB can cleave ICH-3, a His-tagged ICH-3 protein was expressed in E. coli. His-tagged ICH-3 protein purified from bacteria was mixed with or without active GraB and incubated at 30 °C for 1 hour. The cleavage products were identified by Western blot with a peptide antibodies against the p20 or a monoclonal antibody against plO portion of ICH-3. As show in Figure 5, the full length ICH-3 band disappeared after incubation with GraB: a new 20 kDa band appeared which is detected by an anti-ICH-3 p20 antibody and a new 10 kDa band which is recognized by a monoclonal antibody against plO of ICH-3. The ICH-3 protein purified from bacteria is processed into p30 (perhaps by autocleavage) but not p20 and plO, whereas GraB can cleave ICH-3 into p20 and plO. Fragments around 30 kDa are the predicted sizes of the cleavages at Asp 59 and Asp 80. An additional cleavage at Asp281 will generate a 20 kDa and a 10 kDa subunit. To confirm that plO and p20 are generated from predicted p30 region, a T7-tagged p30 lch-3 was expressed in E. coli. Cleavage of this T7-tagged p30 generated predicted p20 and plO subunits recognized by p20 and plO specific antibody. The cleavage of ICH-3 by GraB suggests a possible role for ICH-3 in granzyme B/perforin induced apoptosis. Example 5 ICH-3 Does Not Process proIL-1 β Directly But Can Potentiate ICE For Cleavage ofproIL-lβ Mice with a homozygously disrupted 7ce genes are severely defective in generating mature IL-1 β (Li et al, Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995)); hence, ICE plays a critical role in processing pro-IL-l β to mature IL-l β. Since both mature IL-l and 7cΛ-5 mRNA can be dramatically induced by LPS in vivo, it is hypothesized that ICH-3 may directly or indirectly contribute to proIL-1 β processing. A transient transfection assay combined with enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test the ability of ICH-3 in cleaving proIL-1 β. Assay ofproIL-lβ secretion An EcoRl fragment of mouse proIL-1 β cDNA was cloned into pcDNA3 and placed under control of CMV promoter. The construct was named pCMVSl 1. To test whether ICH-3 can process proIL-l β, pCMVSl l was cotransfected with Ich-3-LacZ fusion construct pCMVM26Z into COS cells. proIL-1 β(pCMVSl 1) was also cotransfected with Ice-lacZ fusion construct and with vector (pβactGal). Vector DNA was added to each transfection to equalize the total amount of transfected DNA. 24 hours after transfection, supernatant was collected and stored at -80°C or used immediately for ELISA according to the manufacture's protocol (Genzyme, Cambridge, MA). In some experiments the cells were stained by X-Gal as previously described (Miura et al., 1993) to test the efficiency of the transfection. A mouse proIL-1 β expression construct pCMVSl 1 was cotransfected into COS cells together with either Ice (pβactMl OZ) or lch-3 (pCMVM26Z) expression constructs. 24 hours after transfection, secretion of mature IL-l β into the culture medium was quantified by an ELISA assay (Genzyme, Cambridge, MA). As shown in Figure 6, cotransfection of Ice with proIL-1 β resulted in a significant amount of secretion of mature IL-1 β . The amount of mature IL-1 β generated by ICE which ranges from 70 pg/ml to 600 pg/ml is proportional to the amount of proIL-l β and Ice used in the transfection. In contrast, when lch-3 was cotransfected with proIL-l β, no significant secretion of mature IL-l β was observed, indicating that ICH-3 could not process pro-IL-1 β by itself. Cotransfection of expression vectors of both 7ce and lch-3 with that of mouse proIL-1 β into COS cells resulted in a 50% increase in the amount of mature IL-l β secretion compared to Ice alone. Thus, ICH-3 can promote processing of proIL-1 β by ICE. There was no increase of mature IL-1 β production when 7ce was cotransfected with vector (pβactGal) or mutant lch-3 (pβactS6Z)(Figure 6), suggesting that ICH-3 enzyme activity is required for promoting ICE function in generating mature IL-l β in vivo. Expression of lch-3 mRNA is low in normal healthy tissues. The levels of ICH-3 proteins are generally undetectable on western blots of tissues from healthy mice. LPS stimulation dramatically induces 7cΛ-5 mRNA and proteins, which persists at least 20 hrs post LPS stimulation. In contrast, expression of 7ce is not elevated in most tissues after LPS stimulation with the exception of thymus where its level is moderately elevated. ICH-3 protein is undetectable in normal condition in mice. Upon stimulation by LPS, two proteins of 43 kDa and 38 kDa are detected. Both proteins are products of lch-3 gene because a null mutation in 7cΛ-5 locus eliminates both proteins (Miura et al. Submitted (1996)). 43 kDa is very close to the predicted protein size (42 kDa) which would be generated from full length lch-3 cDNA. The 38 kDa protein may be an alternatively spliced product of lch-3. These results suggest that ICH-3 may play a very important role in inflammatory responses. Consistent with its role in inflammatory responses, mice with a homozygous null mutation in lch-3 gene are resistant to LPS induced septic shock (See Example 10 and Figure 11). ICH-3 proteins, however, are not likely to be directly involved in processing of pro-IL-1 β for the following two reasons. First, there is no in vivo evidence of existence of another protease playing a significant role in pro-ILl β processing since ICE knock-out mice are at least 90% defective in processing pro-IL-1 β (Li et al, Cell 50:401 - 41 1 (1995); Kuide et al, Science 267:2000-2002 (1995)). Second, expression of lch-3 in COS cells does not lead to pro-IL-1 β processing directly; rather it promotes processing of pro-IL-1 β by ICE. This result suggests that ICH-3 is an upstream regulator of ICE. It is not clear, however, how ICH-3 activates ICE. The simplest possibility that ICH-3 directly cleaves ICE to activate it may not be true since the cleavage of pro-ICE by ICH-3 either in enzymatic assay using GraB activated ICH-3 or in cells by double transfection has consistently failed to be observed. It is hypothesized that there may be one or more intermediate steps between ICH-3 and ICE. Expression of lch-3 in COS cells may activate this intermediate step(s) which in turn activates ICE. This may also explain only a 50% increase in mature IL-1 β production is observed when both 7ce and lch-3 was coexpressed - because there is an intermediate step(s) involving a protein which is present in limited quantities in COS cells. This intermediate step may be controlled by another member of the ICE family. Alternatively, ICH-3 may activate ICE indirectly by inactivating an ICE inhibitor. A question was also raised whether the role of ICE is primarily in inflammation or apoptosis (Li et al, Cell 50:401-411 (1995)). It is clear now that ICE has functions in both processes since Ice-/- cells are defective in both production of mature IL-l β, and Fas and GraB induced apoptosis (Li et al, Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995);Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2002 (1995); Shi et al, Submitted (1996)). The same question can be asked for 7cΛ-5: expressing lch-3 can induce apoptosis which indicates that lch-3 has the ability to induce apoptosis which does not prove that it has a role in inducing cell death in vivo. Ich-3-/- thymocytes are partially resistant to Fas induced apoptosis and lch-3-/- EF cells are resistant to GraB induced apoptosis. These in vivo data are consistent with the in vitro data present here, that all suggest ICH-3 is an upstream regulator of ICE. Like 7ce-/- mice, a lethal dose of LPS fails to induce production of IL1 in the sera of lch-3-/- mice. The critical difference, however, is that lch-3 deficient macrophages and monocytes in vitro can produce mature IL-l as well as wild type cells when stimulated with LPS and ATP (for macrophages) or LPS alone (for monocytes); thus, lch-3 mutant cells still have the normal ICE function, whereas 7ce deficient macrophages and monocytes do not produce mature IL-1 when stimulated in vitro (Li et al, Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995)). These results suggest that ICH-3 may also be an upstream regulator of ICE in vivo. When mice are stimulated with LPS, ICH-3 may be induced first and activated which in turn indirectly activates ICE. This hypothesis is entirely consistent with the data presented here: ICH-3 does not process proIL-1 β directly but does promote proIL- 1 β processing when ICE is present. The requirement for ICH-3 is bypassed in vitro, however, when cells are stimulated with a strong signal. Summary of Examples 1-5. The predicted amino acid sequence of ICH-3 exhibits 46% identity with murine ICE, 45% identity with human ICE, 60% and 54% identities with human ICE-like proteases TX (TX, ICE re ,-II and ICH-2 are the same protein) and ICE r -,-III, respectively. It shares 26-32% sequence identity with CED-3, human ICH-1 L and CPP32/YAMA. Overexpression of lch-3 in Rat-1 and HeLa cells induces apoptosis which can be inhibited by CrmA and Bcl-2. Expression of Ich- 3 is dramatically elevated in vivo after stimulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin secreted by gram-negative bacteria which induces sepsis. In addition, ICH-3 can be cleaved by granule serine protease granzyme B in vitro. ICH-3 does not process proIL-1 β directly but promotes processing of proIL-l β by ICE. These results suggest that lch-3 may play an important role in apoptosis and inflammatory responses and may be an upstream regulator of ICE. Example 6 Generation of a Null Mutation in the lch-3 Gene in Mice To obtain the genomic clone of the lch-3 locus, a mouse 129/Sv genomic library using 7cΛ-5 cDNA as a probe (See Example 1 and Figure 1) was screened as follows. Construction of the lch-3 Targeting Vector A full length lch-3 cDNA was used to screen a lambda dash mouse genomic library of 129/Sv strain (Stratagene). To confirm the identities of genomic clones, phage DNA was digested with Sail and the genomic fragment was subcloned into pBluescript and analyzed by Southern blots and DNA sequencing. One of the subclones named BSMNO which contains all the coding exons of lch-3 was used to construct the targeting vector. A genomic 3.5 kb EcoRI fragment which contains the exon encoding the QACRG active site, was subcloned into pBluescript (pJ453). A 8 kb EcoRI fragment near 3' of lch-3 gene was subcloned into pBluescript (pJ451). A poly-adenylated neomycin resistance gene under the control of phosphoglycerokinase gene promoter (pGKneo) was inserted between a 2.2 kb EcoKl/Accl fragment of pJ453 and a 8 kb EcoRI fragment of pJ451, and thymidine kinase (tk) gene was ligated with 3' end of the 8 kb EcoRI fragment. The resulting targeting vector contained 2 kb of genomic DNA from the lch-3 gene before the PGKneo insertion and 8 kb of genomic DNA downstream from PGKneo and was named pJ476. A 1.5 kb piece of lch-3 genomic sequence including the region coding for the active site QACRG was replaced with PGKneo in this targeting vector. To clone the 5' portion of the lch-3 genome, the λFIX 129/Sv strain genomic library (Stratagene) was screened using an EcoRI/H ndlll 0.3 kb fragment of lch-3 cDNA (BSNO 12) which contains exon 2 and 3 of Ich- 3 as a probe. Four different genomic phage DNAs were subcloned into pBluescript (named BSNO3G, BSNO6G, BSNO11G, BSNO22G). From BSNO3G, a 3 kb EcoRI fragment which contains exon 2 and introns surrounding exon 2 was subcloned. A 1.9 kb fragment of exon 2 and the 5' intron was obtained by PCR using the primer set of T3 and m29P2 (5'-GGTCCACACTGAAGAATGTCTGG AGAAGCATTTCA) and was used as a probe for genomic Southern blot. This probe detects a 10 kb and 8.7 kb BamHl fragment in wild type and mutant mice, respectively. The same BamHl fragment could be detected by using an internal probe (3.5 kb EcoRI fragment of pJ451, described as probe A in Figure 7A). Determination of Intron/Exon Boundary Various primers were used for sequencing the genomic clone (BSMNO) to determine the position of intron/exon boundary. PCR was performed to determine the length of intron. Primers used for this study were as follows: for exon 2: m29P2 (5'-GGTCCACACTGAAGAATGTCTGGAGAAGCATTTCA); for exon 3: NO3 (5'-CCAGAAGAATCATTGAACAC), mNO 15 (5'-GAGAGTGTTCAATGA); for exon 4: NOV1 (5'-GCTGTAAGCTCCTCTTTCAC), NOV2 (5'- AAACATCTCTC ACTGAGGTATGGGGCTAAATTT); for exon 5: NO1 (5'-ACTCTCAGAA CACCAGACATC), NO2 (5'-CCCACCTCTGCAGGCCTGCAC); for exon 6: NOplO (5'-GCTGTCAAGCTGAGCC), mNOp20R (5'-TCAGCTTCCATATTCCATGG); for exon 7: M38 (5'-ATCACTTGTCCTACCGA); for exon 8: M50 (5'-GGCAAGTAT TCATTCCC), NO4 (5'-GATCAATGGTGGGCATCTGGGAA) and mNORFusion (5'-TTGCCAGGAAAGAGGTAGAAAT). Screening ofES cells Jl-ΕS cells were maintained on feeder layers of mouse embryonic fibroblasts in the presence of 500 U/ml of leukemia inhibitory factor (GibcoBRL, Grand Island, NY). ΕS cells were transfected with 15μg linearized pJ476 by electroporation (400V, 25 μF, Gene Pulser, Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). Thirty-six hrs after transfection, G418 (200 μg/ml of active form) was added to the medium and then 1 day later, 0.2 μM of FIAU (l-[2-deoxy, 2-fluoro-β-D-arabinofuranosyl]-5-iodouracil. Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Res., Seattle, WA) was added to the medium. Resistant colonies were p ced from day 10-12 after transfection, and expanded. DNA from each resistant colony was isolated and subjected to Southern blot analysis to identify clones that underwent homologous recombination. DNA was extracted according the method by Laird (1991), and digested with BamHl, and analyzed by Southern blot analysis probed with 3.5 kb EcoRI fragment of pJ453 (probe A in Figure 7A). Production of Chimeric and Mutant Mice C57BL/6J blastocytes were microinjected with 10-12 Jl cells from a single targeted clone and implanted into pseudopregnant foster females. Techniques for microinjection are readily known to those of skill in the art and descriptions of the same can be readily found in Hogan et al, (Manipulatimg the Mouse Embryo, 2d ed., cold Spring Harbor Press, 1994). Chimeric male progeny with >60% agouti coat color were mated with C57BL/6J x DBA2 Fl female, and their progeny were screened by Southern blot analysis with the probe described above for transmission of the targeted allele. 7cΛ-5 is a single-copy gene with at least 8 exons (Figure 7A). Εxon 1 only encodes 3 amino acids including the initiation codon ATG for Met. The active site pentapeptide QACRG is encoded in the exon 5. A replacement-type targeting vector was constructed for selecting homologous recombination events in lch-3 locus (Figure 7A). In this construct, a 1.5 kb lch-3 genomic DNA fragment containing the coding region for the active site QACRG pentapeptide was replaced with the neomycin phosphotransferase (neo) gene. This insertion/substitution resulted in deletion of 16 amino acids from the coding region of lch-3 in exon 5 including the QACRG active site. The 7cΛ-5 targeting vector was transfected into Jl ΕS cells by electroporation and ΕS cells were enriched for homologous recombinants by selecting in G418 and FIAU. Correctly targeted 7cΛ-5 mutant alleles were screened among G418/FIAU resistant ΕS cell clones by Southern blot analysis using an internal probe (probe A) (Figure 7B). Probe A detected a lOkb endogenous BamHl fragment in wild type cells whereas in cells with a homologous recombination event in one lch-3 locus it detects a 8.7 kb and a 10 kb BamHl fragments. If the targeting vector is randomly inserted in the ΕS cell genome, a 2.7 kb band is detected, in addition to the endogenous 10 kb BamHl band. An external probe which encompassed a 2 kb genomic DNA fragment including exon 2 was also used to confirm the homologous recombinants on additional Southern blots (data not shown). All confirmed clones were also probed with neo gene to ensure that there is only a single integration event (data not shown). The frequency of correctly targeted clones was 16 out of 719 G418/FIAU doubly -resistant colonies. Three clones (clones 282, 444, 531 ) were expanded for injection of C57BL/6J blastocysts. All three clones gave rise to highly chimeric males that were then mated with C57BL/6J x DBA2 Fl females to obtain germline transmission of the mutant alleles. Chimera of clone 444 produced germline transmitted mutant mice and the offsprings from clone 444 chimera were used for further studies. About 50 % of the offspring with agouti coat color derived from mating chimeras with C57BL/6J mice were heterozygous as determined by Southern blot analysis. Heterozygous mice were crossed and genotypes were determined by Southern blot (FigUre 7C). Of the progeny from such crosses, 30% of the mice were homozygous for the mutant allele, 23 % were wild-type, and 47% were heterozygous as determined by Southern blot analysis of tail DNA (total number of mice tested: 661). Thus, segregation of the mutant lch-3 allele was close to Mendelian ratio. The litter size from homozygous lch-3 deficient male and female mice mating was the same as heterozygous crosses with a 1 : 1 male and female ratio (Data not shown). These results suggested that mutation of the lch-3 locus did not cause any gross abnormalities of general health and reproduction of mice. Example 7 lch-3 Mutant Mice do not Express Wild Type lch-3 mRNA or Protein but Express Normal Amount of Ice Transcripts. To examine whether the lch-3 mutant mice express lch-3, total RNA was isolated from wild type and mutant mice. Northern Blotting and RT-PCR Total RNA was extracted from various organs of the mice by using TRIZOL reagent (GibcoBRL, Gaithersburg, MD) according to the manufacture's protocol. The Northern blots were probed using murine 7ce or lch-3 using conditions of 1 % BSA, ImM EDTA, 0.5 M sodium phosphate pH 7.2 and 7% SDS at 62 °C overnight. The blots were washed twice in 40 mM sodium phosphate pH 7.2, 1 mM EDTA, 1% SDS and 70 mM NaCl at 62 °C for 20 min each. Poly(A) + RNA was isolated from total RNA using standard oligo(dT) column chromatography (Sambrook et al. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition Cold Spring Harbor, New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, (1989)). For reverse transcription PCR, first strand cDNA was synthesized through the use of random priming with Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase (GibcoBRL, Gaithersburg, MD). The primers used for PCR to amplify lch-3 were NOV2, mNOp20R, mNOF (5'-CTTCACAGTGCGAAAGAACT), and m29P2. The primers used to amplify Ice were MICE3 (5'-GAGATGGT GAAAGAGGTG) and MICE4 (5'-TTGTTTCTCTCCACGGCA). The PCR was performed with the following conditions: 1 x Taq polymerase buffer (Promega), 0.3 mM dNTPs, 2.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.5μM each primer and 1U of Taq DNA polymerase (Promega) in a total volume of 25 μl. DNA was denatured at 94° C for 2 min prior to 30 cycles of 94 °C for 1 min, 55 °C for 2 min, 72 °C for 2 min . Northern blots were probed with lch-3 cDNA (from the Pst I site within the active site to the 5'-end of the cDNA). Since lch-3 transcription is dramatically induced after LPS stimulation, the transcription of the mutant lch-3 can be induced by LPS (Figure 2A) was tested. Tissue samples were isolated from both wild type and mutant mice before and 5 hrs after LPS injection at 40mg/kg of body weight intraperitoneally. As shown in Figure 8A, even when the lch-3 transcript level is dramatically induced in wild type mice, intact lch-3 transcript in mutant mice could not be detected. Wild type mice express a 1.4 kb 7cΛ-5 mRNA which is highly induced upon LPS stimulation whereas no wild type lch-3 mRNA can be detected in the mutant mice even after LPS stimulation (Figure 8A). A faint band of approximately 1.3 kb only in mutant mice in some of the tissues tested could be seen. This may be the result of aberrant transcription or splicing of the mutant allele. A monoclonal antibody was generated against ICH-3 (See Example 2). This ICH-3 antibody recognized two proteins of 43 kDa and 38 kDa in LPS stimulated tissue. To determine if these two proteins are encoded by the 7cΛ-5 locus, proteins were isolated from various tissues of wild type and 7cΛ-5 mutant mice. Western blots probed with this antibody showed that these two proteins are specifically missing in lch-3 mutant mice (Figure 8B). Thus, the 7cΛ-5 locus encoded two proteins of 43 kDa and 38 kDa and the targeted mutation in lch-3 has eliminated expression of both proteins. To determine if a deficiency in lch-3 affects the expression of 7ce, the expression of 7ce by Northern blotting and RT-PCR using mRNA isolated from wild type and lch-3 mutant thymus and kidney was also analyzed. A comparable amount of 7ce transcript in both wild-type and mutant mice (Figures 8C-8 D) could be seen. Thus, the absence of the lch-3 gene product did not have any obvious adverse effect on the level of 7ce mRNA. Example 8 lch-3 Mice Develop Normally The lch-3 deficient mice developed normally and their growth rate was the same as the wild type in postnatal development (not shown). Histological analysis of kidney, thymus, heart, and lung, in which lch-3 expression was higher than other tissues, from 7-10 weeks old mice showed no gross abnormalities (data not shown). The percentages of different subsets of T cells from freshly isolated thymocytes was examined by flow cytometry. There was no significant differences in the distribution of CD4 + CD8 + , CD4 D8 ' , CD4 CD8 + , or CD4 CD8 ' populations as compared with those of wild-type mice (data not shown). Example 9 Apoptosis in lch-3 Deficient Mice Granule serine protease (GraB) derived from cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) can induce apoptosis in the presence of the pore forming protein perforin (Shi et al, J. Exp. Med. 176: 1521 - 1529 ( 1992)). To determine the role of ICH-3 in apoptosis induced by GraB, the ability of lch-3-/- embryonic fibroblasts (EF) to undergo apoptosis following treatment with GraB or Granzyme 3 (Gra3) and perforin was examined. Embryonic fibroblasts from lch-3-/- mice and wild type littermate controls were treated with varying concentrations of GraB or Gra3 in the presence of a constant amount of perforin (50 ng/ml) for a period of 2 and 8 hrs, respectively. More than 40% of wild type EF cells died in 0.8 μg/ml of GraB or Gra3 in the presence of 50 ng/ml of perforin, whereas only baseline levels of apoptosis were detected in lch-3-/- EF cells (Figure 9). Thus, lch-3-/- EF cells were completely resistant to the dose of GraB and Gra3 tested (up to 0.8 μg/ml). This result suggested that ICH-3 plays an important role in GraB mediated apoptosis in EF cells. Thymocytes are sensitive to several apoptotic stimuli such as irradiation and dexamethasone (Cohen, J.J., et al, Annu. Rev. Immunol. 70:267-293 (1992)). To determine if apoptosis of thymocytes is affected by a mutation in the lch-3 locus, lch-3-/ - thymocytes were examined for defects in apoptosis using a variety of apoptotic induction signals. Thymocytes isolated from 6-7 week old, wild-type and lch-3 mutant mice were treated with 500 rads of γ-irradiation, or dexamethasone (1 (M), or 10 nM phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and 500 nM Ca 2+ ionophore, and cell viability was examined 10 hr or 24 hr after treatment by using FCAS analysis after staining with propidine iodine. (Schwartz, et al, "Cell Death - Methods in Cell Biology." vol. 46, Academic Press). No significant difference in apoptosis between mutant and wild type thymocytes was found under these stimuli, suggesting that the mutant 7cΛ-5 thymocytes die as readily as wild type thymocytes (data not shown). Fas antigen belongs to the TNF-α receptor superfamily. This family is characterized by its cytoplasmic death domain which is homologous to the Drosophila Reaper protein (Goldstein et al., 1995). Activation of Fas by either Fas ligand or agonistic anti-Fas antibody binding induces apoptosis (Yonehara et al, J. Exp. Med. 769:1747-1756 (1989);Suda et al. Cell 75:1 169-1178 (1993)). Fas-mediated apoptosis can be prevented by crmA, suggesting that crmA inhibitable ICE/CED-3 proteases are crucial for Fas-mediated apoptosis (Tewari & Dixit, J. Biol. Chem. 270:3255-3260 (1995); Enari et al, Nature 575:78-81 (1995); Los et al, Nature 575:81-83 (1995)). lch-3 induced cell death can be inhibited by crmA and lch-3 expression can be detected in thymus and spleen (See Example 3). Thus, it is possible that lch-3 may play a role in Fas-mediated apoptosis and lch-3 mutant mice may have different sensitivity to Fas mediated cell death. Therefore, sensitivity for anti-Fas induced apoptosis in lch-3 mutant thymocytes was also examined. Anti-Fas Induced Thymocytes Apoptosis Thymocytes were dissociated from thymus of 5-7 week old male mice and incubated in RPMI media with 10 % fetal bovine serum at a concentration of 2 x 10 6 cells/ml in 24 well tissue culture plates. They were incubated with anti-Fas antibody (JO-2, Pharmingen) for 20 hr with various concentrations of the antibody. Cell viability was determined by trypan-blue dye exclusion. Thymocytes were isolated from lch-3 mutant as well as wild-type mice of 5-7 weeks of age and incubated with different concentration of anti-Fas antibody. As shown in Figure 10, thymocytes from lch-3 deficient mice were partially resistant to anti-Fas induced apoptosis. Thus, the product of lch-3 gene may be a downstream component of the Fas pathway. The phenotypes of lch-3 deficient mice are similar to that of the 7ce deficient mice in many ways. The 7cΛ-5 mutant thymocytes are partially resistant to Fas induced apoptosis, but they die normally when stimulated with dexamethasone, γ-irradiation, or PMA and calcium ionophore. lch-3-/- embryonic fibroblasts are resistant to granzyme B induced apoptosis. Mutations in the C. elegans cell death gene ced-3 eliminates essentially all the programmed cell death during C. elegans development (Ellis & Horvitz, Cell 44:8\ 7-829 ( 1986)). In contrast, both Ice and 7cΛ-5 deficient mice are only partially defective in apoptosis induced by Fas. Example 10 Ich-3-Deficient Mice are Resistant to Septic Shock Administration of LPS to mice induces production and secretion, largely by macrophages and monocytes, of proinflammatory cytokines which are subsequently released into the circulation (Dinarello, C.A., et al, J. Am. Assoc. 269:1829-1835 (1993)). Lethal endotoxic shock can be induced by intraperitoneal injection of a high dose of LPS in mice. Wild-type mice show a series of responses such as shivering, fever, lethargy, watery eyes and ultimately death. 7ce-deficient mice are resistant to a lethal dose of endotoxin because of a dramatic reduction in release of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-lα and IL-1 β (Li et al, Cell Death & Diff 5:105-1 12 (1995); Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)). Induction of Septic Shock To examine if lch-3 deficient mice are also resistant to LPS, 8 week old wild-type and 7c ι-5-deficient mice were injected with LPS. The mice were injected intraperitoneally with LPS from Escherichia coli 0127:B7 (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) at a dose of 40 mg/kg body weight. The injected mice were monitored for signs of endotoxemia and lethality at least twice daily. The systemic release of cytokines after toxin challenge was determined by ELISA kits for murine IL-α and β (Genzyme, Cambridge, MA). Blood was taken 5 hr after LPS injection. Only 11% of the wild type mice survived 4 days after receiving LPS (Figure 11 ). Symptoms of endotoxic shock similar to those observed in wild-type mice were also observed in lch-3 deficient mice except that the lch-3 deficient mice were less lethargic and most of them recovered within 48 hours. Most of the lch-3 -deficient mice (80 %) survived 4 days after LPS treatment. Survival rate of heterozygous mice was about the half of the 7cΛ-5 -deficient mice (44 %). To investigate whether lch-3 mutant mice have a defect in production of proinflammatory cytokines in vivo which may explain why they are resistant to LPS, the plasma levels of IL-lα and IL-1 β which are dramatically reduced in 7ce deficient mice (Li et al. Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995); Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)) were tested. LPS at a dose of 40mg/kg body weight was administrated to lch-3 mutant and wild-type control mice, and plasma levels of IL- 1 α and IL- 1 β were measured by ELISA before and 5 hrs after LPS injection. IL-lα and IL-1 β were undetectable in both mutant and wild-type mice under control conditions. Plasma IL-1 β levels were significantly increased in wild type mice 5 hrs after LPS injection. Surprisingly, plasma IL-l β levels in lch-3 mutant were undetectable 5 hrs after LPS injection (Table 3), suggesting that 7cΛ-5 has a regulatory role in mature IL-lβ production in vivo. Plasma levels of IL-l were also significantly lower in 7ce-deficient mice than wild type mice after LPS stimulation (Li et al, Cell 50:401-411 (1995); Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)), suggesting that IL-l β may have a role in regulating IL- 1 α production and secretion. Thus, 7cA-5 mutant mice were further examined to determine if they had a defect in IL-lα production. Plasma of lch-3 mutant and wild-type control mice were assayed for IL- 1 α levels 5 hrs after LPS injection by ELISA. These experiments showed that, like 7ce -deficient mice, 7cΛ-5-deficient mice also have severely reduced plasma level of IL-l after LPS stimulation (Table 3), which is consistent with the hypothesis that IL-1 β may have a role in regulating IL-1 α levels in vivo. Table 3. Plasma Cytokine Levels in Endotoxic Shock. Cytokine Concentration (pg/ml) Cytokine Stimulus lch-3 +/+ lch-3 -/- IL-lα LPS 850 ± 150 40 ± 24 IL-l β None 0* 0* LPS 195 ± 60 0* lch-3 mutant (-/-) and wild type (+/+) mice were bled from the retro-orbital plexus 4 hr after LPS stimulation. The plasma was used for ELISA. The data are mean ± SEM. of at least three individual mice. *: lower than detection level. An ICE pathway The critical role of IL-1 in sepsis has been highlighted by the 7ce-deficient mice which are defective in secretion of both IL-lα and IL-l β and are resistant to LPS challenge (Li et al, Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995); Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)). IL-1 β is an important mediator of chronic and acute inflammatory diseases (Dinarello, C.A., Blood 77:1627-1652 (1991)). Although IL-1 β is a part of primary host defense to infections, over-stimulation of the system results in excessive or continued production of IL-1 which leads to debilitation of normal host functions with disastrous consequences. Reduction of IL-1 production and secretion is a target of therapy for many diseases. Pro-IL-1 β does not contain a signal peptide and mature IL-1 β is not usually detected inside the cell, suggesting that processing occurs concurrent with release (Hazuda, D.J., et al, J. Biol. Chem. 266:7081-7086 (1991)). Thus, understanding the regulation of pro-IL-1 β processing may be critical for design of drugs which may inhibit the release of mature IL-1 β. Since the results from the 7ce-deficient mice indicated that ICE is responsible for processing at least 90% of mature IL-l { Li et al , Cell Death & Diff. 5:105-112 (1995); Kuida et al. Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)), it is a surprising that 7cA-5-deficient mice are also resistant to LPS and also have defects in processing pro-IL-l β. There are three possible hypotheses which may explain why 7c ι-5-deficient mice are also defective in processing pro-IL-1 in vivo. The first hypothesis is that lch-3 controls or processes IL-1 β in cells other than macrophages and monocytes. This would explain why 7c/ι-5-deficient macrophages and monocytes process pro-IL-1 β at the same level as that observed in the corresponding wild type cells in vitro; however, this hypothesis cannot explain why lch-3 deficient mice are defective in processing IL-1 β in vivo when stimulated with LPS since monocytes and macrophages are the major producers of IL-1 β in vivo (Dinarello, C.A., et al, J. Am. Assoc. 269:1829-1835 (1993)). The second hypothesis is that ICH-3 protein may form a complex with ICE which is essential for ICE to process IL-1 β. This would explain why 7c ι-5-deficient mice are defective in processing IL-l β in vivo when stimulated with LPS. This hypothesis, however, is inconsistent with several in vitro studies. First, it does not explain why 7cΛ-5-deficient macrophages and monocytes can process and secrete IL-1 β in vitro when stimulated with LPS and ATP or LPS alone. Second, ICE alone is sufficient for the processing IL-1 β in vitro (Thornberry, N.A., et al, Nature 556:768-774 (1992)). Thus, the preferable hypothesis is that ICH-3 is an upstream regulator of ICE activity in vivo. It can therefore be hypothesized that in wild-type mice, LPS challenge leads to the activation of ICH-3 expression and proteolytic activity which in turn may indirectly activate ICE either by activating another member of the ICE family or by inactivating an inhibitor of ICE. This hypothesis, however, is consistent with in vitro studies which found that expression of lch-3 does not result in processing of pro-ILl β in COS cells but potentiates processing of pro-ILl β when cotransfected with an 7ce expression construct. This sequential pathway can be bypassed in vitro, where much stronger signals can be delivered than what would be possible in vivo under physiological conditions. It is predicted that in vivo, this sequential pathway is arranged in such a way so that the ICE/CED-3 members in the beginning of this pathway are more easily activated. When a physiological stimulus is delivered, the ICE/CED-3 family member in the beginning of the pathway is activated, which in turn activates the next ICE/CED-3 family member in line and so on. An in vivo signal would activate ICH-3 first which then indirectly activates ICE. In vitro, however, more than one member of the ICE/CED-3 family can be activated simultaneously by a strong signal and activation of any of these proteases may be sufficient by itself to cause cell death. Consistent with this hypothesis, although lch-3 -deficient mice have defects in production of mature IL-1 in vivo after LPS stimulation, 7c/?-5-deficient macrophages can process and secrete IL-1 β normally when stimulated with LPS and ATP. These results suggest that although ICE is under the control of ICH-3 in vivo, the requirement can be bypassed in vitro when stimulated with a stronger signal. This hypothesis may also explain why macrophages that are defective for either Ice or lch-3 can still undergo apoptosis when stimulated with ATP because multiple proteases may be activated directly by ATP bypassing the requirement for ICE or ICH-3. This hypothesis is also consistent with the fact that in vitro, high doses of ICE inhibitors are required to inhibit apoptosis because multiple proteases with different specificities may be activated by a single strong inducer of apoptosis. In general, the control of apoptosis in mammals appears to be very complex and delicate. First, different apoptotic signals may activate different effectors. While lch-3 and 7ce mutant thymocytes are partially resistant to Fas induced apoptosis, they are not resistant to 500 Rads of γ-irradiation, dexamethasone (1 μM), or 10 nM PMA and 500 nM Ca + ionophore. Thus, Fas may activate the ICE pathway more specifically than some of the other signals. Secondly, even the same signal at different doses may activate different components of the ICE pathway. For example, LPS is incapable of inducing IL-1 β secretion in lch-3 mutant mice and thus, cannot activate ICE in vivo; however, LPS in high dose can induce IL-1 β secretion in vitro and thus, can activate ICE directly in vitro even in the absence of ICH-3. Therefore, such complexity requires caution when interpreting in vitro data on apoptosis in mice relative to mutations in the ICE family. Inflammation and apoptosis Consistent with its proinflammatory role, lch-3 transcription is highly inducible after LPS stimulation. When wild type mice are challenged with a high dose of LPS, the lch-3 transcript levels increase dramatically in spleen, thymus, heart, liver and lung where 7cΛ-5 expression is very low in all of these tissues under normal condition (See Example 2). In contrast, 7ce transcript levels are increased only in thymus after LPS stimulation. These characteristics of lch-3 action are consistent with its regulatory role in other ICE/CED-3 family members. Homozygous lch-3 mutant mice are highly resistant to the lethality of LPS whereas an approximately 50% survival rate is observed in heterozygous mice, suggesting that 7cΛ-5 confers a gene dose-sensitive resistance to LPS. 7cΛ-5 mutant mice are resistant to septic shock induced by LPS, suggesting that lch-3 plays an important role in inflammation. 7cΛ-5 mutant mice are normal, however, in clearing pseudomonas bacterial infection (unpublished results), suggesting that lch-3 and, hence IL-1 as well are not essential for inflammatory response in this case. IL-1 β is undetectable in normal healthy individuals or animals. There is a dramatic induction of IL1 production by a variety of cells in response to infection, microbial toxins, inflammatory agents, and complement and clotting components (Dinarello, C.A., Blood 77:1627-1652 (1991 )). IL1 has been postulated to be part of the body's primary defense responses to invasions (Dinarello, C.A., Blood 77:1627-1652 (1991 )). Both 7ce (Li et al, Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995)) and lch-3 mutant mice, however, are apparently not any more prone to infections than wild type mice, at least in controlled animal facilities. lch-3 mutant mice also clear pseudomonas infection normally, although both mutants are highly resistant to LPS induced lethality. In addition, the initial symptoms of sepsis, such as fever, lethargy and watery eyes, which may be induced by other cytokines such as TNF-α, are present in lch-3 mutant mice after LPS injection, suggesting that these mice are indeed in septic shock. Absence of lch-3 selectively reduces the mortality of sepsis. These results suggest that a super-induction of IL-1 β together with IL-lα may be necessary and sufficient for mortality of sepsis. Since without lch-3 and with significantly reduced levels of IL-1, these mice can clear a septic dose of pseudomonas (unpublished observation), lch-3 and thus, IL-1 β , appear to be dispensable for fighting bacterial infection. Although without a systematic study of cell numbers in these organs in the mutants, it cannot be ruled out that 7c/z-5-deficient mice have defects in developmental and homeostatic cell death and therefore, have excess cells in these organs, it is suggested that a major function of lch-3 is not in development or homeostasis but rather in host defense responses under severe stress or viral infection conditions. These findings suggest that inhibitors to ICH-3 may be able to significantly reduce mortality of sepsis without compromise to host defense mechanisms. Furthermore, such inhibitors may also be useful in treating other inflammatory diseases in which IL-1 β plays a significant role such as rheumatoid arthritis (Li et al, Cell 50:404-41 1, 1995). Since ICE shares sequence homology with the C. elegans programmed cell death gene ced-3 product, it is interesting to speculate that perhaps inflammatory responses are evolved from primitive mechanism of programmed cell death. Although the most recognized role of IL-1 β has been in inflammation, there is indication that IL-1 β may play an active role in promoting apoptosis as well. Inhibition of IL-1 β by a naturally existing antagonist, IL- 1 Ra, or by a neutralizing antibody to IL- 1 β or IL- 1 β receptor, can reduce cell death in a number of systems and conditions (Friedlander, R.M., et al, J. Exp. Med. 184.August 1996, In Press). It is speculated that perhaps the lethality of sepsis may be partly due to the ability of IL-1 β to induce apoptosis which may contribute to organ failure, a major cause of death in sepsis. Results presented here suggest that there may be not only evolutionary links but also mechanistic connections between apoptosis and inflammation. Example 11 IL-1 Production in Cultured lch-3 Mutant Macrophages and Monocytes The phenotypes of 7cΛ-5-deficient mice as described to this point are very similar to that of 7ce-deficient mice except that unlike 7ce-5-deficient mice, the transcription of 7ce is at wild-type levels in the lch-3 mutant. Thus, it was determined whether lch-3-l- mice have normal ICE function. Since mice with a mutation in the 7ce locus are severely defective in processing pro-IL-l β ((Li et al, Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995); Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)), the ability to process pro-IL-1 β is a specific indication of ICE function. Thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal macrophages (PECs) can be stimulated with LPS to induce the expression of pro-ILl β and with ATP to induce apoptosis which causes the release of mature IL-1 β (Hogquist et al., 1991). Monocytes can be stimulated by LPS to induce the expression and secretion of IL-l β (Perregaux & Gabel, J. Biol. Chem. 269:15195-15203 (1994)). Both Ice-/- macrophages and 7ce-/- monocytes are defective in processing pro-IL- 1 β in vitro (Li et al. , Cell 50:401-41 1 (1995); Kuida et al , Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)). Macrophages and monocytes are major producers of IL-1 in vivo (Dinarello, C.A., Blood 77:1627-1652 (1991)). These results suggest that ICE is responsible for processing 90% or more of mature IL-1 β in vivo. Thus, if lch-3 mutant cells can produce normal levels of IL-1 β in vitro, it will be strong evidence that normal ICE function is present in lch-3 mutant mice. To examine if lch-3 is expressed in macrophage and monocytes, the expression of 7ce and lch-3 in wild type PECs and splenocytes by Northern blot (Figure 12A) was investigated. In vitro Assays ofIL-1 Release from Monocytes and Macrophages Peritoneal macrophages were prelabeled by incubating in [ 35 S]-methionine (120 μCi/ml) for 20 hr, and thereafter incubated in LPS (1 μg/ml) for an additional 4 hrs. The cells were then treated with ATP (5 mM) for 30 min, then washed and chased in fresh media for 20 hr. The media samples (500 μl) were collected, and two volumes of RIPA buffer (150 mM NaCl, 1.0% NP-40, 0.5% DOC, 0.1% SDS, 50 mM Tris-HCl pH8.0) containing protein A (50 μl) and 5 μg of anti-murine IL-1 α and IL- 1 β (kind gift of Dr. D. Chaplin) were added. Samples were incubated overnight at 4°C with gentle rotation and then washed four times with RIPA and two times with TBS (150 mM MaCl, 25 mM Tris-HCl pH7.5). Samples were then analyzed on 15 % SDS-polyacrylamide gels. Spleen cells were dissociated and the cells attached to tissue culture dishes within two hours were used as monocytes. Monocytes were treated with LPS (1 μg/ml) with or without nigericin (lOμM) for 20 hr. For ELISA, supernatant of LPS-treated monocytes was assayed for mature IL-1 β using a kit from Genzyme (Cambridge, MA). Similar amounts of 7ce and lch-3 transcripts in both PECs and splenocytes were seen. To examine if Ich- 3-/- macrophages and monocytes can process pro-IL-l β in culture, PECs from both wild type and 7cΛ-5 mutant mice were isolated. Isolated macrophages labeled with [ 35 S] methionine were stimulated with LPS to induce expression of pro-IL-1 β and then treated with ATP to induce apoptosis. There was no difference in apoptosis of macrophages stimulated with ATP in both wild type and 7cΛ-5 mutants (data not shown), which is similar to the 7ce mutant mice (Li et al. Cell Death & Diff. 5:105-1 12 (1995)). The release of mature IL-1 β in the culture medium after induction of apoptosis by ATP was examined by immunoprecipitation using antibodies specific to IL-l or IL-l β. The stimulated macrophages from 7cΛ-5 deficient mice released mature IL-l and IL-1 β at the same level as that of wild type macrophages (Figure 12B). It was also determined whether lch-3 mutant monocytes could be stimulated to produce mature IL-1 β in vitro. Monocytes were isolated from spleens of both wild type and 7cΛ-5 mutant mice and cultured in the presence of a high dose of LPS or LPS plus nigericin. Secretion of mature IL-1 β by monocytes into tissue culture media after LPS or LPS and nigericin stimulation was examined by ELISA. Nigericin is a K + -H + ionophore that can activate a plasma membrane adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and enhances release of mature IL-1 β (Perregaux & Gabel, J Biol. Chem. 269: 15195- 15203 (1994)). As shown in Table 4, the ability of Ich- 3-/- monocytes to secrete mature IL-1 β was similar to that of wild type. Thus, wild type and lch-3 mutant monocytes demonstrated no difference in their ability to secrete mature IL-l β in vitro when stimulated with LPS. These results show that IL-1 β release in culture was not reduced by the loss of Ich- 3 function, and thus lch-3 mutant monocytes and macrophages have normal IL-1 β converting enzyme activity. Table 4. Secretion of mature IL-1 β by monocytes. IL-1 β Concentration (pg/ml) Stimulus lch-3 +/+ lch-3 -/- None 0 0 LPS (1 μg/ml) 188±57 183±35 LPS ( 1 μg/ml) + nigericin (10μM) 460±87 580±190 Monocytes isolated from lch-3 mutant (-/-) and wild type (+/+) mice were treated either with LPS (I μg/ml) or LPS ( lμg l) + nigericin ( 10μM) for 20 hrs The supernatant was used for ELISA The data are mean ± SEM of monocytes from three individual mice for each genotype Example 12 Reduced Germ Cell Endowment and Delayed Follicle Activation in lch-3 Mutant Female Mice. Expression of lch-3 in the ovary was detectable by Northern blot analysis (data not shown). Although lch-3-/- female mice were fertile and had normal litter sizes, in depth morphometric and histological evaluations of the ovaries revealed three striking phenotypes. Histological and Morphometric Examination of Mouse Ovary Ovaries were isolated from wild-type or lch-3 mutant female mice at either 4 days or 6-7 weeks of age postpartum, fixed in neutral-buffered 4% paraformaldehyde, and embedded in paraffin for morphometric and histological evaluations. For all tissues, serial sections (7μm) were mounted on glass slides, stained with Weigert's hematoxylin pycric acid methyl blue dye, and visualized by light microscopy. The numbers of oocyte-containing primordial, primary and small preantral follicles were estimated using the fractionator and nucleator principles for stereological analysis as described previously described in the art (Gundersen et al., 1988; Ratts et al., 1995). Differences in follicle numbers were analyzed by a one-way analysis of variance followed by Scheffe's test, with significance assigned at P<0.05. At postpartum day 4 of age, estimates of the numbers of oocyte-containing follicles at the primordial, primary and small preantral stages of development demonstrated significantly less oocyte-containing primordial follicles (Figure 13A). The oocyte-containing follicles represent the stockpile of germ cells available for ovulation throughout reproductive life, in 7cΛ-5 mutant mice. The reduced endowment of primordial follicles in female lch-3 mutant mice may be the result of the subsequent degeneration of oocytes in follicles formed during the perinatal period, as remnants of primordial follicle-like structures containing a single layer of fusiform granulosa cells without an oocyte were scattered throughout the ovaries of Ich- 3 mutant mice (Figure 12B). Some of the follicle-like structures contained multiple oocyte-like cells instead of one oocyte as found in wild type primordial follicles (Figure 12B). The abnormal structures were never observed in ovaries of wild-type mice (Figure 12C). Furthermore, not one actively growing immature follicle (either primary or small preantral) could be detected in serial sections of ovaries collected from mice lacking functional lch-3 (Figure 12A, insert), indicative of an early defect in the timing of activation and recruitment of quiescent follicles into the growing pool. In contrast to the clear differences in the ovaries of mutant versus wild-type mice early in life, a similar series of morphometric and histological evaluations conducted at 6-7 weeks of age postpartum revealed no discernible differences in follicle numbers or ovarian histology (data not shown). The Role of ICH-3 in Female Germ Cell Endowment and Ovarian Follicular Dynamics The progeny ratio of homozygous Ich- 3 mutants to wild-type offspring from heterozygous female and male breedings deviates slightly from the expected Mendelian ratio (30 % lch-3 mutant and 23% wild type vs. expected 25% mutant and 25% wild-type). This finding prompted investigation into the development of the ovary in lch-3 mutant mice. Initial histological and morphometric examination of ovaries collected from adult mice at 6-7 weeks of age did not reveal any discernible differences in the lch-3 mutant and wild-type mice. Further examination of neonatal ovaries, however, revealed striking phenotypic abnormalities in lch-3 mutant mice. At postpartum day 4, not one actively growing follicle (primary or small preantral) was observed in six mutant ovaries analyzed. In contrast to this, on average there were 600 primary follicles and 100 small preantral follicles per ovary of wild-type littermates. Thus, activation of early follicle growth, as measured by transition of a quiescent primordial follicle to an actively growing stage, is significantly delayed in lch-3 mutant mice. It is interesting to draw a comparison with the nematode C. elegans. In C. elegans, ced-3 mutants develop normally despite of 20% excess cells (Ellis & Horvitz, Cell 44:817-829 ( 1986)). However, one of the most significant defects of ced-3 mutant is a 30% delay in onset of egg-laying (unpublished observation). It takes about 2.5 days for a wild type C. elegans to reach egg-laying stage whereas it takes about 3.5 days for a ced-3 mutant to lay eggs. This defect is fully suppressible by a ced-3 transgene, indicating that this defect is due to a mutation in ced-3 rather than a linked mutation. Moreover, this defect is not caused by problems with the neuronal control of egg-laying system since ced-3 mutants do not exhibit Egl (egg-laying) defect (Ellis & Horvitz, Cell 44:817-829 (1986)). It is therefore possible that ced-3 and programmed cell death plays a significant role in the timing of normal egg growth and maturation in C. elegans, analogous to the apparent requirement for ICH-3 in early follicle growth activation in the mouse. Endowment of a normal complement of primordial follicles, the source of the eggs for ovulation throughout life, in the neonatal lch-3 mutant mouse ovary is also severely affected: at postpartum day 4, wild type female mice have approximately 20,000 oocyte-containing primordial follicles whereas lch-3 mutant littermates have only 7,000. Cell death plays a predominant role in the establishment and subsequent depletion of the female gonadal germ cell pool in mammalian and avian species (Tilly, J.L., Frontiers Biosci. 7:dl-10 (1996)). Of the estimated two million germ cells present in the embryonic human ovary, only 300-350 of these oocytes are released from the ovary through ovulation for potential fertilization. The remaining, and overwhelming majority, of female germ cells are naturally lost directly through attrition during the perinatal period or as a consequence of somatic cell death and follicular atresia during pre- and postpubertal life. Although the regulation of cellular depletion from the ovary remains to be fully elucidated, recent studies have provided evidence that members of the Ice/ced-3 gene family may in fact be involved in ovarian cell death (Flaws, J.A., Edocri. 756:5042-5053 (1995)). In summary, it was found that postpartum day 4 lch-3 mutant female mice have significantly less primordial follicles in the starting "stockpile", suggesting that these mice: 1 ) began with a smaller embryonic pool of germ cells to undergo clonal expansion in the developing ovary; or 2) display a defect in clonal expansion of the germ cell pool in the fetal ovary; or 3) exhibit greater losses of oogonia and oocytes during the perinatal waves of attrition. If the latter possibility is true, lch-3 would play a role opposite of that expected since this gene is a member of the CED-3/ICE family of death-inducing proteases, yet its ablation yields a reduced oocyte survival rate. Interestingly, by 6-7 weeks of age, differences in numbers of follicles at the primordial, primary or small preantral stage of development in adult lch-3 mutant versus wild-type female mice were not observed. Since the lch-3 mutants start off with only one-third the number of primordial follicles per ovary as compared with their wild-type littermates, these findings further support the role of ICH-3 in the timing of early follicle activation and recruitment. For instance, wild-type females, from the time of birth until reproductive senescence, almost continuously "activate" primordial follicles to become a part of the growing follicle pool which will serve as a potential source of the egg for ovulation. The rates of follicle recruitment arc such that a delay in only one week in the timing of follicle activation (such as that potentially occurring in lch-3 mutants) would be sufficient for the wild-type mice to "deplete" their primordial pool to levels observed in the 7cΛ-5-deficient females. Consequently, these findings suggest that although the time in life at which complete follicular exhaustion occurs (reproductive senescence, the menopause in humans) would not be affected by the absence of lch-3, the timing of puberty may be delayed due to an initially reduced pool of actively growing follicles in lch-3 mutant ovaries. In addition to the reduced endowment of primordial follicles in the lch-3 mutants, neonatal ovaries collected from these mice also appear grossly abnormal in morphology. Reminiscent of the ovarian morphology of Bcl-2-deficient mice (Ratts, V.S., et al, Endocrinology 756:3665-3668 (1995)). In contrast to the wild-type ovaries, many primordial follicle-like structures containing a single layer of fusiform granulosa cells surrounding an empty space (presumably where an oocyte once existed), or a complex of multiple oocyte-like cells instead of the normal single oocyte were observed. The empty follicle-like structures suggest that the oocytes previously occupying these spaces have degenerated, which may partially account for the reduced numbers of endowed follicles in the mutants. However, the presence of follicles containing multiple oocyte-like cells in a large complex suggests another possibility: lch-3 mutants exhibit a defect in early folliculogenesis such that steps leading to the proper formation of a follicle are disrupted and hence granulosa cells surround either too many oocytes, or conversely no oocyte at all. In any case, these findings collectively indicate that lch-3 is very important for establishment of the female gonadal germ cell pool, early folliculogenesis, and activation of quiescent primordial follicles for recruitment into the growing pool of follicles required for ovulation. Summary of Results Concerning the lch-3 Mutant Mouse Observations are presented describing the inactivation by gene-targeting, of a new member of the Ice/ced-3 family of cell death genes, lch-3. Thymocytes from 7c/z-5 deficient mice are partially resistant to apoptosis induced by Fas antibody. Ich-3 -/- embryonic fibroblasts are resistant to granzyme B induced apoptosis. Neonatal lch-3-/- female mice show delayed follicle activation, a reduced endowment of primordial oocytes and abnormal follicles. Like Ice deficient mice, lch-3 mutant mice are resistant to endotoxic shock induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Production of both IL-lα and IL-1 β, a crucial event during septic shock, is severely reduced in lch-3 mutant mice after LPS stimulation. In contrast to 7ce deficient mice, whose macrophages and monocytes cannot process pro-IL-1 β in culture after stimulation with LPS and ATP or LPS alone, lch-3 mutant monocytes and macrophages process and secrete mature IL-1 β normally under these conditions. Similar to Ice, overexpression of lch-3 induces apoptosis in Rat-1 fibroblasts and 7c/z-5-induced cell death could be prevented by bcl-2 and crmA. Differing from Ice, however, expression of lch-3 is highly inducible by LPS, suggesting that lch-3 may have a regulatory role in both apoptosis and inflammatory responses. ICH-3 does not process proIL-1 β directly but overexpression of lch-3 does stimulate processing of pro-IL-1 β by ICE. Stimulation of wild type mice by LPS dramatically induces the production and secretion of mature IL-1 β. This response is absent in mice that are deficient for 7ce suggesting that ICE is responsible for processing at least 90% of IL-1 β (Li et al, Cell Death & Diff. 5:105-112 (1995);Kuida et al, Science 267:2000-2003 (1995)). Interestingly, it was found that, although ICH-3 does not process pro-IL-1 β directly, lch-3 deficient mice are also resistant to lethal dose of LPS which can be attributed to a lack of IL-1 production. An important difference between lch-3 and 7ce deficient mice is that lch-3 deficient macrophages and monocytes can process pro-IL-1 β normally in vitro when stimulated with LPS and ATP or LPS alone. These results suggest that 7cΛ-5 encodes an upstream regulator of ICE. Example 13 Reduction of Mortality Due to Endotoxin (Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide) in Normal Animals Control non-mutant mice are treated with a compound that inhibits ICH-3 prior to induction or during shock due to LPS. These compounds may be chosen from the group including but limited to, peptide inhibitors such as YVAD-cmk, Ac-DEVD-CHO, cysteine protease inhibitors or serine protease inhibitors such as trans-epoxysuccininyl- L-leucylamido -(4-guanidino) butane (E64) and leupeptin, calpain inhibitors I and II. The treated mice and non-treated control mice are injected intraperitoneally with LPS from Escherichia coli 0127:B7 (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) at a dose of 40 mg/kg body weight. The injected mice are monitored for signs of endotoxemia and lethality at least twice daily. The systemic release of cytokines after toxin challenge is determined by ELISA kits for murine IL1 -α and IL1 - β (Genzyme, Cambridge, MA). Blood samples are taken 1-8 hrs after LPS injection. This treatment should be applicable to any medical condition in which pathways induced by endotoxemia, including ICH-3 and apoptosis are involved. Example 14 Screening of Compounds that Affect Septic Shock using lch-3 Mutant Mice The lch-3 mutant mice exhibit resistance to endotoxic shock following injection of LPS. This is related to the lack of expression of ICH-3. Using the lch-3 mouse to screen compounds allows the pre-clinical determination of combinations of compounds which would be be beneficial in treating sepsis in normal individuals, i.e. if one can eliminate the effects of ICH-3 with a drug (i.e. thereby simulating the knock-out mouse), a second drug may potentiate the resistance to sepsis. Alternatively, if a drug decreases the resistance to septic shock, its use may be contra-indicated for therapy. Additionally, the mutant mice may be used for screening compounds for treating infection, the sequelae of thermal injury, major trauma, or combinations thereof, by correlating the effect of the compound in question on protecting the animal from the sequelae of sepsis or septic shock. Compounds to be screened for activity can be administered to the lch-3 mutant mice using pharmaceutically acceptable methods. See Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences (1990). Shock is induced as in Example 12 or by any means known to those of skill in the art. Alternatively, other injuries such as thermal injury (see Example 16) may be induced. For example, the compound to be screened can be administered at various concentrations by parenteral injection, infusion, ingestion. and other suitable methods in admixture with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The effect of various concentrations of the screened compound on increasing or decreasing the resistance to sepsis is measured relative to control lch-3 mutant animals that have not been administered the compound to wild-type animals. A significant increase in resistance to septic shock of the lch-3 mutant mice by a screened compound is indicative that the compound would exhibit beneficial effects in the treatment of sepsis, either alone or in combination with a compound that inhibits ICH-3. Particularly preferred compounds for screening are compounds known to inhibit activities of ICH-3 and ICE in vitro or any other candidate for treating sepsis or septic shock. EXAMPLE 15 Screening of Compounds for Affect on Follicle Activation using lch-3 Mutant Mice The female neonatal 7cΛ-5 mutant mouse exhibits significantly fewer primordial follicles as well as other defects related to folliculogensis. Compounds to be screened for folliculogenic activity can be administered to the lch-3 mutant mice in a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient. For example, the compound can be administered at various concentrations to mice as an ointment or salve. Alternatively, other pharmaceutically acceptable modes of administration can be used. For example, a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound can be administered by parenteral injection, infusion, ingestion, skin-patch application, and other suitable methods. The effect of the compound is measured relative to control lch-3 mutant animals that have not been administered the compound. A significant enhancement of folliculogenesis in mutant mice by a screened compound would indicate that this compound exhibits beneficial effects. Particularly preferred compounds for screening are compounds known to inhibit activities of ICH-3 and ICE in vitro. Example 16 Resistance ofIch-3 Mutant Mice to The Effect of Burns, Bacterial Infection and Sepsis A quantifiable burn and sepsis animal model was established in a variety of mouse strains, BIO, C3H, AKR, BALB/c and C57B16 using a clinical isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa administered intravenously and intratracheally in varying dosages in the presence and absence of a 10% body surface area (BSA) third degree burn. In this model, viable bacteria were administered intraperitoneally (up to 10 6 ) in the presence or absence of a 10% BSA burn to the shaved back of anaesthetized mice using a heated brass probe. Burned animals received saline resuscitation (3-5 ml.) while recovering from anesthesia. The time course of infection was followed. At various timepoints following infection, tissues (blood, lungs, liver, spleen) were harvested and immediately ground and plated on blood agar media for quantitative cultures, fixed for histology, frozen for cytokine mRNA assays and myeloperoxidase assays (a quantitative measure of infiltrating neutrophils). Initial studies focused on the 72 hours following infection based on the observation that survival and bacterial clearance are completed in mice by three days following exposure. In control wild-type mice, bacteria rapidly entered the bloodstream by one hour following ip injection. This bacteremia was cleared by 24 hours. In the burned wild type mice, the same time course of infection was observed with three exceptions: 1 ) While the Pseudomonas bacteremia was cleared, bacteremia due to organisms endogenous to the gastrointestinal tract was observed in the blood for up to 8 hours following thermal injury. These organisms were also found in the liver and lungs at periods up to 25 hours following thermal injury and after clearance of the bloodstream. Organisms isolated included Proteus spp, micrococci, enterococci, and anaerobic gram positive rods. These organisms were present in both lung and liver at 4 hours (75% of all animals in the lung, 100% in the liver), 7 hours (75% lung, 75% liver), and 25 hours (50% liver, 0% lung) following burns. The same pattern of bacteremia due to non- Pseudomonal organisms is observed if Pseudomonas is introduced via the airway (intratracheally up to 10 5 bacteria). 2) Cultures taken aseptically from the subcutaneous area underneath the burned skin demonstrated no infection with Pseudomonas introduced either ip or intratracheally (it) but 10/12 of these sites were infected with the same endogenous organisms found systemically. 3) Pseudomonas introduced intratracheally was cleared from the lungs more rapidly (i.e., fewer organisms cultured at 2, 4 and 6 hrs) in the burned animals than in the control for the first 7 hours following the burn. However, infection persists at 24 hours only in burned animals (50%). Further, when the number of Pseudomonas organisms introduced intratracheally is increased (500,000 per animal), the number of organisms per gram of lung tissue (wet weight) was increased almost 3.7 fold in burned animals (mean 108,158 colonies per gram in burned animals (sd 13,71 1) vs mean 29,286 (sd 14,798) p<0.01). Thus, this model is capable of demonstrating both delayed clearance of exogenous (e.g., nosocomial) infection and significant levels of endogenous (i.e., gastrointestinal translocation) infection following a 10% BSA thermal injury. Bacterial translocation from the gut following burns has been described extensively and is related to activation of cytokines, prostaglandins, neutrophils, with microvascular permeability and edema. A number of studies have demonstrated that thermal injury causes activation of neutrophils and transient sequestration of neutrophils in the lungs (and other tissues) largely in the vascular tree. The suggestion that ICH-3 was involved in the systemic response to injury was based on the initial observations that the ICH-3 knockout mouse was resistant to LPS (See Example 10). This was investigated in more detail. When 10 mg of E. coli LPS was injected intraperitoneally into 10 lch-3 mutant mice and 10 genetically identical wild-type mice, all of the wild-type animals died within 24 hours while all of the lch-3 mutant mice survived. It was assumed that the defect was somehow protective against the LPS injury. However, when the degree of inflammation was scored, the lch-3 mutant mice had greater levels of pulmonary neutrophilic infiltration than did wild type mice despite resistance to LPS. There was, however, a marked reduction in the level of anatomic lung injury in the knockout mice (by a score of 2.7 to 0.8 on a scale of 0-4 for edema, hemorrhage, alveolar proteinosis). The 7cΛ-5 mutant mice lacked serum IL-lβ in response to LPS as measured by ELISA assay, while normal animals had high levels of IL-lβ. However, it was already known based on the reports of three laboratories (L. Shornick, M. Tocci, and Immunex, in the Newsletter of the International Cytokine Society, 1994, p. 5) that the IL-lβ knockout was completely normal in response to LPS and to injection. Thus, the defect in these animals may not only be that of isolated IL-l β deficiency but there may be additional components which also limit susceptibility to LPS-induced lung injury. The 7cΛ-5 mutant mice were further studied in groups of 15-20 tail-blot-confirmed ICH-3 knockouts, heterozygotes, and wild types each (depending on the litter size) in the presence and absence of Pseudomonas infection and burn injuries. The clearance of bacteria from the bloodstream was equivalent in wild type and lch-3 mutant animals. The circulating white blood cell counts were slightly higher in the knockouts than those seen in wild-type animals with normal differential counts. The histology of the lungs and livers from burned lch-3 mutant mice and burned wild-type control animals was similar to that of the LPS injected mice: a greater intensity of neutrophilic infiltrate in the knockout mice with a marked reduction in edema and hemorrhage and greater adhesion of neutrophils to the vascular endothelium in the mutant mice. Burned skin in mutant mice also showed a much greater depth of neutrophil infiltration (from the dermis through the subcutaneous fat) than did wild-type animals which showed virtually no neutrophils above the level of the fatty subcutaneous tissue. Quantitative microbiologic culture data from multiple organs were obtained 24 hours after infection in one group of knockout and of control mice. No statistically significant difference in the clearance of bacteria was detected (p>0.05) between the lch-3 mutant mice and the wild types. Thus, lung injury was reduced in the presence of increased numbers of neutrophils, while the clearance of bacteria was unaltered. These observations suggested that: 1) the failure of infiltrating neutrophils to degranulate and, possibly, to die was related to the absence of lung injury and 2) that the profile of cytokines and other mediators in the lungs might be informative with regard to manipulations potentially protective to the lungs in the setting of burns, major trauma, infection and sepsis. Data supports the hypothesis that the lack of lung injury is due to the avoidance of degranulation of infiltrating neutrophils in the burn/sepsis model. Apoptosis of neutrophils appears to be, however, roughly equivalent in knockout and wild-type mice following thermal injury or bacterial infection. Example 17 Reduction of Mortality Due to Burn Injury and Sepsis in Normal Animals Under conditions of bacteremia, sepsis and following thermal injury (10% body surface area burn) lch-3 mutant mice are relatively resistant to development of pulmonary injury. Wild-type animals routinely (100%) develop pulmonary hemorrhage, pulmonary edema, and pulmonary inflammation following Pseudomonas bacteremia. The defect in the Ich- 3 mutant mouse appears to block this result. Control wild-type mice are treated with a compound that inhibits a pathway of apoptosis to mimic the genetic defect of the knockout mice. In this way one protects the lung against injury in common medical conditions. These injuries include but are not limited to sepsis due to bacteria and fungi, burn, major trauma, drug toxicity and other forms of systemic injury including viral infection, parasitemia, endocarditis, brain injury, pulmonary emboli all of which are associated with a syndrome knows as Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). This is a debilitating and potentially fatal disorder of pulmonary inflammation and injury with fibrosis and results in prolonged hospitalization for mechanical ventilation, frequent superinfection and is often associated with patient death. The apoptotic pathway involving ICH-3 is inhibited either prior to induction or during injury. The compounds to inhibit ICH-3 may be chosen from the group including but not limited to, peptide inhibitors such as YVAD-cmk, Ac-DEVD-CHO, cysteine protease inhibitors or serine protease inhibitors such as trans-epoxy succininyl-L-leucylamido -(4-guanidino) butane (E64) and leupeptin, calpain inhibitors I and II. The treated mice and non-treated control mice are then injured as above (See Example 16). Alternatively the mice are injured by routine methods known in the art for proucing major trauma. The injured mice are then monitored for the sequelae of injury, which includes but is not limited to signs of bacterial infection, endotoxemia and lethality at least twice daily. Additional sequelae of injury or infection can be readily found in the art, such as for example in Robbins S.L. et al, (Basic Pathology, 1987, W.B. Saunder Co.). Changes in the sequelae as recognized by those of skill in the art reflect an altered susceptibility to the injury being examined. The systemic release of cytokines after toxin challenge is determined by ELISA kits for murine IL-α, ILl-β, IL6. IL10, IL8 (Endogen, Cambridge, MA). Animals ar sacrificed amd/or blood samples obtained at time point up to 7 days following the injury. Tissues are analyzed as described in Example 16. All references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in the disclosure. Having now fully described the invention by way of illustration and example for puiposes of clarity and understanding, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that certain changes and modification may be made in the disclosed embodiments and such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the present invention. As examples, the preferred embodiments constitute only one form of carrying out the claimed invention. -67.1- SEQUENCE LISTING (1) GENERAL INFORMATION: (i) APPLICANT: YUAN, JUNYING WANG, SUYUE MIURA, MASAYUKI FISHMAN, JAY A. (il) TITLE OF INVENTION: PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH AND ICH- 3 (ill) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 27 (iv) CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS: (A) ADDRESSEE: STERNE, KESSLER, GOLDSTEIN £. FOX, P.L.L.C. (B) STREET: 1100 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW, SUITE 600 (C) CITY: WASHINGTON (D) STATE: DC (E) COUNTRY: USA (F) ZIP: 20005-3934 (v) COMPUTER READABLE FORM: (A) MEDIUM TYPE: Floppy disk (B) COMPUTER: IBM PC compatible (C) OPERATING SYSTEM: PC-DOS/MS-DOS (D) SOFTWARE: PatentIn Release #1.0, Version #1.30 (vi) CURRENT APPLICATION DATA: (A) APPLICATION NUMBER: To be assigned (B) FILING DATE: Herewith (C) CLASSIFICATION: ( i) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA: (A) APPLICATION NUMBER: US 60/023,937 (B) FILING DATE: 09-AUG-1996 (vin) ATTORNEY/AGENT INFORMATION: (A) NAME: GOLDSTEIN, JORGE A. (B) REGISTRATION NUMBER: 29,021 (C) REFERENCE/DOCKET NUMBER: 0609.422PC01 ( x) TELECOMMUNICATION INFORMATION: (A) TELEPHONE: (202) 371-2600 (B) TELEFAX: (202) 371-2540 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 1 : (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 1350 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS : single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear -67.2- (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: CDS (B) LOCATION: 35..1153 (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 1 : TCTTCACAGT GCGAAAGAAC TGAGGCTTTT TCTC ATG GCT GAA AAC AAA CAC 52 Met Ala Glu Asn Lys His 1 5 CCT GAC AAA CCA CTT AAG GTG TTG GAA CAG CTG GGC AAA GAA GTC CTT 100 Pro Asp Lys Pro Leu Lys Val Leu Glu Gin Leu Gly Lys Glu Val Leu 10 15 20 ACG GAG TAC CTA GAA AAA TTA GTA CAA AGC AAT GTA CTG AAA TTA AAG 148 Thr Glu Tyr Leu Glu Lys Leu Val Gin Ser Asn Val Leu Lys Leu Lys 25 30 35 GAG GAA GAT AAA CAA AAA TTT AAC AAT GCT GAA CGC AGT GAC AAG CGT 196 Glu Glu Asp Lys Gin Lys Phe Asn Asn Ala Glu Arg Ser Asp Lys Arg 40 45 50 TGG GTT TTT GTA GAT GCC ATG AAA AAG AAA CAC AGC AAA GTA GGT GAA 244 Trp Val Phe Val Asp Ala Met Lys Lys Lys His Ser Lys Val Gly Glu 55 60 65 70 ATG CTT CTC CAG ACA TTC TTC AGT GTG GAC CCA GGC AGC CAC CAT GGT 292 Met Leu Leu Gin Thr Phe Phe Ser Val Asp Pro Gly Ser His His Gly 75 80 85 GAA GCT AAT CTG GAA ATG GAG GAA CCA GAA GAA TCA TTG AAC ACT CTC 340 Glu Ala Asn Leu Glu Met Glu Glu Pro Glu Glu Ser Leu Asn Thr Leu 90 95 100 AAG CTT TGT TCC CCT GAA GAG TTC ACA AGG CTT TGC AGA GAA AAG ACA 388 Lys Leu Cys Ser Pro Glu Glu Phe Thr Arg Leu Cys Arg Glu Lys Thr 105 110 115 CAA GAA ATT TAC CCA ATA AAG GAG GCC AAT GGC CGT ACA CGA AAG GCT 436 Gin Glu lie Tyr Pro lie Lys Glu Ala Asn Gly Arg Thr Arg Lys Ala 120 125 130 CTT ATC ATA TGC AAT ACA GAG TTC AAA CAT CTC TCA CTG AGG TAT GGG 484 Leu He He Cys Asn Thr Glu Phe Lys His Leu Ser Leu Arg Tyr Gly 135 140 145 150 GCT AAA TTT GAC ATC ATT GGT ATG AAA GGC CTT CTT GAA GAC TTA GGC 532 Ala Lys Phe Asp He He Gly Met Lys Gly Leu Leu Glu Asp Leu Gly 155 160 165 -67.3- TAC GAT GTG GTG GTG AAA GAG GAG CTT ACA GCA GAG GGC ATG GAG TCA 580 Tyr Asp Val Val Val Lys Glu Glu Leu Thr Ala Glu Gly Met Glu Ser 170 175 180 GAG ATG AAA GAC TTT GCT GCA CTC TCA GAA CAC CAG ACA TCA GAC AGC 628 Glu Met Lys Asp Phe Ala Ala Leu Ser Glu His Gin Thr Ser Asp Ser 185 190 195 ACA TTC CTG GTG CTA ATG TCT CAT GGC ACA CTG CAT GGC ATT TGT GGA 676 Thr Phe Leu Val Leu Met Ser His Gly Thr Leu His Gly He Cys Gly 200 205 210 ACA ATG CAC AGT GAA AAA ACT CCA GAT GTG CTA CAG TAT GAT ACC ATC 724 Thr Met His Ser Glu Lys Thr Pro Asp Val Leu Gin Tyr Asp Thr He 215 220 225 230 TAT CAG ATA TTC AAC AAT TGC CAC TGT CCA GGT CTA CGA GAC AAA CCC 772 Tyr Gin He Phe Asn Asn Cys His Cys Pro Gly Leu Arg Asp Lys Pro 235 240 245 AAA GTC ATC ATT GTG CAG GCC TGC AGA GGT GGG AAC TCT GGA GAA ATG 820 Lys Val He He Val Gin Ala Cys Arg Gly Gly Asn Ser Gly Glu Met 250 255 260 TGG ATC AGA GAG TCT TCA AAA CCC CAG TTG TGC AGA GGT GTA GAT CTA 868 Trp He Arg Glu Ser Ser Lys Pro Gin Leu Cys Arg Gly Val Asp Leu 265 270 275 CCT AGG AAT ATG GAA GCT GAT GCT GTC AAG CTG AGC CAC GTG GAG AAG 916 Pro Arg Asn Met Glu Ala Asp Ala Val Lys Leu Ser His Val Glu Lys 280 285 290 GAC TTC ATT GCC TTC TAC TCT ACA ACC CCA CAT CAC TTG TCC TAC CGA 964 Asp Phe He Ala Phe Tyr Ser Thr Thr Pro His His Leu Ser Tyr Arg 295 300 305 310 GAC AAA ACA GGA GGC TCT TAC TTC ATC ACT AGA CTC ATT TCC TGC TTC 1012 Asp Lys Thr Gly Gly Ser Tyr Phe He Thr Arg Leu He Ser Cys Phe 315 320 325 CGG AAA CAT GCT TGC TCT TGT CAT CTC TTT GAT ATA TTC CTG AAG GTG 1060 Arg Lys His Ala Cys Ser Cys His Leu Phe Asp He Phe Leu Lys Val 330 335 340 CAA CAA TCA TTT GAA AAG GCA AGT ATT CAT TCC CAG ATG CCC ACC ATT 1108 Gin Gin Ser Phe Glu Lys Ala Ser He His Ser Gin Met Pro Thr He 345 350 355 GAT CGG GCA ACC TTG ACA AGA TAT TTC TAC CTC TTT CCT GGC AAC 1153 Asp Arg Ala Thr Leu Thr Arg Tyr Phe Tyr Leu Phe Pro Gly Asn 360 365 370 TGAGAACAAA GCAACAAGCA ACTGAATCTC ATTTCTTCAG CTTGAAGAAG TGATCTTGGC 1213 CAAGGATCAC ATTCTATTCC TGAAATTCCA GAACTAGTGA AATTAAGGAA AGAATACTTA 1273 -67.4- TGAATTCAAG ACCAGCCTAA GCAACACAGT GGGATTCTGT TCCATAGACA AGCAAACAAG 1333 CAAAAATAAA AAAAAAA 1350 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 2 : (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 373 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 2 : Met Ala Glu Asn Lys His Pro Asp Lys Pro Leu Lys Val Leu Glu Gin 1 5 10 15 Leu Gly Lys Glu Val Leu Thr Glu Tyr Leu Glu Lys Leu Val Gin Ser 20 25 30 Asn Val Leu Lys Leu Lys Glu Glu Asp Lys Gin Lys Phe Asn Asn Ala 35 40 45 Glu Arg Ser Asp Lys Arg Trp Val Phe Val Asp Ala Met Lys Lys Lys 50 55 60 His Ser Lys Val Gly Glu Met Leu Leu Gin Thr Phe Phe Ser Val Asp 65 70 75 80 Pro Gly Ser His His Gly Glu Ala Asn Leu Glu Met Glu Glu Pro Glu 85 90 95 Glu Ser Leu Asn Thr Leu Lys Leu Cys Ser Pro Glu Glu Phe Thr Arg 100 105 110 Leu Cys Arg Glu Lys Thr Gin Glu He Tyr Pro He Lys Glu Ala Asn 115 120 125 Gly Arg Thr Arg Lys Ala Leu He He Cys Asn Thr Glu Phe Lys His 130 135 140 Leu Ser Leu Arg Tyr Gly Ala Lys Phe Asp He He Gly Met Lys Gly 145 150 155 160 Leu Leu Glu Asp Leu Gly Tyr Asp Val Val Val Lys Glu Glu Leu Thr 165 170 175 Ala Glu Gly Met Glu Ser Glu Met Lys Asp Phe Ala Ala Leu Ser Glu 180 185 190 His Gin Thr Ser Asp Ser Thr Phe Leu Val Leu Met Ser His Gly Thr 195 200 205 -67.5- Leu His Gly He Cys Gly Thr Met His Ser Glu Lys Thr Pro Asp Val 210 215 220 Leu Gin Tyr Asp Thr He Tyr Gin He Phe Asn Asn Cys His Cys Pro 225 230 235 240 Gly Leu Arg Asp Lys Pro Lys Val He He Val Gin Ala Cys Arg Gly 245 250 255 Gly Asn Ser Gly Glu Met Trp He Arg Glu Ser Ser Lys Pro Gin Leu 260 265 270 Cys Arg Gly Val Asp Leu Pro Arg Asn Met Glu Ala Asp Ala Val Lys 275 280 285 Leu Ser His Val Glu Lys Asp Phe He Ala Phe Tyr Ser Thr Thr Pro 290 295 300 His His Leu Ser Tyr Arg Asp Lys Thr Gly Gly Ser Tyr Phe He Thr 305 310 315 320 Arg Leu He Ser Cys Phe Arg Lys His Ala Cys Ser Cys His Leu Phe 325 330 335 Asp He Phe Leu Lys Val Gin Gin Ser Phe Glu Lys Ala Ser He His 340 345 350 Ser Gin Met Pro Thr He Asp Arg Ala Thr Leu Thr Arg Tyr Phe Tyr 355 360 365 Leu Phe Pro Gly Asn 370 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 3: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 404 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS : single (D) TOPOLOGY: not relevant (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 3 : Met Ala Asp Lys Val Leu Lys Glu Lys Arg Lys Leu Phe He Arg Ser 1 5 10 15 Met Gly Glu Gly Thr He Asn Gly Leu Leu Asp Glu Leu Leu Gin Thr 20 25 30 Arg Val Leu Asn Lys Glu Glu Met Glu Lys Val Lys Arg Glu Asn Ala 35 40 45 -67.6- Thr Val Met Asp Lys Thr Arg Ala Leu He Asp Ser Val He Pro Lys 50 55 60 Gly Ala Gin Ala Cys Gin He Cys He Thr Tyr He Cys Glu Glu Asp 65 70 75 80 Ser Tyr Leu Ala Gly Thr Leu Gly Leu Ser Ala Asp Gin Thr Ser Gly 85 90 95 Asn Tyr Leu Asn Met Gin Asp Ser Gin Gly Val Leu Ser Ser Phe Pro 100 105 110 Ala Pro Gin Ala Val Gin Asp Asn Pro Ala Met Pro Thr Ser Ser Gly 115 120 125 Ser Glu Gly Asn Val Lys Leu Cys Ser Leu Glu Glu Ala Gin Arg He 130 135 140 Trp Lys Gin Lys Ser Ala Glu He Tyr Pro He Met Asp Lys Ser Ser 145 150 155 160 Arg Thr Arg Leu Ala Leu He He Cys Asn Glu Glu Phe Asp Ser He 165 170 175 Pro Arg Arg Thr Gly Ala Glu Val Asp He Thr Gly Met Thr Met Leu 180 185 190 Leu Gin Asn Leu Gly Tyr Ser Val Asp Val Lys Lys Asn Leu Thr Ala 195 200 205 Ser Asp Met Thr Thr Glu Leu Glu Ala Phe Ala His Arg Pro Glu His 210 215 220 Lys Thr Ser Asp Ser Thr Phe Leu Val Phe Met Ser His Gly He Arg 225 230 235 240 Glu Gly He Cys Gly Lys Lys His Ser Glu Gin Val Pro Asp He Leu 245 250 255 Gin Leu Asn Ala He Phe Asn Met Leu Asn Thr Lys Asn Cys Pro Ser 260 265 270 Leu Lys Asp Lys Pro Lys Val He He He Gin Ala Cys Arg Gly Asp 275 280 285 Ser Pro Gly Val Val Trp Phe Lys Asp Ser Val Gly Val Ser Gly Asn 290 295 300 Leu Ser Leu Pro Thr Thr Glu Glu Phe Glu Asp Asp Ala He Lys Lys 305 310 315 320 Ala His He Glu Lys Asp Phe He Ala Phe Cys Ser Ser Thr Pro Asp 325 330 335 -67.7- Asn Val Ser Trp Arg His Pro Thr Met Gly Ser Val Phe He Gly Arg 340 345 350 Leu He Glu His Met Gin Glu Tyr Ala Cys Ser Cys Asp Val Glu Glu 355 360 365 He Phe Arg Lys Val Arg Phe Ser Phe Glu Gin Pro Asp Gly Arg Ala 370 375 380 Gin Met Pro Thr Thr Glu Arg Val Thr Leu Thr Arg Cys Phe Tyr Leu 385 390 395 400 Phe Pro Gly His (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 4 : (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 402 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS : single (D) TOPOLOGY: not relevant (ii) MOLECULE TYPE : protein (xi ) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION : SEQ ID NO : 4 : Met Ala Asp Lys He Leu Arg Ala Lys Arg Lys Gin Phe He Asn Ser 1 5 10 15 Val Ser He Gly Thr He Asn Gly Leu Leu Asp Glu Leu Leu Glu Lys 20 25 30 Arg Val Leu Asn Gin Glu Glu Met Asp Lys He Lys Leu Ala Asn He 35 40 45 Thr Ala Met Asp Lys Ala Arg Asn Leu Cys Asp His Val Ser Lys Lys 50 55 60 Gly Ala Pro Ala Ser Gin He Phe He Thr Tyr He Cys Asn Glu Asp 65 70 75 80 Cys Tyr Leu Ala Gly He Leu Glu Leu Gin Ser Ala Pro Ser Ala Glu 85 90 95 Thr Phe Val Ala Thr Glu Asp Ser Lys Gly Gly His Pro Ser Ser Ser 100 105 110 Glu Thr Lys Glu Glu Gin Asn Lys Glu Asp Gly Thr Phe Pro Gly Leu 115 120 125 Thr Gly Thr Leu Lys Phe Cys Pro Leu Glu Lys Ala Gin Lys Leu Trp -67.8- 130 135 140 Lys Glu Asn Pro Ser Glu He Tyr Pro He Met Asn Thr Thr Thr Arg 145 150 155 160 Thr Arg Leu Ala Leu He He Cys Asn Thr Glu Phe Gin His Leu Ser 165 170 175 Pro Arg Val Gly Ala Gin Val Asp Leu Arg Glu Met Lys Leu Leu Leu 180 185 190 Glu Asp Leu Gly Tyr Thr Val Lys Val Lys Glu Asn Leu Thr Ala Leu 195 200 205 Glu Met Val Lys Glu Val Lys Glu Phe Ala Ala Cys Pro Glu His Lys 210 215 220 Thr Ser Asp Ser Thr Phe Leu Val Phe Met Ser His Gly He Gin Glu 225 230 235 240 Gly He Cys Gly Thr Thr Tyr Ser Asn Glu Val Ser Asp He Leu Lys 245 250 255 Val Asp Thr He Phe Gin Met Met Asn Thr Leu Lys Cys Pro Ser Leu 260 265 270 Lys Asp Lys Pro Lys Val He He He Gin Ala Cys Arg Gly Glu Lys 275 280 285 Gin Gly Val Val Leu Leu Lys Asp Ser Val Arg Asp Ser Glu Glu Asp 290 295 300 Phe Leu Thr Asp Ala He Phe Glu Asp Asp Gly He Lys Lys Ala His 305 310 315 320 He Glu Lys Asp Phe He Ala Phe Cys Ser Ser Thr Pro Asp Asn Val 325 330 335 Ser Trp Arg His Pro Val Arg Gly Ser Leu Phe He Glu Ser Leu He 340 345 350 Lys His Met Lys Glu Tyr Ala Trp Ser Cys Asp Leu Glu Asp He Phe 355 360 365 Arg Lys Val Arg Phe Ser Phe Glu Gin Pro Glu Phe Arg Leu Gin Met 370 375 380 Pro Thr Ala Asp Arg Val Thr Leu Thr Lys Arg Phe Tyr Leu Phe Pro 385 390 395 400 Gly His (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 5 : -67.9- (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 379 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS : single (D) TOPOLOGY: not relevant Ui) MOLECULE TYPE: protein (XI) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 5: Met Ala Glu Gly Asn H s Arg Lys Lys Pro Leu Lys Val Leu Glu Ser 1 5 10 15 Leu Gly Lys Asp Phe Leu Thr Gly Val Leu Asp Asn Leu Val Glu Gin 20 25 30 Asn Val Leu Asn Trp Lys Glu Glu Glu Lys Lys Lys Tyr Tyr Asp Ala 35 40 45 Lys Thr Glu Asp Lys Val Arg Ala Met Ala Asp Ser Met Gin Glu Lys 50 55 60 Gin Arg Met Ala Gly Gin Met Leu Leu Gin Thr Phe Phe Asn He Asp 65 70 75 80 Gin He Ser Pro Asn Lys Lys Ala His Pro Asn Met Glu Ala Gly Pro 85 90 95 Pro Glu Ser Gly Glu Ser Thr Asp Ala Leu Lys Leu Cys Pro His Glu 100 105 110 Glu Phe Leu Arg Leu Cys Lys Glu Arg Ala Glu Glu He Tyr Pro He 115 120 125 Lys Glu Arg Asn Asn Arg Thr Arg Leu Ala Leu He He Cys Asn Thr 130 135 140 Glu Phe Asp His Leu Pro Pro Arg Asn Gly Ala Asp Phe Asp He Thr 145 150 155 160 Gly Met Lys Glu Leu Leu Leu Leu Glu Gly Leu Asp Tyr Ser Val Asp 165 170 175 Val Glu Glu Asn Leu Thr Ala Arg Asp Met Glu Ser Ala Leu Arg Ala 180 185 190 Phe Ala Thr Arg Pro Glu His Lys Ser Ser Asp Ser Thr Phe Leu Val 195 200 205 Leu Met Ser His Gly He Leu Glu Gly He Cys Gly Thr Val His Asp 210 215 220 -67.10- Glu Lys Lys Pro Asp Val Leu Leu Tyr Asp Thr He Phe Gin He Phe 225 230 235 240 Asn Asn Arg Asn Cys Leu Ser Leu Lys Asp Lys Pro Lys Val He He 245 250 255 Val Gin Ala Cys Arg Gly Ala Asn Arg Gly Glu Leu Trp Val Arg Asp 260 265 270 Ser Pro Ala Ser Leu Glu Val Ala Ser Ser Gin Ser Ser Glu Asn Leu 275 280 285 Glu Glu Asp Ala Val Tyr Lys Thr His Val Glu Lys Asp Phe He Ala 290 295 300 Phe Cys Ser Ser Thr Pro His Asn Val Ser Trp Arg Asp Ser Thr Met 305 310 __ 315 320 Gly Ser He Phe He Thr Gin Leu He Thr Cys Phe Gin Lys Tyr Ser 325 330 335 Trp Cys Cys His Leu Glu Glu Val Phe Arg Lys Val Gin Gin Ser Phe 340 345 350 Glu Thr Pro Arg Ala Lys Ala Gin Met Pro Thr He Glu Arg Leu Ser 355 360 365 Met Thr Arg Tyr Phe Tyr Leu Phe Pro Gly Asn 370 375 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 6: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 418 amino acids (B) TYPE: ammo acid (C) ΞTRANDEDNESS : single (D) TOPOLOGY: not relevant (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 6 : Met Phe Lys Gly He Leu Gin Ser Gly Leu Asp Asn Phe Val He Asn 1 5 10 15 His Met Leu Lys Asn Asn Val Ala Gly Gin Thr Ser He Gin Thr Leu 20 25 30 Val Pro Asn Thr Asp Gin Lys Ser Thr Ser Val Lys Lys Asp Asn His 35 40 45 Lys Lys Lys Thr Val Lys Met Leu Glu Tyr Leu Gly Lys Asp Val Leu -67.11- 50 55 60 His Gly Val Phe Asn Tyr Leu Ala Lys His Asp Val Leu Thr Leu Lys 65 70 75 80 Glu Glu Glu Lys Lys Lys Tyr Tyr Asp Ala Lys He Glu Asp Lys Ala 85 90 95 Leu He Leu Val Asp Ser Leu Arg Lys Asn Arg Val Ala His Gin Met 100 105 110 Phe Thr Gin Thr Leu Leu Asn Met Asp Gin Lys He Thr Ser Val Lys 115 120 125 Pro Leu Leu Gin He Asp Ala Gly Pro Pro Glu Ser Ala Glu Ser Thr 130 135 140 Asn He Leu Lys Leu Cys Pro Arg Glu Glu Phe Leu Arg Leu Cys Lys 145 150 155 160 Lys Asn His Asp Glu He Tyr Pro He Lys Lys Arg Glu Asp Arg Arg 165 170 175 Arg Leu Ala Leu He He Cys Asn Thr Lys Phe Asp His Leu Pro Ala 180 185 190 Arg Asn Gly Ala His Tyr Asp He Val Gly Met Lys Arg Leu Leu Gin 195 200 205 Gly Leu Gly Tyr Thr Val Val Asp Glu Lys Asn Leu Thr Ala Arg Asp 210 215 220 Met Glu Ser Val Leu Arg Ala Phe Ala Ala Arg Pro Glu His Lys Ser 225 230 235 240 Ser Asp Ser Thr Phe Leu Val Leu Met Ser His Gly He Leu Glu Gly 245 250 255 He Cys Gly Thr Ala His Lys Lys Lys Lys Pro Asp Val Leu Leu Tyr 260 265 270 Asp Thr He Phe Gin He Phe Asn Asn Arg Asn Cys Leu Ser Leu Lys 275 280 285 Asp Lys Pro Lys Val He He Val Gin Ala Cys Arg Gly Glu Lys His 290 295 300 Gly Glu Leu Trp Val Arg Asp Ser Pro Ala Ser Leu Ala Val He Ser 305 310 315 320 Ser Gin Ser Ser Glu Asn Leu Glu Ala Asp Ser Val Cys Lys He His 325 330 335 Glu Glu Lys Asp Phe He Ala Phe Cys Ser Ser Ser Pro His Asn Val 340 345 350 -67.12- Ser Trp Arg Asp Arg Thr Arg Gly Ser He Phe He Thr Glu Leu He 355 360 365 Thr Cys Phe Gin Lys Tyr Ser Cys Cys Cys His Leu Met Glu He Phe 370 375 380 Arg Lys Val Gin Lys Ser Phe Glu Val Pro Gin Ala Lys Ala Gin Met 385 390 395 400 Pro Thr He Glu Arg Ala Thr Leu Thr Arg Asp Phe Tyr Leu Phe Pro 405 410 415 Gly Asn (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 7 : (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 15 ammo acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS : Single (D) TOPOLOGY: not relevant (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (Xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 7 : Thr Glu Phe Lys His Leu Ser Leu Arg Tyr Gly Ala Lys Phe Asp 1 5 10 15 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 8 : (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 8: CTTCACAGTG CGAAAGAACT 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 9: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 35 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid -67.13- (C) STRANDEDNESS: Single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 9 : GGTCCACACT GAAGAATGTC TGGAGAAGCA TTTCA 35 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 10: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 36 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 10: CCCTCGAGCG GCCGCCATGG CTGAAAACAA ACACCC 36 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 11: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 33 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 11: AAGTCGACTT GCCAGGAAAG AGGTAGAAAT ATC 33 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 12: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS : (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA -67.14- (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 12: GTGCAGGCCG GCAGAGGTGG G 21 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID Nθ:13: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (Xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 13: CCCACCTCTG CCGGCCTGCA C 21 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 14: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID Nθ:14: CCAGAAGAAT CATTGAACAC 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 15: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 15: -67.15- GAGAGTGTTC AATGA 15 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 16: (l) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY, linear (il) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID Nθ:16: GCTGTAAGCT CCTCTTTCAC 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 17: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 33 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY, linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: CDNA (Xl) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 17: AAACATCTCT CACTGAGGTA TGGGGCTAAA TTT 33 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 18: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (li) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID Nθ:18: ACTCTCAGAA CACCAGACAT C 21 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 19: -67.16- (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 19: CCCACCTCTG CAGGCCTGCA C 21 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 20: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 16 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (li) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 20: GCTGTCAAGC TGAGCC 16 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 21: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS : (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic ac d (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 21: TCAGCTTCCA TATTCCATGG 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 22: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single -67.17- (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 22: ATCACTTGTC CTACCGA χ (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 23: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (li) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:23: GGCAAGTATT CATTCCC 17 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 24: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 23 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:24: GATCAATGGT GGGCATCTGG GAA 23 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 25: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 22 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA -67.18- (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 25: TTGCCAGGAA AGAGGTAGAA AT 22 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 26: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 18 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:26: GAGATGGTGA AAGAGGTG 18 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 27: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS : (A) LENGTH: 18 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 27: TTGTTTCTCT CCACGGCA 18

Claims: -68- What Is Claimed Is: 1. A method for modulating programmed cell death in a cell comprising contacting said cell with modulating amounts of ICH-3. 2. The method of claim 1 comprising using ICH-3 in the presence of ICE. 3. A method of promoting proILl-β processing by a cell in the presence of ICE comprising contacting said cell with ICH-3 expressed under the control of a CMV promoter. 4. A method for stimulating synthesis of Ich- 3 gene products in a cell comprising contacting said cell with stimulatory amounts of using Iipopolysaccharide (LPS). 5. A monoclonal or polyclonal antibody that specifically binds ICH-3. 6. The antibody of claim 5, wherein said antibody binds to a 43 kDa or a 38 kDA fragment of the ICH-3 protein. 7. The antibody of claim 5, wherein said antibody binds to the p20 region of ICH- 3. 8. The antibody of claim 7, wherein said antibody is made against the antigen having the amino acid peptide (H-TEFKHLSLRYGAKFD)8-MAP-LIN ED. 9. A transgenic non-human animal comprising a disrupted lch-3 gene. 10. The transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 9, wherein said animal is a mouse. 1 1. The transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 9, wherein said transgenic animal is resistant to septic shock. - - 12. The transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 9, wherein said transgenic animal is resistant to LPS treatment. 13. The transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 9, wherein said transgenic animal has severely reduced plasma levels of IL-lβ and IL-lα after LPS injection. 14. The transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 9, wherein a 43 kDa and a 38 kDa protein reactive with an ICH-3 antibody, is absent or severely reduced in spleen, thymus, kidney, lung, brain and intestine, said antibody being made against the amino acid peptide TEFKHLSLRYGAKFD. 15. The transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 9, wherein said transgenic animal is a female mouse and said mouse contains significantly reduced numbers of oocyte-containing primordial follicles during neonatal development. 16. A transgenic non-human animal model for the study of septic shock wherein said animal comprises an animal with a disrupted lch-3 gene. 17. A transgenic non-human animal model for the study of infection wherein said animal comprises an animal with a disrupted lch-3 gene. 18. The transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 9, wherein nucleotides encoding amino acids of ICH-3 are replaced with a sequence from an lch-3 targeting vector. 19. The progeny of the transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 9. 20. A method of screening folliculogenic compounds, comprising: (a) providing a transgenic non-human animal having a disrupted lch-3 gene and exhibiting reduced endowment of primordial follicles; (b) administering a compound to be tested to said transgenic animal; -70- (c) determining the effect of said compound on folliculogenesis of said animal; and (d) correlating the effect of said compound on folliculogenesis of said animal with an effect of said compound on folliculogenesis of a non-treated animal having a disrupted lch-3 gene. 21. A method of screening compounds for treating sepsis or septic shock comprising: (d) providing a transgenic non-human animal having a disrupted lch-3 gene and exhibiting resistance to septic shock; (b) applying a sepsis or septic shock stimulus to said animal; (e) administering a compound to be tested to said transgenic animal; (f) determining the effect of said compound on the susceptibility to manifestatiation of sepsis or septic shock of said animal; and (d) correlating the effect of said compound on septic shock or sepsis of said animal with an effect of said compound on the sequelae of sepsis or septic shock in a non-treated animal having a disrupted lch-3 gene or in a wild type animal. 22. A method of screening compounds for alteration in susceptibility to infection, or the sequelae of thermal injury, major trauma, or combinations thereof, comprising: (g) providing a transgenic non-human animal having a disrupted lch-3 gene and exhibiting resistance to septic shock; (b) applying a burn, trauma, infection, bacteremia or other infection to said animal; (h) administering a compound to be tested to said transgenic animal; (i) determining the effect of said compound on the susceptibility to manifestatiation of sepsis or septic shock of said animal; and (d) correlating the effect of said compound on the injury received by said animal with an effect of said compound on the sequelae of sepsis or septic shock in a non-treated animal having a disrupted lch-3 gene or on a wild type animal. 23. A method of making a transgenic non-human animal having a disrupted - - Ich-3 gene, comprising: (a) providing a DNA molecule comprising an intact Ich-3gene; (b) providing a targeting vector capable of disrupting said lch-3 gene upon homologous recombination with said DNA molecule; (c) placing said DNA molecule comprising the intact lch-3 gene and said targeting vector in contact under conditions where said DNA molecule and said targeting vector will undergo homologous recombination to produce a second DNA molecule comprising a disrupted lch-3 gene; (d) introducing said second DNA molecule into ES cells; (e) injecting ES cells into blastocytes; (f) implanting said blastocytes containing the ES cells with the disrupted lch-3 gene into the uterus of a pseudopregnant female; and (g) delivering a transgenic animal comprising a disrupted lch-3 gene from said pseudopregnant female. 24. The method of making a transgenic non-human animal as claimed in claim 23, wherein said pseudopregnant female and said transgenic animal is a mouse. 25. A method for reducing mortality of sepsis in a wild-type animal comprising treating said animal with inhibitors of ICH-3. 26. A method for reducing mortality of burns and trauma in a wild-type animal comprising treating said animal with inhibitors of ICH-3. 27. A method of protecting against lung injury in common medical conditions comprising utilizing inhibitors of the pathways of apoptosis.

Inventors: FISHMAN JAY A, MIURA MASAYUKI, WANG SUYUE, YUAN JUNYING, FISHMAN, JAY, A., MIURA, MASAYUKI, WANG, SUYUE, YUAN, JUNYING
Applicants: FISHMAN JAY A, MIURA MASAYUKI, WANG SUYUE, YUAN JUNYING, FISHMAN, JAY, A., MIURA, MASAYUKI, WANG, SUYUE, YUAN, JUNYING
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A01N37
IPC codes: C07K14, C12N9, C12N15