Patent ID: 7741057

Claim:
A method for screening compounds for an agonist or antagonist of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) protein comprising: contacting, in vitro, an MHC class II invariant chain (Ii) polypeptide with said MIF protein in the presence and absence of a candidate compound, and comparing the binding interaction of the said MIF protein and said Ii polypeptide in the presence of said candidate compound with their binding interaction in the absence of said candidate compound, whereby a candidate compound that enhances the binding interaction of said MIF protein with said Ii polypeptide is identified as an agonist of MIF protein, and a candidate compound that inhibits the binding interaction of said MIF protein with said Ii polypeptide is identified as an antagonist of MIF protein; wherein said Ii polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or a MIF protein-binding fragment thereof.