Patent ID: 7407766

Claim:
A screening method for agonists or antagonists of Semaphorin 6C, comprising the steps of: a) measuring in an in vitro assay system the binding activity of a protein with an extracellular domain of Plexin-A1, comprising the 1 st to 1237 th amino acid residues in the sequence of Plexin-A1, consisting of SEQ ID NO:5 or SEQ ID NO:6, to a protein having an extracellular domain of Semaphorin 6C, comprising the 1 st to 599 th amino acid residues in the sequence of Semaphorin 6C, consisting of SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:9 or SEQ ID NO:10, in the presence and absence of a target substance, and b) selecting the target substance as a candidate for an agonist or antagonist of Semaphorin 6C if there is a decrease in said binding activity in the presence of said target substance compared to an assay in which the target substance is absent.