Patent ID: 7947866

Claim:
A method of identifying a test agent that modulates a lipid metabolic disorder associated with a disruption of an immunoglobulin superfamily, member 4 (Igsf4), the method comprising: (a) providing a knockout mouse whose genome comprises a homozygous disruption of a nucleic acid sequence which is an ortholog of a human nucleic acid sequence that encodes for the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:14, wherein said mouse lacks functional Igsf4 and exhibits as compared to the wild type mouse, at least one of: increased mean serum triglyceride level and increased mean serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) response to a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge, (b) administering a test agent to the knockout mouse of (a), (c) determining the knockout mouse's susceptibility to at least one of: increased mean serum triglyceride level and increased mean serum TNF-α response to a LPS challenge, and (d) identifying whether a test agent modulates a lipid metabolic disorder associated with a disruption of an Igsf4, wherein decreasing at least one of: the knockout mouse' mean serum triglyceride level and the knockout mouse' mean serum TNF-α response to a LPS challenge is indicative of an agonist of the Igsf4, and wherein increasing at least one of: the knockout mouse' mean serum triglyceride level and the knockout mouse' mean serum TNF-α response to a LPS challenge is indicative of an antagonist of the Igsf4.