Patent ID: 6946247

Claim:
A method for determining whether a candidate agent is capable of modulating germline transcription, comprising: a) adding a candidate agent to a plurality of cells b) preparing mRNA from said plurality of cells to form an mRNA mixture; c) adding to said mixture at least a first RNAse protection probe (RPP) substantially complementary to a first germline mRNA from an immunoglobulin heavy chain gene locus to form a first hybridization complex between said first germline mRNA and said first RPP, wherein said RPP has a sequence selected from the group consisting of the sequences depicted in FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NOS: 1-6); d) adding an RNAse protection enzyme (RPE) to said mixture, such that mRNA that is not protected is digested; and e) quantifying the amount of said first germline mRNA as compared to a cell in the absence of a candidate agent, to thereby identify a candidate agent that alters the amount of said first germline mRNA.