Patent ID: 7264942

Claim:
A method for assessing a compound's ability to inhibit JNK activity and prevent neuronal cell death comprising: a) incubating the compound in the presence of isolated JNK and a JNK substrate, under conditions sufficient for JNK kinase activity; and b) determining the presence or amount of phosphorylated JNK substrate; wherein a change in the presence or amount of phosphorylated JNK substrate, where compared to incubating isolated JNK with the JNK substrate absent the compound, is indicative of the compound's ability to inhibit the JNK kinase activity; c) contacting the compound having an ability to inhibit JNK activity with neuronal cells transfected with a mutated protein or treated with a neurotoxin to induce apoptosis, wherein the mutated protein comprises polyglutamine stretch-expanded huntingtin or C-terminal 100 amino acids of amyloid precursor protein; and d) comparing the occurrence of apoptosis in the neuronal cells in the presence of the compound with the occurrence of apoptosis in the neuronal cells in the absence of the compound, wherein the compound having an ability to inhibit the JNK activity has the ability to prevent neuronal cell death when the occurrence of apoptosis in the neuronal cells in the presence of the compound is less than the occurrence of apoptosis in the neuronal cells in the absence of the compound wherein JNK is JNK1, JNK2, or combinations thereof.