Patent ID: 7507542

Claim:
A method for identifying a test compound that modulates the level of expression of scurfin comprising the steps of: (a) providing a composition comprising a reporter gene ligated to a ˜20 kb fragment of genomic DNA normally contiguous to and upstream of mouse or human scurfin coding DNA, wherein said fragment of genomic DNA comprises a promoter region; (b) measuring the level of expression in the absence of said test compound, to obtain a predetermined level of expression; (c) contacting the composition with said test compound; (d) determining the level of reporter gene expression; and (e) comparing the level of reporter gene expression in (d) with said predetermined level of expression and thereby determining if the test compound modulates the expression of scurfin, wherein said scurfin comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 or SEQ ID NO:4.