Patent ID: 7989179

Claim:
A method of identifying a therapeutic or preventive agent that affects LDL cholesterol concentration and/or plasma triglyceride concentration in a mammal, the method comprising: (i) providing a heterodimer comprising LXRα and RXRα; (ii) contacting a test substance with the heterodimer in the presence of an LXR coactivator; (iii) measuring the amount of the coactivator bound to the heterodimer; (iv) comparing the amount of the coactivator measured in step (iii) with the amount of the coactivator bound to the heterodimer in a control; (v) correlating the difference between the amount of bound coactivator and the amount of bound coactivator in the control as indicative of the activity of the test substance to affect the LDL cholesterol concentration and/or the plasma triglyceride concentration in a mammal; wherein the activity of the test substance to affect the LDL cholesterol concentration and/or the plasma triglyceride concentration is greater when the amount of the coactivator bound to the heterodimer is higher than the amount of the coactivator bound to the heterodimer in the control.