Patent ID: 7592143

Claim:
A method of identifying potentially therapeutic anticancer compounds comprising: (a) forming a complex with a TRRAIP comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and gambogic acid in vitro; (b) contacting the complex with one or more test compounds; (c) monitoring the extent to which the one or more test compounds displaces gambogic acid from said complex to identify test compounds that bind as strongly or more strongly than gambogic acid to said TRRAIP comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1; (d) exposing cultured eukaryotic cancer cells expressing a TRRAIP comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 to a test compound identified in step (c) as binding as strongly or more strongly than gambogic acid to said TRRAIP comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1; and (e) measuring the caspase cascade activity of said cultured eukaryotic cancer cells, wherein an increase in the caspase cascade activity in said cultured eukaryotic cancer cells in the presence of the test compound as compared to the caspase cascade activity in a different culture of said eukaryotic cancer cells which have not been exposed to a test compound is an indication that the test compound is a potentially therapeutic anticancer compound.