Patent ID: 7087385

Claim:
A method for screening for an agent that may alter the activity of human urocortin II promoter, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a nucleic acid that comprises a human urocortin II promoter sequence operably linked to a reporter gene, wherein the promoter sequence is selected from the group consisting of the 3527 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 1 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1), the 3030 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 498 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1), the 2451 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 1077 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1), the 1987 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 1541 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1), the 1426 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 2102 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1), the 931 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 2597 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1), the 533 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 2995 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1), the 380 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 3148 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1), and the 195 bp upstream of the transcription start site (nucleotides 3333 to 3527 of SEQ ID NO:1); and (b) subjecting the nucleic acid to conditions suitable for the promoter sequence to drive the expression of the reporter gene in the presence of the test agent; (c) evaluating the expression of the reporter gene compared to a control nucleic acid that is exposed to the same conditions but without the test agent wherein a higher or lower expression than that of the control nucleic acid indicates that the agent may alter human urocortin II promoter activity.