Patent ID: 8338124

Claim:
A method for identifying a compound that induces differentiation of undifferentiated mammalian cells into osteoblasts, comprising (a) contacting a compound with an undifferentiated mammalian cell in culture, in which cell has been introduced an expressible nucleic acid coding for and expressing a GPCR polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 379; (b) measuring a level of a biochemical marker in the GPCR polypeptide biological pathway in said mammalian cell, in which biological pathway bone alkaline phosphatase is expressed, and which biochemical marker is expressed by said undifferentiated mammalian cell, and which level of biochemical marker is indicative of the differentiation of said undifferentiated mammalian cells into said osteoblasts: (c) determining if said levels of said biochemical marker expressed by said undifferentiated mammalian cell contacted with said compound measured in step (b) are decreased as compared to levels of said biochemical marker expressed in said undifferentiated mammalian cell that is not contacted with said compound; (d) selecting a compound, determined to have decreased said levels of biochemical marker expressed by said undifferentiated mammalian cell contacted with said compound, for confirmation as an inducer of mammalian cell differentiation into osteoblasts; (e) contacting said compound selected in step (d) with said GPCR polypeptide in an in vitro cell-free preparation; and (f) measuring the binding affinity of said compound to said GPCR polypeptide.