Patent ID: 6867009

Claim:
An assay for determining whether a compound binds capsaicin receptor, comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a human capsaicin receptor having the amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:4 with the compound and a labeled capsaicin agonist under conditions that, but for the presence of the compound, permit binding of the agonist to the receptor; (b) removing unbound labeled capsaicin agonist; (c) detecting an amount of label bound to the receptor; and (d) comparing the amount of label with an amount of label bound to the receptor in the absence of the compound, and therefrom determining whether the compound binds cansaicin recentor, wherein the receptor is present in host cells transfected with a nucleic acid vector that comprises a nucleic acid sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4.