Patent ID: 7378247

Claim:
A method of identifying a candidate therapeutic compound, said method comprising the steps of (a) contacting a cell expressing a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6, or a fragment thereof comprising amino acids 469-518 of SEQ ID NO:6 or amino acids 739-748 of SEQ ID NO:6, with a test compound, wherein said test compound specifically binds to the polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:6, or the fragment comprising amino acids 469-518 of SEQ ID NO:6 or amino acids 739-748 of SEQ ID NO:6; and (b) determining whether said test compound induces apoptosis of said cell and not of a control cell contacted with said test compound, wherein a test compound that induces apoptosis of said cell and not of said control cell is a candidate therapeutic compound.