Patent ID: 7723054

Claim:
A method of identifying a compound that modulates Toll-Like Receptor 9 (TLR9) signaling, the method comprising: (a) providing a living cell that expresses a fluorescently-tagged TLR9 polypeptide; (b) contacting the cell with a test compound, thereby providing a test sample; (c) incubating the test sample under conditions and for a period of time, which conditions and period of time are sufficient for TLR9 polypeptide localization, translocation, and/or aggregation to occur in a reference sample that lacks the test compound; and (d) detecting in said living cell one or more TLR9 polypeptide characteristics selected from the group consisting of: rate of TLR9 polypeptide localization, rate of TLR9 polypeptide translocation, and combinations thereof, wherein a difference in the one or more TLR9 polypeptide characteristic characteristics in the test sample compared to the one or more TLR9 characteristic characteristics in the reference sample indicates that the test compound is a compound that modulates TLR9 signaling.