Patent ID: 7083933

Claim:
A method involving competitive binding for identifying a chemical compound which specifically binds to a mammalian OSGPR116 receptor which comprises separately contacting isolated cells expressing on their cell surface a mammalian OSGPR116 receptor, wherein said mammalian OSGPR116 receptor comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or rat OSGPR116 receptor, wherein fatty acid amide ligands that bind the receptor activate G-proteins, and wherein such cells do not normally express a mammalian OSGPR116 receptor, with both the chemical compound and a fatty acid amide ligand, known to bind to the receptor, wherein the fatty acid amide ligand is oleoyl ethanolamide, palmitoyl ethanolamide, stearoyl ethanolamide, linoleoyl ethanolamide, linolenoyl ethanolamide or oleamide, and with only the ligand, under conditions suitable for binding of such a ligand to the receptor, and detecting specific binding of the chemical compound to said mammalian OSGPR116 receptor, a decrease in the binding of the ligand to said mammalian OSGPR116 receptor in the presence of the chemical compound being tested indicating that such chemical compound binds to said mammalian OSGPR116 receptor.