National Research Council of Canada

David Y Thomas

John J M Bergeron

Daniel C Tessier

Daniel Dignard

Andr&euml; Zapun

Ikuo Wada

John J Bergeron

The present invention relates to methods of treating and diagnosing protein trafficking disorders and controlling secretory protein production. The present invention also relates to methods for folding unfolded proteins, especially in heterelogous expression systems. The methods comprise exposing an unfolded protein to a biological preparation comprising ERp57 in combination with calnexin or calreticulin under conditions to permit folding of the unfolded protein.

Method for folding unfolded proteins

The present invention relates to a method for determining the effect of a test sample on UGGT activity. The method comprises the steps of: a) exposing an acceptor substrate of UGGT such as acid phosphatase to a labeled donor such as UDP- H-glucose in the presence of the test sample and UGGT; and b) detecting the amount of donor which was transferred to the acceptor substrate wherein a decrease of donor intake when compared to a control means that the test sample is a UGGT stimulator and a decrease means that the test sample is a UGGT inhibitor. The present invention also relates to an isolated mammalian cDNA which encodes for rat UGGT and to methods of producing mammalian UGGT using recombinant vectors.

Methods for screening UDP-glucose:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase (UGGT) activity and nucleic acid encoding for UGGT

The present invention provides compositions and methods for increasing secretory protein production. In another aspect, the present invention provides compositions for use in methods of treating and diagnosing protein trafficking disorders. These methods generally involve the alteration of calnexin activity to increase protein secretion or retention.

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Montreal, Canada

David Y Thomas