Tularik Limited

Fabienne Charles De La Brousse

Jin-Long Chen

Jin-long Chen

Steven L McKnight

Bei Shan

M Catherine Amaral

R Marc Learned

The invention provides methods and compositions for screening for pharmacological agents which regulate gene expression in mammals. An exemplary assay involves (a) contacting a mammalian cell comprising a knock-in mutant of a targeted native allele encoding a reporter of gene expression, wherein the expression of the reporter is under the control of the gene expression regulatory sequences of the native allele, with a candidate agent under conditions whereby but for the presence of the agent, the reporter is expressed at a first expression level; and, (b) measuring the expression of the reporter to obtain a second expression level, wherein a difference between the first and second expression levels indicates that the candidate agent modulates gene expression.

Cell-based drug screens for regulators of gene expression

The invention provides methods and compositions for screening for pharmacological agents which regulate satiety, fat metabolism and/or the type II diabetes mellitus in mammals, and in particular, agents active at regulating the level of ob gene expression. An exemplary assay involves (a) contacting a mammalian adipocyte comprising a mutant of a native ob allele encoding a reporter of ob gene expression, wherein the expression of the reporter is under the control of the gene expression regulatory sequences of the native ob allele, with a candidate agent under conditions whereby but for the presence of the agent, the reporter is expressed at a first expression level; and, (b) measuring the expression of the reporter to obtain a second expression level, wherein a difference between the first and second expression levels indicates that the candidate agent modulates ob gene expression. Preferred methods include cell-based transcription assays using adipocytes from transgenic animals having a &ldquo;knock-in&rdquo; luciferase reporter at least one ob allele.

Drug screens for regulators of the expression of the obese gene

The invention provides methods and compositions for screening for pharmacological agents which regulate satiety, fat metabolism and/or the type II diabetes mellitus in mammals, and in particular, agents active at regulating the level of ob gene expression. An exemplary assay involves (a) contacting a mammalian adipocyte comprising a mutant of a native ob allele encoding a reporter of ob gene expression, wherein the expression of the reporter is under the control of the gene expression regulatory sequences of the native ob allele, with a candidate agent under conditions whereby but for the presence of the agent, the reporter is expressed at a first expression level; and, (b) measuring the expression of the reporter to obtain a second expression level, wherein a difference between the first and second expression levels indicates that the candidate agent modulates ob gene expression. Preferred methods include cell-based transcription assays using adipocytes from transgenic animals having a 'knock-in' luciferase reporter at least one ob allele.

The invention relates to the Ob gene transcriptional promoter. The subject promoters generally comprise a C/EBP binding site and a novel untranslated Ob gene exon. Ob gene promoters are used in diagnosis and pharmaceutical development. In particular, transfected adipocytes comprising Ob gene promoters operably linked to a reporter are used in high-throughput pharmaceutical screens.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Fabienne Charles De La Brousse