Diagnosing and treating cancer cells using Sal2

A method of identifying a mammal having or at increased risk of acquiring a proliferative disease, said method comprising the step of determining whether there is a proliferative disease-associated alteration in a Sal2 protein of said mammal.

A knockout mouse comprising a knockout mutation in a genomic mSal2 gene.

A transgenic mouse whose genome comprises a nucleic acid construct including a Sal2 nucleic acid, which is operably linked to transcriptional regulatory elements and encodes a Sal2 protein.

A method of killing an abnormally proliferating cell, said method comprising the steps of:

• (i) contacting an abnormally proliferating cell with a T-HR mutant specific for a cell carrying a Sal2 mutation;
• and
• (ii) allowing said T-HR mutant to lyse said cell.

A method of identifying a compound which alters cell proliferation, said method comprising:

• a) contacting a first cell with a test compound, and
• b) measuring whether said test compound alters proliferation in said first cell, relative to a second cell not contacted with said test compound, wherein said first and second cells have a proliferative disease-associated alteration in a Sal2 nucleic acid.

A method of identifying a compound which alters cell proliferation, the method comprising:

• a) exposing a cell or a cell extract to a test compound, and
• b) measuring whether said test compound alters Sal2 levels, relative to Sal2 levels in a cell or cell extract not exposed to said test compound.