Novel molecules of the card-related protein family and uses thereof

An isolated nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of:

• a) a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence which is at least 55% identical to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 7, 9, 25, 27, 38, 40, 42, 48, 50, 51, 53, 54, 56, 60, 62, or the cDNA insert of the plasmid deposited with the ATCC as any of Accession Numbers ______, or a complement thereof;
• b) a nucleic acid molecule comprising a fragment of at least 300 nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 7, 9, 25, 27, 38, 40, 42, 48, 50, 51, 53, 54, 56, 60, 62, or the cDNA insert of the plasmid deposited with the ATCC as any of Accession Numbers ______, or a complement thereof;
• c) a nucleic acid molecule which encodes a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 8, 26, 39, 41, 43, 49, 52, 55, 61, or amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA insert of the plasmid deposited with the ATCC as any of Accession Numbers ______;
• d) a nucleic acid molecule which encodes a fragment of a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 8, 26, 39, 41, 43, 49, 52, 55, 61, or the polypeptide encoded by the cDNA insert of the plasmid deposited with the ATCC as any of Accession Numbers ______, wherein the fragment comprises at least 15 contiguous amino acids of SEQ ID NO:2, 8, 26, 39, 41, 43, 49, 52, 55, 61, or the polypeptide encoded by the cDNA insert of the plasmid deposited with the ATCC as any of Accession Numbers ______;
• and
• e) a nucleic acid molecule which encodes a naturally occurring allelic variant of a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 8, 26, 39, 41, 43, 49, 52, 55, 61, or the amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA insert of the plasmid deposited with the ATCC as any of Accession Numbers ______, wherein the nucleic acid molecule hybridizes to a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 7, 9, 25, 27, 38, 40, 42, 48, 50, 51, 53, 54, 56, 60, 62, or a complement thereof under stringent conditions.