Insulin-responsive DNA binding protein-1 and methods to regulate insulin-responsive genes

A method of regulating the expression of a nucleic acid encoding an IRDBP-1 polypeptide in a mammalian cell, comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining a mammalian cell;
• (b) delivering to the cell a composition comprising a nucleic acid capable of regulating the level of expression in the cell of a mammalian gene encoding a mammalian IRDBP-1 polypeptide;
• and
• (c) allowing the nucleic acid to regulate the level of the IRDBP-1 polypeptide in the cell.

A method of inhibiting the proliferation of a mammalian cell, comprising the steps of:

• (a) delivering to a mammalian cell selected from a tumor cell, an endothelial cell and an adipocyte cell, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:
• 2, 5-10, 1441 and 42-46, or degenerate variants thereof;
• (b) expressing the nucleic acid as a polypeptide capable of binding to an IRE of at least one gene of the mammalian cell;
• and
• (c) allowing the expressed polypeptide to modulate the activity of an insulin-responsive gene, thereby inhibiting the proliferation of the mammalian cell.

A method of detecting a nucleic acid encoding an IRDBP-1 polypeptide in a cell, comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining a mammalian cell having target nucleic acid therein;
• (b) contacting the target nucleic acid with a nucleic acid probe capable of hybridizing to an IRDBP-1-encoding nucleic acid SEQ ID NO:
• 44, or the complement thereof;
• (c) detecting the hybridization of the nucleic acid probe to the target nucleic acid;
• and
• (d) identifying the presence of an IRDBP-1-encoding nucleic acid in the mammalian cell.

A method of detecting an IRDBP-1 polypeptide in a cell, comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining a mammalian cell having target polypeptide therein;
• (b) contacting the target polypeptide with an antibody capable of selectively binding to an epitope of a mammalian IRDBP-1-polypeptide;
• (c) detecting the binding of the antibody to the target nucleic acid;
• and
• (d) identifying the presence of an IRDBP-1 polypeptide in the mammalian cell.