Nuclear protein
AssigneeThe University of Children's Hospital of Both Cantons of Basel
InventorGeorg Andreas Hollander
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An isolated Shoca polypeptide comprising: (i) the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 4; or (ii) a variant thereof which is capable of interacting with a polypeptide of the wnt signalling pathway; or (iii) a fragment of (i) or (ii) which is capable of interacting with a polypeptide of the wnt signalling pathway, a polypeptide encoding said polypeptide, a method for identifying a modulator of the wnt signalling pathway utilising said polypeptide or polynucleotide and methods of diagnosing and treating cancer.
Claims36
An isolated Shoca polypeptide comprising:
- (i) the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
- 2 or SEQ ID NO:
- 4;
- or
- (ii) a variant thereof which is capable of interacting with a polypeptide of the wnt signalling pathway;
- or
- (iii) a fragment of (i) or (ii) which is capable of interacting with a polypeptide of the wnt signalling pathway.
A polynucleotide encoding a Shoca polypeptide capable of interacting with a polypeptide of the wnt signalling pathway, which polynucleotide comprises:
- (i) the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
- 1 or SEQ ID NO:
- 3 and/or a sequence complementary thereto;
- (ii) a sequence which hybridizes under stringent conditions to a sequence defined in (i);
- (iii) a sequence that is degenerate as a result of the genetic code to a sequence as defined in (i) or (ii);
- or
- (iv) a sequence having at least 85% identity to a sequence as defined in (i), (ii) or (iii).
A method of identifying an agent capable of modulating the wnt signalling pathway, which method comprises:
- (i) providing a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
- 2 or 4, or a variant thereof, or a fragment of either thereof which variant or fragment is capable of interacting with a polypeptide of the wnt signalling pathway or a polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide;
- and a test agent;
- (ii) contacting the polypeptide or polynucleotide and the test agent;
- and
- (iii) determining whether the test agent has any effect on the expression of said polypeptide or on a function or property of said polypeptide thereby determining whether the test agent is capable of modulating Shoca activity.
A method of diagnosing cancer which method comprises determining the level of Shoca expression in a tissue sample from a subject.
A method of predicting the progression of a tumour which method comprises determining the level of Shoca expression in a tissue sample from a subject.
A method of treating cancer, which method comprises:
- (i) identifying an agent capable of modulating Shoca activity;
- and
- (ii) administering a therapeutically effective amount of said agent to a human or animal subject in need thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.