Novel GPCR-like proteins and nucleic acids encoding same

An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of:

• (a) a mature form of an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37,44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97;
• (b) a variant of a mature form of an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97, wherein one or more amino acid residues in said variant differs from the amino acid sequence of said mature form, provided that said variant differs in no more than 15% of the amino acid residues from the amino acid sequence of said mature form;
• (c) an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97;
• (d) a variant of an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97, wherein one or more amino acid residues in said variant differs from the amino acid sequence of said mature form, provided that said variant differs in no more than 15% of amino acid residues from said amino acid sequence;
• (e) a nucleic acid fragment encoding at least a portion of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence chosen from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97, or a variant of said polypeptide, wherein one or more amino acid residues in said variant differs from the amino acid sequence of said mature form, provided that said variant differs in no more than 15% of amino acid residues from said amino acid sequence;
• and
• (f) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the complement of (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e).

A method for the screening of a candidate substance interacting with an olfactory receptor polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97, or fragments or variants thereof, comprises the following steps:

• a) providing a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of the sequences of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97, or a peptide fragment or a variant thereof;
• b) obtaining a candidate substance;
• c) bringing into contact said polypeptide with said candidate substance;
• and
• d) detecting the complexes formed between said polypeptide and said candidate substance.

A method for the screening of ligand molecules interacting with an olfactory receptor polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97, wherein said method comprises:

• a) providing a recombinant eukaryotic host cell containing a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of the polypeptides comprising the amino acid sequences SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97;
• b) preparing membrane extracts of said recombinant eukaryotic host cell;
• c) bringing into contact the membrane extracts prepared at step b) with a selected ligand molecule;
• and
• d) detecting the production level of second messengers metabolites.

A method for the screening of ligand molecules interacting with an olfactory receptor polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97, wherein said method comprises:

• a) providing an adenovirus containing a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of polypeptides comprising the amino acid sequences SEQ ID NOS:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 21, 28, 35, 37, 44, 51, 58, 60, 67, 74, 81, 83, 90 and 97;
• b) infecting an olfactory epithelium with said adenovirus;
• c) bringing into contact the olfactory epithelium b) with a selected ligand molecule;
• and
• d) detecting the increase of the response to said ligand molecule.