Methods and kits for identifying scavengers of reactive oxygen species (ros)

A method for selecting a nucleic acid encoding a protein which is able to remove an ROS, from a plurality of nucleic acids, the method comprising:

• a) providing cells comprising an ROS-induced promoter operably linked to a reporter gene, wherein the reporter gene is heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked;
• b) introducing into the cells expression vectors comprising a plurality of nucleic acids encoding proteins which are potentially able to remove the ROS;
• c) measuring change in the ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene in the cells when the nucleic acids are expressed;
• d) selecting for cells with reduced ROS-inducible expression of the reporter gene;
• and
• e) isolating the nucleic acid from the cells with reduced expression of the reporter gene;
• wherein the isolated nucleic acid encodes a protein able to remove the ROS.

A diagnostic kit for determining the ability of a gene product to remove an ROS, the kit comprising:

• a) a cell comprising an ROS-inducible promoter operably linked to a reporter gene, wherein the reporter gene is heterologous to the promoter to which it is operably linked;
• b) means for introducing in the cell a nucleic acid encoding a gene product;
• and
• c) instruction for determining a reduction in expression of the reporter gene in the cell of (a) when the nucleic acid is expressed, thereby determining whether the gene product is able to remove the ROS.