Human pyrimidine receptor

A method for determining whether a ligand can specifically bind to a receptor, wherein said receptor comprises the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2, comprising the following steps:

• i) preparing a cell extract from cells transfected with an expression vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule encoding said receptor,
• ii) isolating a membrane fraction from the cell extract,
• iii) contacting the ligand with the membrane fraction under conditions permitting binding of the ligand to said receptor, and
• iv) detecting the presence or absence of the ligand bound specifically to said receptor, wherein the presence of the ligand indicates that the ligand can specifically bind to said receptor.

A method for determining whether a ligand is an agonist of a receptor, wherein said receptor comprises the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2, comprising the following steps:

• i) preparing a cell extract from cells which express said receptor, wherein said cell is transfected with an expression vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule encoding said receptor,
• ii) isolating a membrane fraction from the cell extract,
• iii) contacting the membrane fraction with the ligand under conditions permitting the activation of a functional receptor response, and
• iv) measuring the receptor activity by means of a bio-assay, wherein an increase of bioactivity indicates that the ligand is a receptor agonist.

A method for determining whether a ligand is an antagonist of a receptor, wherein said receptor comprises the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2, comprising the following steps:

• i) preparing a cell extract from cells which express said receptor, wherein said cells are transfected with an expression vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule encoding said receptor,
• ii) isolating a membrane fraction from the cell extract,
• iii) contacting the membrane fraction with the ligand in the presence of a known receptor agonist, wherein said contacting occurs under conditions permitting the activation of a functional receptor response, and
• iv) measuring the activity of said receptor by means of a bio-assay, wherein a decrease in said activity indicates that the ligand is a receptor antagonist.