Novel members of the capsaicin/vanilloid receptor family of proteins and uses thereof

An isolated nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of:

• (a) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, or 12 or a complement thereof;
• (b) a nucleic acid molecule consisting of the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, or 12 or a complement thereof;
• (c) a nucleic acid molecule which encodes a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of (1) a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, 5, 8, or 11;
• and (2) a polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, 5, 8, or 11;
• (d) a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which is at least 83% identical to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, or 12 or to a complement thereof;
• (e) a nucleic acid molecule comprising a fragment of at least 20 nucleotides of a nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, or 12, or a complement thereof;
• (f) a nucleic acid molecule which encodes a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence at least about 87% identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 5, 8, or 11;
• and
• (g) a nucleic acid molecule which encodes a fragment of a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 5, 8, or 11, wherein the fragment comprises at least 15 contiguous amino acid residues of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, 5, 8, or 11.