Method for treating a subject suffering from a condition associated with an extracellular zinc sphingomyelinase

A method for determining whether a compound inhibits an activity of an extracellular zinc sphingomyelinase involving ceramide formation which comprises:

• (a) contacting a sample containing the zinc sphingomyelinase under neutral pH conditions which conditions are known to be associated with the activity of said zinc sphingomyelinase, with:
• (i) a substrate of the zinc sphingomyelinase, and
• (ii) the compound being evaluated;
• (b) measuring the concentration of ceramide in the sample from (a);
• (c) determining the amount of zinc sphingomyelinase activity in the sample based upon the concentration of ceramide measured in step (b);
• and
• (d) comparing the amount of sphingomyelinase activity determined in step (c) with the amount of sphingomyelinase activity determined in the absence of the compound, so as to determine whether the compound inhibits the activity of zinc sphingomyelinase.

A method for screening a library of compounds to identify a compound that inhibits an activity of an extracellular zinc sphingomyelinase involving ceremide formation which comprises:

• (a) admixing an extracellular zinc sphingomyelinase, a substrate of the extracellular zinc sphingomyelinase and a compound from the library under acidic pH conditions;
• (b) measuring the amount of ceremide formed from the admixture of step (a);
• (c)comparing the amount of ceremide measured in step (b) with the amount of ceremide formed in the absence of the compound from the library, so as to determine whether the compound inhibits an activity of the extracellular zinc sphingomyelinase;
• (d) repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) with another compound from the library;
• and
• (e) repeating step (d) until a compound which inhibits an activity of the extracellular zinc sphingomyelinase is identified.