Back to results
US 6,540,996 B1Granted
Compound screening methods
AssigneeDevgen NV
InventorsRichard Zwaal, José Groenen, Thierry Bogaert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention provides methods of screening for compounds which affect the activity of a physiologically important calcium pump, the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA), using the nematode worm C. elegans.
Claims19
A method of identifying compounds which enhance or up-regulate the activity of a sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase, which method comprises:
- contacting C. elegans which exhibit reduced SERCA ATPase activity compared to wild type C. elegans in one or more cell types or tissues with a compound under test;
- and
- detecting a phenotypic, biochemical or behavioural change in the C. elegans indicating a reversion towards wild type SERCA activity in the one or more cell types or tissues which exhibit reduced SERCA activity in the absence of the compound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.