METHOD FOR SELECTIVE METHIIONINE STARVATION OF MALIGNANT CELLS TO MAMMALS

摘要

The invention relates to a method for selective methionine starvation of cells to a mammal, which are suspected of being MTAse negative which consists in : determining whether the cells are substantially MTAse negative using means for detecting the presence or the absence of both catalytically active and catalytically inactive MTAse in a cell sample comprising : a) obtaining an assayable sample of cells which are suspected of being MTAse negative b) adding oligonucleotide probes which will specifically hybridize to a nucleic acid that encodes MTAase under conditions which will allow the probes to detectably hybridize to any such nucleic acid present in the sample and c) detecting which of the cells are MTAse negative, administering a therapeutically effective amount of METase and MTA to a mammal having cells that are MTAse negative.