ASSAY FOR AGENTS EXHIBITING NEUROTROPHIN LIKE ACTIVITY INCLUDING TYROSINE KINASE RECEPTOR GENE, DETECTING NEUROTROPHIN ACTIVITY, NUCLEIC ACID MOLECULES, PROTEIN AND TRANSFORMED HOSTS

摘要

The present invention provides for assay systems that may be used to detect and/or measure neurotrophin activity or to identify agents that exhibit neurotrophin-like activity. It is based, at least in part, on the discovery that the trkB proto-oncogene encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor that may serve as a functional binding protein for BDNF and NT-3. The present invention also provides for diagnostic and therapeutic methods based on the interaction between BDNF and/or NT-3 and trkB, and for a number of orphan receptor molecules.