| abstract |
A method for exploring compounds to determine an MIF agonist or antagonist comprising: contacting a class II (li) MHC invariant chain polypeptide with MIF in the presence and absence of a candidate compound, and comparing the interaction of MIF and said li polypeptide in the presence of said candidate compound with its interaction in the absence of said candidate compound, whereby a candidate compound that increases the interaction of said MIF with said li polypeptide is identified as an MIF agonist, and a candidate compound that inhibits the interaction of said MIF with said li polypeptide is identified as an MIF antagonist; wherein said li polypeptide comprises the complete amino acid sequence of li of Figure 5 (SEQ ID NO: 2) or an MIF binding fragment thereof. |