| abstract |
Disclosed are phosphatidylserine (PS) receptors, including PS receptors from human, mouse, Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans. Also disclosed are homologues of such receptors, nucleic acids encoding such receptors and homologues thereof, as well as agonist and antagonist compounds that specifically associate with and affect the activation state of such receptors. Preferred agonists and antagonists of PS receptors according to the invention include antibodies, antibody fragments and binding partners that selectively bind to such a receptor. Also disclosed are methods of making and using the PS receptors, homologues thereof, and agonist and antagonist compounds of such receptors. In particular, methods for reducing inflammation, for treating an autoimmune disease, for enhancing transplantation of tissue grafts, methods of increasing anti-tumor immunity, and methods for inhibiting viral and parasitic infections are described. |