| abstract |
The present invention provides methods and compositions for screening assays for compounds that alter mitochondrial function, and in particular that alter apoptosis, based on the observations that expression of the transcription factor FREAC-2 is up-regulated in Alzheimer's disease and that induction of FREAC-2 expression in a cell results in apoptosis. The invention thus provides methods for identifying agents that alter mitochondrial function by determining the activity of reducing or enhancing apoptosis that follows the induced expression of FREAC-2, useful, for example, in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's) and/or of diseases of inappropriate cell proliferation or survival (e.g., cancer). The present invention also includes methods of identifying pharmaceutical/ molecular targets for compounds that alter mitochondrial function (e.g., by altering apoptosis). |