TNF receptor signaling modulator assay

1. A method for identifying a compound that is capable of binding to a TNFα trimer to form a compound-trimer complex, whereby the compound-trimer complex binds to a TNF receptor and modulates the signalling of the receptor, comprising:

measuring the stability of the TNFα trimer in a sample comprising the compound, comprising:

a) determining the thermal transition midpoint (Tm) of the TNFα trimer in a sample of the TNFα trimer and the compound;

b) comparing the Tm of the TNFα trimer in the sample with a control sample, wherein the control sample comprises the TNFα trimer in the absence of the compound, and wherein a higher Tm of the TNFα trimer in a sample of the TNFα trimer and the compound indicates that the compound increases the stability of the TNFα trimer compared to the stability of the TNFα trimer in the absence of the compound;

c) selecting a compound that increases the stability of the TNFα trimer compared to the stability of the TNFα trimer in the absence of the compound,

whereby the compound-trimer complex binds to the TNF receptor and modulates the signalling of the receptor.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying further comprises:

i) conducting a mass spectrometric analysis on the sample comprising the TNFα trimer and the compound to detect the amount of the TNFα trimer; and

ii) comparing the amount of the TNFα trimer in the sample with a control sample,

wherein if the TNFα trimer is detected in the sample, the compound is identified as capable of binding to the TNFα trimer.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring the binding of the compound-trimer complex to the TNF receptor by:

i) performing a receptor-ligand binding assay in which a sample of the TNFα trimer and the compound is applied to the TNF receptor that has been bound to a surface; and

ii) comparing the amount of the TNFα trimer bound to the TNF receptor with a control sample,

wherein the binding of the compound-trimer complex to the TNF receptor is measured.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying further comprises:

i) performing a fluorescence polarization assay using the compound and a probe compound; and

ii) comparing the degree of polarization of the probe compound in the presence of the compound with the degree of polarization in a control sample, wherein a higher degree of polarization with the compound identifies the compound as capable of binding to the TNFα timer; and

iii) selecting a compound as a modulator of the TNFα trimer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample containing the TNFα trimer and the compound further comprises a destabilising agent.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the destabilising agent is dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring the binding of the compound-trimer complex to the TNF receptor by:

i) performing an isothermal calorimetric analysis to measure the binding of the TNFα trimer for the TNF receptor in the presence of the compound; and

ii) comparing the binding of the TNFα trimer for the TNF receptor with a control sample,

wherein the binding of the compound-trimer complex to the TNF receptor is measured.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying further comprises (i) measuring a binding affinity of the TNFα trimer to the TNF receptor in a sample comprising the compound, (ii) measuring a binding affinity of the TNFα trimer to the receptor in a control sample, (iii) comparing the binding affinities, and (iv) selecting a compound that modulates the binding affinity of the TNFα trimer to the receptor.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNFα trimer to the receptor.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the increase in stability results in an increase in the thermal transition midpoint (Tm) of the TNFα trimer of at least 1° C.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNFα trimer to the TNF receptor compared to the binding affinity of the TNFα trimer to the receptor in the absence of the compound.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNFα trimer to the TNF receptor by increasing the on rate (kon-r) and/or decreasing the off rate (koff-r) compared to the kon-r and koff-r values for binding of the TNFα trimer to the receptor in the absence of the compound.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNFα trimer to the TNF receptor by increasing the on rate (kon-r) compared to the kon-r value for binding of the TNFα trimer to the receptor in the absence of the compound.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the compound decreases the KD-r of the TNFα trimer to the TNF receptor compared to the KD-r of the TNFα trimer to the receptor in the absence of the compound, wherein:

a) the compound decreases the KD-r of the TNFα trimer to the receptor by at least 10 times compared to the KD-r of the TNFα trimer to the receptor in the absence of the compound;

b) the KD-r value of the TNFα trimer for binding to the TNF receptor in the presence of the compound is less than 10 nM.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the compound decreases the KD-r of the TNFα trimer to the TNF receptor compared to the KD-r of the TNFα trimer to the receptor in the absence of the compound, wherein:

a) the compound decreases the KD-r of the TNFα trimer to the TNF receptor by at least 4 times compared to the KD-r of the TNFα trimer to the receptor in the absence of the compound;

b) the KD-r value of the TNFα trimer for binding to the TNF receptor in the presence of the compound is less than 600 pM.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the KD-r value of the TNFα trimer for binding to the TNF receptor in the presence of the compound is less than 200 pM.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein said compound has an IC50 value of 500 nM or less.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying further comprises:

i) measuring a level of the TNFα trimer bound to the TNF receptor in a sample comprising the compound;

ii) measuring a competition of the compound with a probe compound for binding to the TNFα trimer; or

iii) a combination thereof; and

iv) comparing the binding of the compound to the level of TNFα bound to the receptor in i) and/or the level of competition observed in ii); and

v) selecting a compound that modulates the binding of the TNFα bound to the TNF receptor.