Method for identifying a modulator of the TNFα or CD40L interaction with their cognate receptors

1. A method for identifying a compound that is capable of binding to trimeric TNFα or CD40L, whereby the compound-trimer complex binds to the requisite TNF superfamily receptor and modulates the signalling of the receptor, comprising:

a) performing a receptor-ligand binding assay in which a sample of the TNFα or CD40L trimers and the compound is applied to the requisite TNF receptor;

b) comparing the binding of the TNFα or CD40L trimer-compound complex to the requisite TNF receptor with a control sample, wherein the control sample comprises TNFα or CD40L trimers in the absence of compound; and

c) selecting a compound that enhances the binding of the TNFα or CD40L trimers to the receptor compared to the binding of the TNFα or CD40L trimers to the receptor in the control sample, and wherein the method further comprises contacting the requisite receptors with both the TNFα or CD40L and the compound-trimer complex and detecting whether the test compound prevents or reduces the TNFα or CD40L trimer signaling through the requisite TNF superfamily receptor.

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

a) conducting a mass spectrometric analysis on a sample containing the TNFα or CD40L and the compound to detect the amount of the TNF Guperfamily member TNFα or CD40L trimer; and

b) comparing the amount of TNFα or CD40L trimer in the sample with a control sample, wherein if the trimer is detected in the sample, the compound is identified as capable of binding to the trimer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the requisite TNF receptor has been bound to a surface.

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

a) performing an assay to determine the thermal transition midpoint (Tm) of the trimeric form of the TNFα or CD 40 L in a sample of the TNF TNFα or CD40L and the compound;

b) comparing the Tm of the trimeric form of the TNFα or CD40L in the sample with a control sample in the absence of compound; and

c) selecting a compound that increases the Tm of the trimeric form of the TNFα or CD40L compared to the Tm of the trimeric form of the TNFα or CD40L in the absence of the compound.

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

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

b) 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 trimer; and

c) selecting a compound that modulates the signalling of the receptor.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample containing the TNFα or CD40L and the compound further comprises a destabilising agent.

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

8. The method of claim 1 , which comprises performing an isothermal calorimetric analysis to measure the binding of the TNFα or CD 40 L for the requisite receptor.

9. The method of claim 1 , which comprises measuring the binding affinity of trimeric TNFα or CD40L to the requisite receptor in a sample comprising the compound.

10. The method of claim 9 , which comprises:

a) performing an assay to determine the binding affinity for a superfamily receptor (KD-r) of the trimeric form of the TNFα or CD40L in a sample of the TNF superfamily member TNFα or CD40L and the compound;

b) comparing the KD-r of the trimeric form of the TNFα or CD40L in the sample with a control sample; and

c) selecting a compound that increases the binding affinity of the to the requisite receptor compared to the binding affinity of the TNFα or CD40L to its receptor in the absence of the compound.

11. The method of claim 4 , wherein the increase in stability results in an increase in the Tm of the trimeric form of the TNFα or CD40L of at least 1° C.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNFα or CD40L to the requisite 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 or CD40L to its receptor in the absence of the compound.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the compound increases the binding affinity of the TNFα or CD40L to the requisite receptor by increasing the on rate (kon-r) compared to the kon-r value for binding of the TNFα or CD40L to its receptor in the absence of the compound.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the compound decreases the KD-r of the TNFα or CD40L to the requisite receptor compared to the KD-r of the TNFα or CD40L to its receptor in the absence of the compound, wherein:

a) the compound decreases the KD-r of the TNFα or CD40L to the requisite receptor by at least 10 times compared to the KD-r of the TNFα or CD40L to its receptor in the absence of the compound;

b) the KD-r value of the TNFα or CD40L for binding to the requisite receptor in the presence of the compound is less than 10 nM.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the compound decreases the KD-r of the TNFα or CD40L to the requisite receptor compared to the KD-r of the TNFα or CD40L to its receptor in the absence of the compound, wherein:

a) the compound decreases the KD-r of the TNFα or CD40L to the requisite receptor by at least 4 times compared to the KD-r of the TNFα or CD40L to its receptor in the absence of the compound;

b) the KD-r value of the TNFα or CD40L for binding to the requisite 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 or CD40L for binding to the requisite 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.