The University of Illinois has been awarded US Patent 7,445,888, “Methods for assaying for antidepressant therapy markers.”
The inventors listed on the patent are Mark Rasenick, Robert Donati, and Sadamu Toki.
The patent describes methods for assaying for agents that modify the association of Gs alpha with components of the plasma membrane or cytoskeleton of cells, according to its abstract. The patent also relates generally to methods of assaying for agents having antidepressant activity via analysis of the association of Gs alpha with components of the plasma membrane or cytoskeleton of cells using a fluorescent analog of Gs alpha and fluorescence resonance energy transfer.