The present invention relates to the discovery, identification and characterization of nucleic acids that
encode a
novel protein differentially expressed within the TH2
cell subpopulation (hereinafter referred to as STIF). The invention encompasses STIF nucleotides, host
cell expression systems, STIF proteins, fusion proteins, polypeptides and peptides, antibodies to the STIF
protein, transgenic animals that express a STIF
transgene, or recombinant knock-out animals that do not express the STIF
protein, and compounds that modulate STIF
gene expression or STIF activity that can be used for diagnosis,
drug screening,
clinical trial monitoring, and / or used to treat STIF based disorders, such as proliferative disorders and T-
lymphocyte-related disorders including, but not limited to, chronic inflammatory diseases and disorders, such as Crohn's
disease, reactive
arthritis, including
Lyme disease,
insulin-dependent diabetes, organ-specific
autoimmunity, including
multiple sclerosis, Hashimoto's
thyroiditis and Grave's
disease,
contact dermatitis,
psoriasis,
graft rejection,
graft versus host disease,
sarcoidosis, atopic conditions, such as
asthma and
allergy, including allergic rhinitis, gastrointestinal allergies, including food allergies,
eosinophilia, conjunctivitis, glomerular
nephritis, certain
pathogen susceptibilities such as helminthic (e.g.,
leishmaniasis) and certain viral infections, including HIV, and bacterial infections, including
tuberculosis and lepromatous
leprosy.