Patent 7294480 was granted and assigned to Xenon Pharmaceuticals on November, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
High throughput screening assays for the identification of potential therapeutic agents able to modulate the activity of enzymes of fatty acid biosynthesis, especially desaturases and/or elongases, are disclosed along with therapeutic uses of the agents identified by such assays for the prevention and/or treatment of diseases related to fatty acid metabolism. Substrates useful in such assays are also described.