The invention relates to poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) homologs which have an amino acid sequence which has a) a functional NAD binding domain and b) no zinc finger sequence motif of the general formula CX2CXmHX2C in which m is an integral value from 28 or 30, and the X radicals are, independently of one another, any amino acid; and the functional equivalents thereof; nucleic acids coding therefor; antibodies with specificity for the novel protein; pharmaceutical and gene therapy compositions which comprise products according to the invention; methods for the analytical determination of the proteins and nucleic acids according to the invention; methods for identifying effectors or binding partners of the proteins according to the invention; novel PARP effectors; and methods for determining the activity of such effectors.