Patent ID: 6953672

Claim:
A method for determining whether a test compound is an inhibitor of mammalian Cdc7·Dbf4 activity, the method comprising: (i) obtaining a yeast cell, the genetic complement of which comprises: a) an inactive allele of the yeast CDC7 gene; b) a first nucleic acid molecule that encodes a human Cdc7 polypeptide; and c) a second nucleic acid molecule that encodes a human Dbf4 polypeptide; (ii) contacting the yeast cell with a test compound; and (iii) assessing growth or cell cycle progression of the yeast cell, wherein a decrease in growth or cell cycle progression indicates that the test compound is an inhibitor of mammalian Cdc7·Dbf4 activity; wherein the human Cdc7 polypeptide and the human Dbf4 polypeptide can genetically complement the inactive yeast CDC7 gene.