Patent ID: 8637267

Claim:
A method of identifying an agent that inhibits at least one step in a cell's tmRNA pathway, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing at least one cell; (b) introducing into the cell a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a promoter, wherein the nucleotide sequence encoding the promoter is operably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a luciferase, wherein the nucleotide sequence encoding the luciferase is operably linked to at least one nucleotide sequence encoding a tmRNA targeting sequence; (c) introducing into the cell at least one candidate agent for inhibiting at least one step in the cell's tmRNA pathway, wherein introduction of the candidate agent results in a luminescent signal if the candidate agent is an inhibitor of at least one step in the tmRNA pathway; and (d) analyzing the at least one cell for a luminescent signal.