Patent ID: 7601540

Claim:
A method of identifying a modulator of Notch processing in vivo mediated by γ-secretase comprising: (a) determining a first amount of Trefoil factor-3 (TFF-3) in a sample acquired from a query subject; (b) administering a test compound to the query subject wherein the test compound is a known γ-secretase modulator or a suspected γ-secretase modulator; (c) determining a second amount of TFF-3 in a sample acquired from the query subject after administration of the test compound; and (d) comparing the first amount of TFF-3 acquired from the query subject to the second amount of TFF-3 acquired from the query subject after administration of the test compound; wherein a change in the amount of TFF-3 acquired after administration of the test compound, compared with the amount of TFF-3 acquired before administration of the test compound, indicates the compound modulates Notch processing mediated by γ-secretase activity.