Patent ID: 8076073

Claim:
An in vitro method of identifying a compound that inhibits a hedgehog (hh) response pathway, comprising: a) contacting a target cell with a test compound and an hh protein, wherein the test compound is a teratogen, wherein the teratogen is a steroidal alkaloid, and wherein the target cell comprises a hedgehog response pathway that affects an expression level of an hh-target gene, and wherein the target cell is a cell that expresses a patched protein that suppresses the hedgehog pathway in the absence of the hh protein; and b) analyzing the expression level of the hh-target gene in the target cell, wherein an expression level of the hh-target gene is reduced as compared to the expression level of the hh-target gene in the absence of the test compound, thereby identifying the test compound as a compound that inhibits hh signaling.