Patent ID: 7601494

Claim:
A method of screening a candidate compound for susceptibility to biliary excretion by a hepatocyte transport protein, the method comprising: (a) providing a first cell culture comprising a plurality of hepatocytes and at least one bile canaliculus, at least one of the hepatocytes comprising a hepatocyte transport protein, wherein the expression of the hepatocyte transport protein is inhibited; (b) providing a second cell culture comprising a plurality of hepatocytes and at least one bile canaliculus, at least one of the hepatocytes comprising a hepatocyte transport protein, wherein the expression of the hepatocyte transport protein is not inhibited; (c) exposing a candidate compound to the first and second cell cultures; and (d) determining an amount of the candidate compound in the at least one bile canaliculus in the first and second cell cultures, wherein the presence of a reduced amount of the candidate compound in the at least one bile canaliculus of the first cell culture as compared to an amount of the candidate compound in the at least one bile canaliculus of the second cell culture indicates the susceptibility of the candidate compound to biliary excretion by the hepatocyte transport protein.