Patent ID: 7927872

Claim:
A method of identifying a candidate Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF) pathway modulating agent, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing an assay system comprising a cell in culture that has defective IGF pathway function and expresses a fructose 1, 6 bisphosphate aldolase (ALDO) polypeptide or nucleic acid, wherein the ALDO nucleic acid comprises SEQ ID NO: 1 and the ALDO polypeptide is encoded by a nucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO: 1; (b) contacting the assay system with a test agent that modulates the expression of ALDO; and (c) detecting a change in the assay system in the presence of the test agent of step (b) as compared to the absence of the test agent, wherein the detection of a change in the assay system identifies the test agent as a candidate IGF pathway modulating agent.