Patent ID: 8642834

Claim:
A method of identifying an agent that inhibits tumor cells from undergoing an epithelial to mesenchymal transition, comprising contacting a sample of cells of the epithelial tumor cell line CFPAC-1 with a test agent to be screened, contacting the sample with a single protein ligand preparation that induces an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in CFPAC-1 cells, determining whether the test agent inhibits the tumor cells in the sample from undergoing an epithelial to mesenchymal transition, by comparing the increase or decrease in the expression level of a biomarker whose increase or decrease of expression level is indicative that the sample tumor cells have undergone EMT, to the increase or decrease in the expression level of the same biomarker in an identical sample of CFPAC-1 cells not contacted with the test agent, and thus determining whether the test agent is an agent that inhibits tumor cells from undergoing an epithelial to mesenchymal transition, wherein the single protein ligand that induces an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in CFPAC-1 cells is selected from any of the protein ligands that bind to and activate the receptors for OSM; HGF; BMP7; IGF2; LIF; PAR2 agonist SLIGKV-NH 2 ; IL-33; PAR4 agonist AYPGKF-NH 2 ; CTGF; or BMP4.