Patent ID: 8771942

Claim:
A method of identifying a candidate p53 pathway enhancing agent, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a first assay system comprising cultured cells that express a stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) nucleic acid encoding the SCD polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 11; (b) contacting the first assay system with a candidate test agent; (c) measuring the expression of said SCD nucleic acid in the first assay system in the presence and absence of said candidate test agent; (d) identifying the test agent as a candidate p53 pathway enhancing agent by detecting a decrease in the expression of SCD nucleic acid in the presence of said test agent; (e) providing a second assay system comprising cultured cells expressing said SCD polypeptide, wherein the second assay system is capable of detecting an enhancement in the p53 pathway and wherein the assay of the second assay system is selected from the group consisting of an apoptosis assay, a cell proliferation assay, an angiogenesis assay, and a hypoxic induction assay; (f) contacting the second assay system with the test agent of (b); and (g) confirming the test agent as a p53 pathway enhancing agent by detecting an enhancement in the second assay system.