ASSAY METHODS RELATING TO THE ACTION OF GEMININ IN THE LICENSING OF DNA REPLICATION COMPLEXES IN TRANSFORMED CELLS

摘要

The invention is based on the finding that the presence of the protein geminin in the G1 phase in transformed cells leads to a reduction in the number of licensed replication complexes but does not prevent the DNA of the attempting to replicate by entering S phase, resulting in a proportion of the cells undergoing apoptosis. This is in contrast to untransformed cells, where the lack of sufficient replication complexes will prevent the entry of the cells into S phase. The differential effect of geminin provides a basis for a cell based assay for drug discovery, comprising: providing a candidate compound; providing a sample of transformed and a sample of untransformed cells; and determining whether said compound is capable of reducing the number of licensed replication origins in said cells present in the G1 phase.