[Federal Register: August 2, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 147)]
[Notices]
[Page 46170-46171]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02au04-58]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Government-Owned Inventions; Availability for Licensing
AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, DHHS.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S.
Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance
with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results
of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent
applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage
for companies and may also be available for licensing.
ADDRESSES: Licensing information and copies of the U.S. patent
applications listed below may be obtained by writing to the indicated
licensing contact at the Office of Technology Transfer, National
Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville,
Maryland 20852-3804; telephone: (301) 496-7057; fax: (301) 402-0220. A
signed Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be required to receive
copies of the patent applications.
Monoclonal Antibody (MP804) That Specifically Binds Stem Cells and Its
Use
Neal D. Epstein (NHLBI); U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/
565,101 filed 23 Apr 2004 (DHHS Reference No. E-014-2004/0-US-01);
Licensing Contact: Fatima Sayyid; (301) 435-4521; sayyidf@mail.nih.gov.
Adult stem cells hold great promise for human disorders that are
currently incurable including spinal-cord injury and brain diseases.
Although it has been shown that adult stem cells can produce many
different tissue types in the body, from blood to muscle to nerve
leading hope to their use for repairing or replacing diseased or
damaged organs, their use is limited due to lack of reagents for
isolation of adult stem cells from tissues. This invention is drawn to
antibodies that can detect a subpopulation of primitive stem cells in
adult murine skeletal muscle. This subset of cells can be used to
repair a variety of neurological disorders, to produce primary and
immortalized cell lines for physiologic and pharmaceutical research,
and for genomic and proteomic studies focused on the process of neural
cell differentiation.
Modulating P38 Kinase Activity
Dr. Jonathan Ashwell (NCI); U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/
541,993 filed 05 Feb 2004 (DHHS Reference No. E-010-2004/0-US-01);
Licensing Contact: Marlene Shinn-Astor; (301) 435-4426;
shinnm@mail.nih.gov.
Protein kinases are involved in various cellular responses to
extracellular signals. The protein kinase termed p38 is also known as
cytokine suppressive anti-inflammatory drug binding protein (CSBP) and
RK. It is believed that p38 has a role in mediating cellular response
to inflammatory stimuli, such as leukocyte accumulation, macrophage/
monocyte activation, tissue resorption, fever, acute phase responses
and neutrophilia. In addition, p38 has been implicated in cancer,
thrombin-induced platelet aggregation, immunodeficiency disorders,
autoimmune diseases, cell death, allergies, osteoporosis and
neurodegenerative disorders.
The NIH announces a new technology that includes compositions and
methods for controlling the activity of p38 specifically in T cells
through an alternate activation pathway. By controlling p38 activity
through
[[Page 46171]]
interference with this alternate pathway, the T cells themselves can be
controlled which in turn can be a treatment for conditions or diseases
characterized by T cell activation such as autoimmune diseases,
transplant rejection, graft-versus-host disease, systemic lupus
erythematosus, and viral infections such as HIV infections.
Human Neuronal Cells for Therapeutic Uses
Jong-Hoon Kim, Raja Kittappa, and Ronald D. McKay (NINDS); U.S.
Provisional Application No. 60/495,346 filed 14 Aug 2003 (DHHS
Reference No. E-056-2003/0-US-01); Licensing Contact: Norbert Pontzer;
(301) 435-5502; pontzern@mail.nih.gov.
Embryonic stem (ES) cells from various animal models demonstrate
pluripotency, the ability to generate the multiple cell types found in
the adult body. ES cells can also proliferate indefinitely in an
undifferentiated state in vitro. These properties may allow cells
derived from ES cells to replace diseased or injured cells and tissue.
While the local milieu may direct some naive ES cells into the
appropriate fate for that tissue, the formation of teratomas and other
unwanted cell types remains an unsolved problem. Thus, the ability to
direct the differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells into specific
fates may be a necessary condition for their use in transplantation
therapy for diseases such as Parkinson's.
Using mouse ES cells, this laboratory previously produced a highly
enriched population of midbrain neuronal cells that, when transplanted
into rat models of Parkinson's disease, improved motor function and
demonstrated in vivo electrophysiological properties consistent with
functioning dopamine neurons. Using a similar culturing strategy, but
with conditions specifically modified for human ES cells, these
inventors have now produced a highly enriched population of human
neuronal cells that exhibit electrical activity and synaptic vesicle
release. Another simplified method differentiates ES cells grown as a
monolayer into neurons, without going through an embryoid body stage.
This intellectual property provides methods for producing human
neuronal cells in general and dopaminergic cells specifically, the
cells themselves, and methods of treating diseases caused by neuronal
degeneration.
Dated: July 21, 2004.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 04-17468 Filed 7-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P