[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 20 (Monday, February 1, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4885-4886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2246]


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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.

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SUMMARY: The inventions listed below are owned by agencies 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

[[Page 4886]]

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.

Broad Spectrum Chemokine Antagonist and Uses Thereof

B Moss, I Damon-Armstrong (NIAID)
DHHS Reference No. E-065-98/1 filed 08 Jan 99 (based on Provisional 
U.S. Patent Application No. 60/070,945 filed 10 Jan 98)
Licensing Contact: Leopold Luberecki, Jr.; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-
mail: [email protected]

    Chemokines are the small proteins involved in recruitment of 
leukocytes (white blood cells) to areas of tissue injury or infection, 
so they are also in part responsible for inflammation. There are two 
major classes of chemokines: CXC () and CC (). 
Chemokines elicit leukocyte movement by binding to a receptor on the 
cell surface. Typically, CXC chemokines direct the movement of 
neutrophils and CC chemokines direct the movement of other types of 
leukocytes. Previously, the open reading frame of the recently 
sequenced molluscum contagiosum viral genome was predicted to encode a 
protein that would function as a CC chemokine antagonist by mimicking 
the chemokine and thus diverting it from its receptor. The inventors 
have cloned, expressed, purified, and demonstrated the broad-spectrum 
ability of this viral protein to inhibit chemotaxis of multiple 
different leukocyte classes to different chemokines in both the CXC and 
CC classes. Thus, the protein has potential use as an anti-inflammatory 
agent and as an antiviral agent to treat HIV.

Cell Expansion System for Use in Neural Transplantation

L Studer, V Tabar, J Yan, R McKay (NINDS)
Serial No. 60/093,991 filed 24 Jul 98
Licensing Contact: Leopold Luberecki, Jr.; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-
mail: [email protected]

    Cell transplantation therapy typically involves transplanting 
primary cells or immortalized cells into patients. The promising but 
still inconsistent data stemming from those clinical trials using 
primary cells in Parkinson's disease are believed to be due to an 
insufficient number, function and uniformity of the transplanted cells. 
In an effort to overcome these problems an improved method for 
isolating, growing and differentiating precursor cells into 
dopaminergic neurons has been developed. The process described provides 
for an expansion of the cell number of primary cells by up to 1000 
fold. This technique could assist in solving the problem of obtaining 
sufficient cells for a reliable, effective cell transplantation 
therapy. The process consists essentially in the isolation and in vitro 
numerical expansion of an early mesencephalic precursor population, the 
use of serum, cAMP, dopamine and ascorbic acid during differentiation 
and the development of an aggregation technique during cell 
differentiation that allows convenient grafting of dopaminergic 
neurons.

Real-Time Interactive Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

JA Frank, J Ostuni, JH Duyn (CC)
Serial No. 09/090,166 filed 04 Jun 98
Licensing Contact: John Fahner-Vihtelic; 301/496-7735 ext. 270; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    The present disclosure describes a device and methods for capturing 
whole brain raw data image files as they are being produced from a 
magnetic resonance (MR) system. The invention performs reconstruction 
of the data, registration, statistical analysis, and then displays the 
results within seconds after completion of the MR image acquisition. 
This invention provides the ability to have a quick look at the image 
maps produced of brain activity or brain perfusion. It gives the 
clinician or researcher performing the diagnosis or study, the 
flexibility to modify the procedure ``on the fly'' to produce a more 
meaningful image or data set.

Method of Reducing Perivascular Lesions Using Insulin-Like Growth 
Factor I

HD Webster, S Komoly, D Yao, X Liu, LD Hudson (NINDS)
Serial No. 08/705,820 filed 30 Aug 96 (based on Provisional U.S. Patent 
Application No. 60/003,055 filed 31 Aug 95)
Licensing Contact: Leopold Luberecki, Jr.; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-
mail: [email protected]

    A perivascular lesion is a site near or surrounding a lesion in the 
blood vessel system that is accompanied by an accumulation of 
inflammatory leukocytes and/or damage to perivascular tissue. Although 
it is unclear how a perivascular lesion originates, the sequence of 
events leading to such lesions induce increased vascular endothelial 
permeability and induce toxic effects on the nervous system, which may 
lead to myelin injury. Myelin is a protein-lipid composite that 
insulates axons, which are the cellular processes by which electrical 
impulses travel through the nervous system. When myelin sheaths sustain 
injury, entire segments of myelin degenerate, thus affecting the 
ability of impulses to travel. Typically, perivascular lesions occur 
after or during: brain or spinal cord trauma, ischemic injury or 
insult; certain inflammatory diseases affecting the musculo-skeletal 
system, central nervous system, and peripheral nervous system; and 
certain autoimmune disorders. The application claims a method to reduce 
perivascular lesions by administering an effective amount of insulin-
like growth factor I to treat diseases or disorders associated with 
demyelination, such as multiple sclerosis, experimental autoimmune 
encephalomyelitis, neuromyelitis optica, optic neuritis, acute 
encephalomyelitis, cervical myelopathy, and spinal cord injury.

    Dated: January 25, 1999.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer.
[FR Doc. 99-2246 Filed 1-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M