[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 74 (Monday, April 17, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 20471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-9430]


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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. 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 contacting John Rembosek, 
Ph.D., at the Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of 
Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, Maryland 20852-
3804; telephone: 301/496-7056 ext. 270; fax: 301/402-0220; e-mail: 
[email protected]. A signed Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be 
required to receive copies of the patent applications.

Methods and Compositions for Correlating CCR5 Expression With 
Essential Hypertension

Dr. Thomas O'Brien (NCI)
DHHS Reference Number E-257-99/0 filed October 14, 1999

    Hypertension is a disease which afflicts as many as 1 in 5 persons 
in the United States and is the most common cause of visits to 
physicians. Once diagnosed with hypertension, treatment of the disease 
is lifelong. There is mounting evidence that lifestyle changes can 
prevent the usual rise in blood pressure with age, but for patients 
whose hypertension cannot be adequately treated by lifestyle changes, 
drug therapy must be instigated which can be difficult to control and 
have adverse side affects.
    The present invention mutation in the CC-chemokine receptor 5 
(CCR5) gene and an increased risk of developing hypertension. This 
technology will allow for the screening of individuals for the presence 
of the CCR5-D32/D32 genotype which correlates with an increased risk of 
developing hypertension and possibly prevent its occurrence through 
adequate antihypertensive therapy.
    This technology may lead to a method of treating or preventing 
hypertension through the administration of: (1) an effective amount of 
a CCR5 expression enhancing agent; (2) CCR5 activity enhancing agent; 
(3) an effective amount of CCR5; or (4) an effective amount of a 
nucleic acid encoding CCR5. Also, this technology can be employed as a 
method of identifying an agent that could be used to treat or prevent 
hypertension through the above identified processes.

Cloning of the Human Nuclear Receptor Co-Repressor Gene

Johnson M. Liu, Jianxiang Wang (NHLBI)
DHHS Reference No. E-088--99/0 filed August 3, 1999

    Alteration in the expression of human genes is critical to the 
development and progression of many diseases. These include, among 
others, cancer, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, 
hypercholesterolemia, high blood pressure, and diabetes. The Human 
Nuclear Receptor Co-Repressor (HuN-Cor) gene represents a technology 
that may be used to alter the transcription of genes. It provides a 
general mechanism by which many genes may be modulated throughout the 
entire range of being turned on to being completely turned off. The 
Hun-Cor gene is a ubiquitously expressed gene that codes for a protein 
that silences other genes. It does this by recruiting an enzyme complex 
that causes local folding of chromatin, not allowing other 
transcription factors to work. Hun-Cor represents a powerful research 
tool that can be used to study gene expression and characterization for 
many different genes. It may also be useful as a target for the 
isolation of pharmaceutical compounds that enhance or inhibit 
expression of genes.

    Dated: April 7, 2000.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 00-9430 Filed 4-14-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M