[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 250 (Thursday, December 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82383-82384]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-33086]


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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 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.

Transgenic Zebrafish with Vascular Specific Expression of Exogenous 
Genes Driven by the Zebrafish Fli-1 Promoter

    Brant M. Weinstein, Nathan N. Lawson (NICHD)
    DHHS Reference No. E-003-01/0
    Licensing Contact: Marlene Shinn; 301/496-7056 ext. 285; email: 
[email protected]

    The technology portrayed in this invention is available through a 
Biological Materials License for research tools and diagnostic tests. 
Zebrafish are an important and valuable model system for high-
throughput mutational or pharmacological screens for genes or molecules 
with important roles in blood vessel growth or differentiation. This 
invention consists of germline transgenic zebrafish lines in which the 
expression of green fluorescent protein (EGFP) is driven by zebrafish 
Fli-1 promoter sequences. These transgenic lines display bright, 
uniform, and persistent expression of EGFP protein throughout the 
vascular system. The Fli promoter also drives transient EGFP expression 
in cranial neural crest and its derivatives. The transgenics allow 
straightforward, noninvasive fluorescent visualization of virtually all 
blood vessels in the animal throughout embryonic and early larval 
development.
    These Fli-EGFP transgenics have a number of potential applications. 
They can be used to help identify endogenous genes important for blood 
vessel formation, either by screening mutagenized transgenic embryos 
for vascular specific mutants or by preparing vascular specific cDNA 
libraries for use in novel gene discovery. They also provide an 
efficient method for performing high-throughput in vivo screening for 
antiangiogenic or proangiogenic drugs and other compounds. Using 
transgenic zebrafish for these screens has the added benefit of 
simultaneously revealing toxic and teratogenic effects of the tested 
agents on a whole, developing organism.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Coil for Specific Non-Invasive 
Deep Brain Stimulation

    Abraham Zangen (NIDA), Roy Wise (NIDA), Mark Hallett (NINDS), 
Yiftach Roth (EM), Pedro Miranda (NINDS)
    DHHS Reference No. E-223-00/0 filed 20 Oct 2000
    Licensing Contact: Dale Berkley; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    The invention is a magnetic stimulator that is placed in contact 
with the head of a subject to magnetically stimulate the brain. The 
invention has applications in the treatment of neurophysiological or 
cardiovascular conditions, and may be of particular utility in the 
treatment of disorders associated with deep regions of the brain, such 
as drug addiction and depression. The unique coil shape of the 
stimulator is designed to target deep brain regions like the nucleus 
accumbens, which are associated with the biological mechanism 
underlying drug abuse. Deep regions of the brain are also implicated in 
depressive disorders, and this coil is likely to offer an improvement 
in the transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy currently being tested 
for treatment of depression.

Peroxynitrite Generators, Compositions Comprising Same, and Methods 
for Treating Biological Disorders Using Same

    Challice L. Bonifant, Joseph E. Saavedra and Larry K. Keefer 
(NCI)
    DHHS Reference No. E-175-00/0 filed 02 June 2000

[[Page 82384]]

    Licensing Contact: Norbert Pontzer; 301/496-7735, ext. 284; e-
mail: [email protected]

    Diazeniumdiolates are a class of compounds which release nitric 
oxide (NO) under physiological conditions. Nitric oxide performs a 
number of regulatory functions in vivo such as controlling vascular 
tone and platelet function, but it can also combine with superoxide ion 
to produce peroxynitrite ion, as especially reactive species. 
Peroxynitrite-mediated cellular toxicity may have several therapeutic 
applications. Because of the relatively low amounts of superoxide ion 
present in some cells, the peroxynitrite mechanism of diazeniumdiolate 
toxicity is not uniformly available. In order to generate peroxynitrite 
ions in tissues or other media lacking adequate levels of superoxide 
ion, this invention provides a new class of compounds which release NO 
and superoxide ion simultaneously to generate peroxynitrite ions.
    Molecules of this invention can be designed to generate 
peroxynitrite ion at specific biochemical targets. For one type of 
targeting, the release of NO is designed to be triggered by 
nucleophilic attack on the diazeniumdiolate drug while superoxide 
generation is simultaneously occurring at a quinone moiety elsewhere in 
the molecule. If the required nucleophilic attack is designed to be 
specifically catalyzed in the active site of glutathione S-transferase-
pi, a cytoprotective enzyme overexpressed by certain tumors to render 
them drug-resistant, compounds of this invention could restore the 
susceptibility of tumor cells to chemotherapy by knocking out the 
excess enzyme, thereby preventing the tumor cells from inactivating the 
chemotherapeutic agents. Attachment of the compounds to polymeric 
compositions would physically localize the peroxynitrite activity. 
Physical localization in vivo may have utility against the recently 
recognized chronic infections caused by biofilms, and generation of 
peroxynitrite ions in vitro may have utility against infectious 
bilfilms on medical devices.

    Dated: December 20, 2000.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology, Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 00-33086 Filed 12-27-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M