[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 9, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 51441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25170]


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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.

NEIBANK: Microarray for Human Eye Research

Dr. Graeme J. Wistow (NEI)
DHHS Reference No. E-107-01/0
Licensing Contact: Pradeep Ghosh; 301-496-7736 ext. 211; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    Microarrays have wide applications in basic research and are used 
for the discovery of candidate genes as markers for disease and for 
therapeutic intervention. ``NEIBANK'', a new microarray research tool 
has been developed that allows researchers to compare expression levels 
of thousands of genes expressed in the eye. The technology comprises of 
a set of sequenced unamplified and normalized libraries derived from 
normal human eye tissues using a custom software, GRIST (Grouping and 
Identification of Sequence Tags). Using this technique, a non-redundant 
set of over 10,000 cDNA clones, potentially representing unique genes 
expressed in the human eye has been derived. This integrated technique 
of sequencing with bioinformatics led to the discovery of new genes and 
the novel splice forms of known genes. Thus, this technology can be 
used to examine processes of diseases, aging, normal and abnormal 
development in post-mortem or surgical eye samples and in cultured cell 
systems. Areas of particular interest for this array in eye research 
include, but are not limited to, retinal degeneration, age-related 
macular degeneration and cataract.

Intercellular Delivery of a Herpes Simplex Virus VP22 Fusion 
Protein From Cells Infected With Lentiviral Vectors

Dr. Zhennan Lai et al. (NINDS)
DHHS Reference No. E-295-00/0 filed 02 August 2001
Licensing Contact: Marlene Shinn; 301/496-7056 ext. 285; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    One of the current limitations to the use of gene therapy is the 
delivery of genes or proteins to a sufficient number of target cells in 
order to create a therapeutic response. It has recently been discovered 
that a series of virus-encoded and other regulatory proteins are able 
to cross biological membranes, leading to the discovery that the herpes 
simplex virus 1 tegument protein, VP22, could be used to direct the 
global delivery of therapeutic proteins intercellularly.
    The NIH announces a new lentivirus double gene vector expressing 
recombinant VP22-fusion protein. The vector contains two separate 
transgenes driven by two independent promoters. A reporter gene 
replaced the nev region of the HIV-1 genome, and another selectable 
marker gene was inserted into the nef coding region. Both transgenes 
are simultaneously expressed in non-dividing cells such as neurons. 
When the gene for VP22-fusion protein is incorporated into the vector, 
the fusion gene product is delivered to the cytoplasm and nuclei of 
non-dividing mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo, and from transduced 
cells to neighboring (non-infected) cells.

    Dated: September 28, 2001.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 01-25170 Filed 10-5-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P