[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 222 (Friday, November 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 57722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28705]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Government-Owned Inventions; Availability for Licensing

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

Diacylglycerol Compounds Useful as Protein Kinase C Activators and 
Apoptosis Inducers

Victor E. Marquez, Peter M. Blumberg, Jeewoo Lee, Marcelo Kazanietz 
(NCI)
DHHS Reference No. E-088-01/0 filed 06 Aug 2001
Licensing Contact: Jonathan Dixon; 301/496-7056 ext. 270; 
[email protected]

    This invention discloses new diacylglycerol (DAG) compounds that 
may be useful as chemotherapeutic agents. DAG activates many of the 
isozymes in the Protein Kinase C (PKC) family, a phospholipid-dependent 
serine/threonine-specific kinase that plays an important role in 
cellular growth and differentiation. The activation of PKC by DAG is 
important in mediating the actions of a variety of hormones, 
neurotransmitters, and other biological control factors. This new class 
of DAG compounds is proving to be superior at inducing apoptosis in 
androgen-sensitive LNCaP prostate cancer cells by specifically 
activating the alpha isozyme. The compounds are believed to receive 
their superior properties from the replacement of the ester oxygen with 
a nitrogen attached to a hydroxyl group (N-OH). The presence of the 
hydroxamate functionality endows the molecule with improved solubility 
properties making these compounds the most potent and least lipophilic 
DAG analogues known to date.

Differentiation of Stem Cells to Pancreatic Endocrine Cells

Nadya Lumelsky et al. (NINDS)
Serial No. 60/266,917 filed 06 Feb 2001
Licensing Contact: Norbert Pontzer; 301/496-7736 ext. 284; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    Diabetes, which effects 16 million people in the United States 
alone, results at least in part from decreased production of insulin by 
the pancreas. In the pancreas, insulin is produced by specialized 
structures called the islets of Langerhans. Adult mammalian islets are 
composed of four major cell types: The , ,  
and PP cells which produce glucagons, insulin, somatostatin, and 
pancreatic polypeptides respectively. The physical proximity and 
resulting interaction of each of these modulators of carbohydrate 
metabolism may be necessary for the proper control of insulin 
secretion. The lack of tight feedback control of insulin secretion is 
thought to be responsible for pathologies arising after the long-term 
injection of insulin for diabetics.
    This invention provides a method for differentiating stem cells 
into endocrine cells that produce insulin and other pancreatic 
hormones. The cells self-assemble to form three-dimensional clusters 
similar in topology to normal pancreatic islets. Glucose triggers 
insulin release from these cell clusters by mechanisms similar to those 
employed in vivo. When injected into experimental animals, the insulin 
producing cells undergo rapid vascularization and maintain an islet-
like organization. These cells could provide both a model system for in 
vitro study of pancreatic islets and a potential therapy for replacing 
lost pancreatic function through transplantation.

    Dated: November 6, 2001.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 01-28705 Filed 11-15-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P