[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 102 (Tuesday, May 28, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36904-36905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-13279]


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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.

MRP8, A Member of the ABC Transporter Superfamily Highly Expressed in 
Breast Cancer, and Uses Thereof

Ira Pastan et al. (NCI)
DHHS Reference No. E-225-01/0 12 Jul 2001
Licensing Contact: Richard Rodriguez; 301/496-7056 ext. 287; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    MRP8 encodes an ATP-binding cassette transporter protein. Current 
data shows that it is expressed in a restrictive manner, and that it is 
highly expressed in breast cancer cells. This expression pattern makes 
it suitable as a molecular target, and MRP8-specific antibodies could 
be used to target MRP8-expressing cancer cells. Additionally, the MRP8-
protein, immunogenic portions of said protein or nucleic acids encoding 
the protein, or immunogenic portions of said protein, could be used as 
immunogens to stimulate or to augment immune responses to MRP8-
expressing cancer cells.

The Ovachip: A Clinically Useful cDNA Array for Differential Diagnosis 
of Ovarian Cancer

Morin et al. (NIA)
DHHS Reference No. E-344-01/0 filed 06 Mar 2002
Licensing Contact: Matthew Kiser; 301/496-7056 ext. 224; 
[email protected]

    The present invention describes a specialized microarray that 
exclusively contains genes that are differentially expressed in ovarian 
cancer. The invention also provides for methods of generating an 
expression profile of multiple genes that are differentially expressed 
in ovarian cancer, methods of determining treatment for an ovarian 
tumor, and methods of identifying clusters of coordinately regulated 
genes that are differentially expressed in ovarian cancer.
    Benefits of this invention include methods of predicting the 
response of a mammal to an anti-ovarian cancer therapeutic regimen, 
methods of monitoring cancer progression, methods of determining the 
efficacy of anti-cancer drugs, and methods of screening candidate anti-
ovarian drugs for efficacy. All these applications hinge on the use of 
these ovarian cancer gene microarrays in generating gene expression 
profiles under various conditions and comparing them to each other and 
to standards.

Method of Promoting Engraftment of a Donor Transplant in a Recipient 
Host

William J. Murphy et al. (NCI)
DHHS Reference No. E-151-01/0 filed 29 Jun 2001
Licensing Contact: Matthew Kiser; 301/496-7056 ext. 224; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    This invention pertains to a method of using donor natural killer 
(NK) cells to promote engraftment of a donor transplant in a recipient 
host, wherein the donor NK cells have been treated ex vivo, such as 
with an antibody (or antigenically reactive fragment thereof), a major 
histocompatibility molecule (MHC), a small molecule, a blocker of cell-
signaling or an enzyme, such that the ability of the donor NK cells to 
interact with MHC molecules in the recipient host is compromised.
    The method comprises adoptively transferring to the recipient host 
donor NK cells, which have been treated ex vivo to interfere with the 
ability of inhibitory receptors on the donor NK cells to interact with 
MHC molecules in the recipient host, simultaneously with, or 
sequentially to, in either order, the donor transplant, whereupon the 
engraftment of the donor transplant in the recipient host is promoted.
    The present inventive method has applications in the context of the 
transplantation of a variety of tissues from the donor to the recipient 
host. In

[[Page 36905]]

a preferred embodiment, the donor transplant is bone marrow. In an 
alternate embodiment, the donor transplant is an organ. Preferably, the 
donor or the recipient host is human.

DNA Encoding CAI Resistance Proteins and Uses Thereof

Elise Kohn et al. (NCI)
U.S. Patent 5,652,223 issued 29 Jul 1997; U.S. Patent 5,981,712 issued 
09 Nov 1999; Serial No. 09/436,469 filed 08 Nov 1999
Licensing Contact: Jonathan Dixon; 301/496-7056 ext. 270; e-mail: 
[email protected]
    Novel targets for therapeutic intervention in cancer proliferation 
and invasion are needed. Calcium influx has been shown to be required 
for invasion. Carboxyamido-triazole (CAI), a synthetic blocker of 
calcium influx in nonexcitable cells, inhibits tumor and endothelial 
cell motility and decreases the expression of matrix metalloproteinases 
involved in invasion and angiogenesis. Thus, CAI plays a role in the 
inhibition of malignant proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of 
cancer cells. The effectiveness of CAI as a cancer therapeutic agent is 
currently being tested in clinical trials.
    The technology which is available for licensing relates to the CAI 
resistance (CAIR-1) gene that encodes a protein identified in CAI 
conditioned cells. The CAIR-1 gene provides a potential source of 
information about the mechanism of drug conditioning and could also be 
useful as a marker for detecting the acquisition of a drug conditioned 
phenotype and/or as a target for intervention.
    In addition, CAIR was also independently identified as BAG-3 and 
Bis. CAIR/BAG-3/Bis has been shown to play a role in protein folding 
inside the cell and to modulate programmed cell death (apoptosis). 
Thus, the CAIR/BAG-3/Bis protein serves as an important link between 
pathways regulating calcium influx, protein folding, and apoptosis and 
may be a valuable drug discovery target for therapeutic intervention in 
cancer proliferation and invasion.

    Dated: May 20, 2002.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 02-13279 Filed 5-24-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P