[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 216 (Friday, November 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63114-63115]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-28058]


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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.

Putative PEDF Receptor

Sofia P. Becerra, Luigi Notari (NEI).
DHHS Reference No. E-314-2003/0-US-01 filed 07 Aug 2003.
Licensing Contact: Susan S. Rucker; 301/435-4478; 
[email protected].

    This application describes compositions and methods related to 
Pigmented Epithelium Derived Factor (PEDF). PEDF is a protein, 
belonging to the serpin family, that has been demonstrated to have 
neurotrophic, gliastatic, neuronotrophic and anti-angiogenic 
properties. In particular, the compositions and methods described and 
claimed in this application are related to the isolation, cloning, 
expression and characterization of the putative receptor for PEDF. The 
PEDF receptor as described herein is a transmembrane protein having an 
extracellular ligand-binding domain, a transmembrane domain and an 
intracellular domain. The PEDF receptor shares some homology with an 
orphan receptor identified in the liver and the protein known as 
adiponutrin.
    The isolation and cloning of the PEDF receptor will be useful in 
basic research to further elucidate the role of PEDF and its receptor 
in signal transduction

[[Page 63115]]

pathways. Furthermore, identification of the PEDF receptor will allow 
for the development of drug screening assays to identify agonists and 
antagonists of PEDF activity. In addition, isolation and identification 
of the PEDF receptor will allow new biological molecules such as 
monoclonal antibodies and chimeric IgG-receptor constructs to be 
developed.
    This work has not yet been published.

Detection of Antigen-Specific T Cells and Novel T Cell Epitopes by 
Acquisition of Peptide/HLA-GFP Complexes

Steven Jacobson, Utano Tomaru, and Yoshihisa Yamano (NINDS).
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/457,006 filed 24 Mar 2003 (DHHS 
Reference No. E-084-2003/0-US-01).
Licensing Contact: Brenda Hefti; 301/435-4632; [email protected].

    This invention relates to a method for identifying specific T cell 
epitopes and antigen-specific T cells through labeling with an HLA-GFP 
complex expressed on an antigen-presenting cell. The T cells acquired 
the peptide-HLA-GFP complex through T cell mediated endocytosis upon 
specific antigen stimulation. This basic method can be used for several 
purposes. First, it can be used to generate a T-cell immune response 
through the attachment of a reporter peptide to the antigen-presenting 
cell. It can also be used as a way to assay a population of cells to 
determine whether any T cells specific for a particular antigen are 
present. This might be useful in applications related to autoimmunity, 
infectious disease, or cancer. Third, it can be used as a therapeutic 
to eliminate antigen-specific T cells associated with disease, if 
coupled to a toxic moiety.

Methods and Composition for the Diagnosis of Neuroendocrine Lung Cancer

Curtis Harris (NCI).
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/423,380 filed 04 Nov 2002 (DHHS 
Reference No. E-248-2002/0-US-01).
Licensing Contact: Catherine Joyce; 301/435-5031; [email protected].

    The technology relates to the use of cDNA microarrays to facilitate 
the identification of pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors. In order to 
identify molecular markers that could be used to classify pulmonary 
tumors, the inventors examined the gene expression profiles of clinical 
samples from patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), large cell 
neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC), and typical carcinoma (TC) tumors by 
cDNA microarray analysis to detect hybridization between cDNA from 
tumor cells and DNA from a panel of 8,897 human genes. Gene expression 
was found to be nonrandom and to exhibit highly significant clustering 
that divided the tumors into their assigned World Health Organization 
(WH0) classification with 100% accuracy. The inventors concluded that 
pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors could be classified based on the 
genome-wide expression profile of the clinical samples without further 
manipulations.
    The above-mentioned invention is available for licensing on an 
exclusive or non-exclusive basis.

    Dated: October 24, 2003.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 03-28058 Filed 11-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P