[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 11 (Friday, January 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2603-2604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1022]


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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 invention listed below is owned by an agency of the U.S. 
Government and is 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.

[[Page 2604]]


ADDRESSES: Licensing information and a copy of the U.S. patent 
application 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 a 
copy of the patent application.

High Throughput Screening for Cancer Genes

Liotta et al. (NCI)

DHHS Reference No. E-209-2003/0-US-01 filed 28 Apr 2003
    Licensing Contact: Catherine Joyce; 301/435-5031; 
[email protected].
    The invention relates to the discovery of an assay system in 
Drosophila that is useful for (i) identifying genes that are 
functionally required for invasion and metastasis and (ii) screening 
for drugs that block tumor growth and metastasis. The system employs 
the lgl mutation in flies. Isolated lgl neoplastic tissues from 
imaginal discs and brain tissue of lgl larvae grow and metastasize 
rapidly upon transplantation into wild-type flies.
    In the first embodiment of the assay system, random insertions into 
genes in the Drosophila genome are made using P-elements. Flies are 
bred to obtain larva that are homozygous for the lgl deletion and 
homozygous for a specific P-element insertion, and larval tissue is 
transplanted into an adult host to identify mutations that modulate lgl 
tissue tumorigenesis and metastasis phenotype in the host. Mutated 
genes can be readily cloned using the P element as tags. The inventors 
have successfully used this system to identify a link between class 5 
semaphorins and cancer.
    In the second embodiment of the assay system, lgl neoplastic tissue 
is introduced into an adult fly comprising a functional lgl gene, and a 
candidate therapeutic agent is introduced into the nutrient medium on 
which the fly, and/or larval forms of the fly, feed. The ability of the 
candidate therapeutic agent to modulate the pattern of tumor growth in 
the fly is then assessed by qualitative and quantitative measurements 
of abnormal cell proliferation in the flies.
    This technology is available for licensing on a non-exclusive 
basis.

    Dated: January 12, 2004.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 04-1022 Filed 1-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P