[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6312-6313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2765]


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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 an agency 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. patents listed 
below may be obtained by contacting Susan S.

[[Page 6313]]

Rucker, J.D., at the Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes 
of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, Maryland 
20852-3804; telephone: 301-435-4478; fax: 301-402-0220; email: 
[email protected].

Met Proto-Oncogene and a Method for Predicting Breast Cancer 
Progression

    Ilan Tsarfaty, James H. Resau, Iafa Keydar, Donna Faletto, George 
F. Vande Woude (NCI); U.S. Patent 6,673,559 issued 06 Jan 2004 (DHHS 
Reference No. E-046-1991/3-US-01).
    The invention described and claimed in this patent is generally 
applicable to assessing the prognosis of cancer. In particular, the 
invention is useful in assessing the whether or not breast cancer is 
likely undergo metastasis. The met proto-oncogene is located on the 
long arm of chromosome 7 at 7q31. Its activity has been linked to the 
invasive/metastatic phenotype of several cancers in addition to breast 
cancer, e.g. prostate, stomach.
    According to this invention the likelihood of metastasis of breast 
cancer is assessed by measuring the amount of (a) protein produced by 
the met proto-oncogene, (b) levels of the met proto-oncogene itself, or 
(c) levels of mRNA produced by the met proto-oncogene in breast tumor 
tissue and comparing it with the amount present in normal ductal tissue 
of the breast. The methodology of this invention may be carried out, 
for example, using antibody-based assays (ELISA or Western Blot), PCR, 
or Northern Blots.
    This work has been published at Tsarfaty, et al., Science 
257(5074): 1258-61 (Aug 28 1992), Tsarfaty, et al., Anal Quant Cytol 
Histol 21(5): 397-408 (Oct 1999) and Hay, et al., J Cell Biochem Suppl 
39(): 184-93 (2002). Foreign patent protection is not available for any 
of these inventions.

Method of Targeting DNA

    Rafael D. Camerini-Otero, Margaret McIntosh, Carol S. Camerini-
Otero and Lance J. Ferrin (NIDDK); U.S. Patent 5,460,941 issued 24 Oct 
1995 (DHHS Reference No. E-006-1991/1-US-02).

Cloning of the RecA Gene From Thermus Acquatics YT-1

    Rafael D. Camerini-Otero and Evelina Angov (NIDDK); U.S. Patent 
5,510,473 issued 23 Apr 1996 (DHHS Reference No. E-196-1993/0-US-01).

Rec-A Assisted Cloning of DNA

    Lance J. Ferrin, Rafael D. Camerini-Otero (NIDDK); U.S. Patent 
5,707,811 issued 13 Jan 1998 (DHHS Reference No. E-166-1995/0-US-02).

Promotion of Homologous DNA Pairing by RecA-derived Peptides

    Oleg Voloshin, Lijiang Wang, Rafael D. Camerini-Otero (NIDDK); U.S. 
Patent 5,731,411 issued 24 Mar 1998 (DHHS Reference No. E-139-1995/0-
US-01).
    These inventions are available for license separately or together. 
Foreign patent protection is not available for any of these inventions.
    The inventions described in these patents are generally applicable 
to the process of homologous DNA recombination. The inventions may be 
used in conjunction with each other, to efficiently carry out the 
process of homologous recombination, or they may be used separately.
    The inventions may be exploited generally in processes associated 
with therapeutic purposes such as gene inactivation, correction of gene 
mutations and the control of gene expression. For example, these 
inventions may be used to inhibit the transcription of a DNA sequence 
such as that encoding an oncogene or a virus. In addition, these 
inventions may be exploited in research applications such as sequence-
specific mapping, cloning, and manipulation of complex genomes 
including the generation of transgenic animals.
    Specific examples of the use of these inventions include (a) 
protecting a DNA sequence from modification by an enzyme such as 
methylase or cleavage by a restriction enzyme, (b) effecting site-
specific cleavage by introducing a chemical cleavage moiety to the 
oligonucleotide, (c) cloning a genomic DNA fragment containing a 
predetermined sequence, (d) identifying a genetic mutation, e.g., point 
mutations, insertions and deletions, and (e) increasing the stringency 
thereby improving the specificity of DNA-DNA, DNA-RNA or RNA-RNA 
interactions at high temperatures.
    This work has been published at Hsieh et al., Genes & Dev. 4(11): 
1951-63 (Nov 1990); Angov et al., J. Bacteriol. 176(5): 1405-12 (Mar 
1994); Voloshin et al., Science 272(5263): 868-72 (May 10, 1996); and 
Ferrin LJ, Genet. Eng. (NY) 17: 21-30 (1995).

    Dated: February 2, 2004.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 04-2765 Filed 2-9-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P