[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 140 (Friday, July 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42351-42352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14498]


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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, HHS.

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. 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.

Adult Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells in vitro and in vivo

Dr. Songtao Shi et al. (NIDCR)
U.S. Patent Application No. 10/333,522 filed 17 Jan 2003 (HHS Reference 
No. E-233-2000/0-US-03), claiming priority to 21 Jul 2000.
Licensing Contact: Marlene Shinn-Astor; (301) 435-4426; 
[email protected]

    .Many individuals with ongoing and severe dental problems are faced 
with the prospect of permanent tooth loss. Examples include dentinal 
degradation due to caries or periodontal disease; (accidental) injury 
to the mouth; and surgical removal of teeth due to tumors associated 
with the jaw. Clearly, a technology that offers a possible alternative 
to artificial dentures by designing and transplanting a set of living 
teeth fashioned from the patient's own pulp cells would greatly improve 
the individual's quality of life.
    The NIH announces a new technology wherein dental pulp stem cells 
from an individual's own postnatal dental pulp tissue (one or two 
wisdom teeth) can potentially be used to engineer healthy living teeth. 
This technology is based upon the discovery of a subpopulation of cells 
within normal human dental

[[Page 42352]]

pulp tissue that has the ability to grow and proliferate in vitro. 
These (dental pulp) stem cells can be induced under defined culture 
conditions to form calcified nodules in vitro and have been shown to 
differentiate into a dentin/pulp like structure in vivo.

Postnatal Stem Cells and Uses Thereof

Drs. Songtao Shi and Pamela Robey (NIDCR)
PCT Application No. PCT/US03/12276 filed 19 Apr 2003 (HHS Reference No. 
E-018-2003/0-PCT-01), which published as WO 2004/094588 A2 on 04 Nov 
2004.
Licensing Contact: Marlene Shinn-Astor; (301) 435-4426; 
[email protected].

    Many individuals with ongoing and severe dental problems are faced 
with the prospect of permanent tooth loss. Examples of such dental 
problems include: Dentinal degradation due to chronic dental disease 
(caries or periodontal); mouth injury; or through surgical removal, 
such as with tumors associated with the jaw. For many, a technology 
that offers a possible alternative to artificial dentures by designing 
and transplanting a set of living teeth fashioned from an individual's 
own pulp cells would greatly improve their quality of life.
    The NIH announces a new technology wherein human postnatal 
deciduous dental pulp stem cells commonly known as ``baby teeth'', are 
used to create dentin and have been shown to differentiate into cells 
of specialized function such as neural cells, adipocytes, and 
odontoblasts. It is believed that these cells could be manipulated to 
repair damaged teeth, induce the regeneration of bone, and treat neural 
injury or disease.
    This research is described, in part, in Miura et al., ``SHED: Stem 
cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth,'' Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 
USA, vol. 100 (no. 10; May 13, 2003) pp. 5807-5812.

Multipotent Postnatal Stem Cells From Human Periodontal Ligament and 
Uses Thereof

Dr. Songtao Shi et al. (NIDCR)
PCT Application No. PCT/US04/39248 filed 22 Nov 2004 (HHS Reference No. 
E-033-2004/0-PCT-02), claiming priority to 20 Nov 2003.
    Licensing Contact: Marlene Shinn-Astor; (301) 435-4426; 
[email protected].

    It is estimated that over 40 percent of the adult population in the 
United States has periodontal disease in one form or another. 
Periodontal Disease is a chronic infection of the periodontal ligament 
(PDL) and the adjacent bone and cementum. The effects of Periodontal 
Disease range from simple gum inflammation to, in extreme cases, tooth 
loss.
    The NIH announces a new technology wherein stem cells from the PDL 
have been isolated from adult human PDL. These cells are capable of 
forming cementum and PDL in immunocompromised mice. In cell culture, 
PDL stem cells differentiate into collagen fiber forming cells 
(fibroblasts), cementoblasts, and adipocytes. It is anticipated that 
these PDL stem cells will be useful for periodontal tissue regeneration 
to treat periodontal disease.

    Dated: July 15, 2005.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 05-14498 Filed 7-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P