Jul 09, 2008 (National Institutes of Health Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- TCHY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- 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.
Method for Detection and Quantification of PLK1 Expression and Activity
Description of Technology: Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) plays a role in the regulation of the cell cycle and control of cellular proliferation. Because Plk1 is associated with neoplastic transformation of human cells, expression of this protein has been proposed as a prognostic marker for many types of malignancies. In mammalian cells, four Plks exist, but their expression patterns and functions appear to be distinct from each other. Available for licensing is a Plk1 ELISA assay using peptide substrates that are specific for Plk1, in that they are phosphorylated and bound by Plk1, but not by the related polo kinases Plk2, Plk3 and Plk4.
By exploiting a unique Plk1-dependent phosphorylation and binding property, an easy and reliable ELISA assay has been developed to quantify Plk1 expression levels and kinase activity. With this highly sensitive assay, Plk1 activity can be measured with 2-20 microgram of total lysates without immunoprecipitation or purification steps. Since deregulated Plk1 expression has been suggested as a prognostic marker for a wide range of human malignancies, this assay may provide an innovative tool for assessing the predisposition for cancer development, monitoring cancer progression, and estimating the prognosis of various types of cancer patients.
Applications: Optimized PBIP1 polypeptides, a natural substrate of Plk1, with enhanced specificity and sensitivity over the native PBIP1 sequence.
ELISA assay to quantify Plk1 expression and kinase activity.
Advantages: Rapid, highly sensitive assay that requires lower amounts of starting material than conventional immunoprecipitation assays.
Assay that is selective for Plk1.
Development Status: The technology is currently in the pre-clinical stage of development.
Market: An estimated 1,444,920 new cancer diagnoses in the U.S. in 2007. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in United States. It is estimated that the cancer therapeutic market would double to $50 billion a year in 2010 from $25 billion in 2006.
Inventors: Kyung Lee and Jung-Eun Park (NCI).
Publications: 1. J-E Park, L Li, K Strebhardt, SH Yuspa, and KS. Lee. Direct quantification of polo-like kinase 1 activity in cells and tissues using a highly sensitive and specific ELISA assay (about to be submitted).
2. KS Lee et al. Mechanisms of mammalian polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) localization: self-versus non-self-priming. Cell Cycle 2008 Jan;7(2): 141-145.
3. KS Lee et al. Self-regulated mechanism of Plk1 localization to kinetochores: lessons from the Plk1-PBIP1 interaction. Cell Div. 2008 Jan 23;3:4.
4. YH Kang et al. Self-regulated Plk1 recruitment to kinetochores by the Plk1-PBIP1 interaction is critical for proper chromosome segregation. Mol Cell. 2006 Nov 3;24(3): 409-422.
Patent Status: U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/054,032 filed 16 May 2008 (HHS Reference No. E-091-008/0-US-01).
Licensing Status: Available for exclusive or non-exclusive licensing.
Licensing Contact: Jennifer Wong; 301-435-4633.; wongje@mail.nih.gov.
Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Cancer Institute, Laboratory of Metabolism is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize the PLK1 ELISA assay described above. Please contact John D. Hewes, Ph.D. at 301-435-3121 or hewesj@mail.nih.gov for more information.
Cripto-1 Represents a Biomarker for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases
Description of Technology: Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (e.g. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) and chronic inflammatory arthropathy such as rheumatoid arthritis represent an enormous socio-economic burden due to the cost for long term medication and rehabilitation and the decreased productivity due to periods of acute recurrences. A major characteristic of these diseases is the tissue infiltration of specific CD4+ T cells that sustain inflammation by secreting cytokines. One of these cytokines, TNF-alpha, is a current therapeutic target for the treatment of these chronic inflammatory diseases.
This technology describes Cripto-1 as a biomarker for chronic inflammatory diseases. Cripto-1, an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-related protein, shows higher expression levels in tissue sections of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis as compared to adjacent unaffected areas. Moreover, the inventors show that the response to Cripto-1 is not due to a generic immune response, and Cripto-1 expression increases the expression of TNF-alpha in CD4+ T cells in tissues affected by chronic inflammatory disease. As a result, this technology could be used as a diagnostic biomarker for chronic inflammatory diseases as well as a novel therapeutic target to help control TNF-alpha in chronic inflammatory diseases.
Applications: Diagnostic tool for the detection of a chronic inflammatory disease.
Method to inhibit cytokine production in a tissue affected with a chronic inflammatory disease.
Development Status: The technology is currently in the pre-clinical stage of development.
Inventors: Luigi Strizzi, David S. Salomon, Monica I. Gonzales (NCI).
Patent Status: U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/045,746 filed 17 Apr 2008 (HHS Reference No. E-075-2008/0-US-01).
Licensing Status: Available for licensing.
Licensing Contact: Whitney A. Hastings; 301-451-7337; hastingw@mail.nih.gov.
Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Cancer Institute Mammary Biology and Tumorigenesis Laboratory is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize Cripto-1 as a biomarker for chronic inflammatory diseases. Please contact John D. Hewes, Ph.D. at 301-435-3121 or hewesj@mail.nih.gov for more information.
Cripto-1 as a Biomarker for Cardiac Ischemia
Description of Technology: Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of human cardiac morbidity and mortality, affecting over 14 million people in the United States alone. Current detection of cardiac ischemia relies upon identification of electrocardiographic anomalies and the release of cardiac markers from the damaged myocardial tissue. Unfortunately, patients with acute myocardial infarction are often insensitive to these tests during the early phases of intervention and as a result more markers for cardiac ischemic disease are needed.
This technology describes Cripto-1 as a biomarker for infarcted cardiac tissues. Cripto-1 is a member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-related proteins and is currently thought to play an important role in several cancers. The present invention shows that Cripto-1 is overexpressed in infarcted myocardial tissue, and not expressed or weakly expressed in non-infarct related heart disease tissues and normal tissues. Furthermore, the overexpression of Cripto-1 correlates with the hypoxia-inducible factor-1-alpha indicating specificity to ischemic heart tissue. The expression of Cripto-1 has also been shown to be highly expressed in stem cells, which may have an important role in the repair of damaged myocardial tissue. Thus, this technology could represent a new biomarker for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction as well as a surrogate biomarker to monitor the healing process including regenerative stem cell activity of the infarcted myocardial tissue.
Applications:
Diagnostic tool for the detection of myocardial infarction.
Method to monitor stem cell activity in damaged myocardial tissue.
Development Status: The technology is currently in the pre-clinical stage of development.
Inventors: Luigi Strizzi, Caterina Bianco, David S. Salomon (NCI).
Patent Status: U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/046,181 filed 18 Apr 2008 (HHS Reference No. E-049-2008/0-US-01).
Licensing Status: Available for licensing.
Licensing Contact: Whitney A. Hastings; 301-451-7337; hastingw@mail.nih.gov.
Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Cancer Institute Mammary Biology and Tumorigenesis Laboratory is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize Cripto-1 as a biomarker for cardiac ischemia. Please contact John D. Hewes, Ph.D. at 301-435-3121 or hewesj@mail.nih.gov for more information.
Identification of Persons Likely To Benefit From Statin Mediated Cancer Prevention by Pharmacogenetics
Description of Technology: Inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl (HMG) coenzyme A reductase (statins) are a class of well-tolerated compounds that are the most widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs in the United States. Reduced cancer risk among statin users has also been observed as a secondary outcome in randomized controlled clinical trials evaluating effects of statins on cardiovascular outcomes. However the observed cancer risk reduction varied with different clinical studies. Thus there is a need to identify individuals who would benefit from treatment with statins.
--This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below--
Notice.
Citation: "73 FR 39319"
Federal Register Page Number: "39319"
"Notices"
Original Source : http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1746778/
