[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 250 (Thursday, December 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82383-82384]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-33086]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
Transgenic Zebrafish with Vascular Specific Expression of Exogenous
Genes Driven by the Zebrafish Fli-1 Promoter
Brant M. Weinstein, Nathan N. Lawson (NICHD)
DHHS Reference No. E-003-01/0
Licensing Contact: Marlene Shinn; 301/496-7056 ext. 285; email:
[email protected]
The technology portrayed in this invention is available through a
Biological Materials License for research tools and diagnostic tests.
Zebrafish are an important and valuable model system for high-
throughput mutational or pharmacological screens for genes or molecules
with important roles in blood vessel growth or differentiation. This
invention consists of germline transgenic zebrafish lines in which the
expression of green fluorescent protein (EGFP) is driven by zebrafish
Fli-1 promoter sequences. These transgenic lines display bright,
uniform, and persistent expression of EGFP protein throughout the
vascular system. The Fli promoter also drives transient EGFP expression
in cranial neural crest and its derivatives. The transgenics allow
straightforward, noninvasive fluorescent visualization of virtually all
blood vessels in the animal throughout embryonic and early larval
development.
These Fli-EGFP transgenics have a number of potential applications.
They can be used to help identify endogenous genes important for blood
vessel formation, either by screening mutagenized transgenic embryos
for vascular specific mutants or by preparing vascular specific cDNA
libraries for use in novel gene discovery. They also provide an
efficient method for performing high-throughput in vivo screening for
antiangiogenic or proangiogenic drugs and other compounds. Using
transgenic zebrafish for these screens has the added benefit of
simultaneously revealing toxic and teratogenic effects of the tested
agents on a whole, developing organism.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Coil for Specific Non-Invasive
Deep Brain Stimulation
Abraham Zangen (NIDA), Roy Wise (NIDA), Mark Hallett (NINDS),
Yiftach Roth (EM), Pedro Miranda (NINDS)
DHHS Reference No. E-223-00/0 filed 20 Oct 2000
Licensing Contact: Dale Berkley; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-mail:
[email protected]
The invention is a magnetic stimulator that is placed in contact
with the head of a subject to magnetically stimulate the brain. The
invention has applications in the treatment of neurophysiological or
cardiovascular conditions, and may be of particular utility in the
treatment of disorders associated with deep regions of the brain, such
as drug addiction and depression. The unique coil shape of the
stimulator is designed to target deep brain regions like the nucleus
accumbens, which are associated with the biological mechanism
underlying drug abuse. Deep regions of the brain are also implicated in
depressive disorders, and this coil is likely to offer an improvement
in the transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy currently being tested
for treatment of depression.
Peroxynitrite Generators, Compositions Comprising Same, and Methods
for Treating Biological Disorders Using Same
Challice L. Bonifant, Joseph E. Saavedra and Larry K. Keefer
(NCI)
DHHS Reference No. E-175-00/0 filed 02 June 2000
[[Page 82384]]
Licensing Contact: Norbert Pontzer; 301/496-7735, ext. 284; e-
mail: [email protected]
Diazeniumdiolates are a class of compounds which release nitric
oxide (NO) under physiological conditions. Nitric oxide performs a
number of regulatory functions in vivo such as controlling vascular
tone and platelet function, but it can also combine with superoxide ion
to produce peroxynitrite ion, as especially reactive species.
Peroxynitrite-mediated cellular toxicity may have several therapeutic
applications. Because of the relatively low amounts of superoxide ion
present in some cells, the peroxynitrite mechanism of diazeniumdiolate
toxicity is not uniformly available. In order to generate peroxynitrite
ions in tissues or other media lacking adequate levels of superoxide
ion, this invention provides a new class of compounds which release NO
and superoxide ion simultaneously to generate peroxynitrite ions.
Molecules of this invention can be designed to generate
peroxynitrite ion at specific biochemical targets. For one type of
targeting, the release of NO is designed to be triggered by
nucleophilic attack on the diazeniumdiolate drug while superoxide
generation is simultaneously occurring at a quinone moiety elsewhere in
the molecule. If the required nucleophilic attack is designed to be
specifically catalyzed in the active site of glutathione S-transferase-
pi, a cytoprotective enzyme overexpressed by certain tumors to render
them drug-resistant, compounds of this invention could restore the
susceptibility of tumor cells to chemotherapy by knocking out the
excess enzyme, thereby preventing the tumor cells from inactivating the
chemotherapeutic agents. Attachment of the compounds to polymeric
compositions would physically localize the peroxynitrite activity.
Physical localization in vivo may have utility against the recently
recognized chronic infections caused by biofilms, and generation of
peroxynitrite ions in vitro may have utility against infectious
bilfilms on medical devices.
Dated: December 20, 2000.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology, Development and Transfer, Office of
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 00-33086 Filed 12-27-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M