Patent ID: 7851455
Filing Date: 2010-12-14
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for determining the percentage of the cells in a vertebrate tumor that are hypoxic, comprising: a) administering to said vertebrate tumor an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid encoding a reporter gene operatively linked to a hypoxia-inducible MN/CA9 promoter fragment; and b) detecting and quantifying reporter gene expression product expressed by said vector in cells of said tumor or in a tissue sample taken from said tumor; and c) determining the percentage of hypoxic cells in said tumor based on the percentage of cells expressing said reporter gene expression product; wherein said hypoxia-inducible MN/CA9 promoter fragment comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: (1) SEQ ID NO: 146 and its complement; and (2) nucleotide sequences that are 90% homologous to the nucleotide sequences of (1); and wherein said hypoxia-inducible MN/CA9 promoter fragment has hypoxia-inducible activity.