21772 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 79 / Monday, April 24, 2000 / Notices

tumor cell proliferation; and, drug

resistance of tumor cells.

Dated: April 17, 2000.

Jack Spiegel,

Director, Division of Technology Development

and Transfer, Office of Technology Transfer,

National Institutes of Health.

[FR Doc. 00–10178 Filed 4–21–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P

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

contacting Carol A. Salata, Ph.D., at the

Office of Technology Transfer, National

Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive

Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville,

Maryland 20852–3804; telephone: 301/

496–7735 ext. 232; fax: 301/402–0220;

e-mail: cs253n@nih.gov. A signed

Confidential Disclosure Agreement will

be required to receive copies of the

patent applications.

Molecular Clones With Mutated HIV

GAG/POL and SIV Genes

George N Pavlakis (NCI)

Serial No. 60/173,036 filed 23 Dec 1999

The invention is a DNA construct

which can be used as part of an HIV

DNA vaccine or as a lentiviral vector to

deliver heterologous DNA to cells. The

advantage of lentiviral vectors, over

retroviral vectors, is that they can

transduce quiescent cells, such as

terminally differentiated neurons. The

advantage of the lentiviral vectors of the

invention over the lentiviral vectors of

the prior art are that they can be highly

expressed in human or mammalian cells

in the absence of any other regulatory or

structural protein of HIV, including

REV. The advantage of vectors based on

SIV is that they are divergent from HIV–

1.

The construct encodes the gag/pol

region of the HIV–1 genome in which

the instability regions (INS) have been

removed by multiple point mutations,

without changing the protein sequence.

The INS are regions in the unspliced

RNA which decrease the amount of

expression from the RNA, a decrease

which is overcome by the interaction of

the HIV protein REV with the RRE (Rev

Response Element) found on the RNA

constructs encoding gag, pol and env of

HIV–1. Under certain situations the

construct can result in the formation of

infectious viral particles which contain

only gag and pol from HIV. These viral

particles can be used as vaccines or for

gene therapy.

Time-Gated Imaging With a Split-Beam

Source

Ronald W. Waynant (FDA)

Serial No. 60/153,100 filed 09 Sep 1999

The present invention provides a new

apparatus and methods for generating a

split-beam electromagnetic source for

imaging devices and methodologies.

With this invention, one part of a split

beam is used for generating an image of

an object and another part of the split

beam is used for timely capturing the

generated image. The present invention

offers many advantages over earlier

technologies. For example: (1) switching

with a short duration pulse allows for a

fast time gate; (2) utilization of an

electromagnetic pulse source to both

image and time gate allows for easier

and more precise synchronization of the

time gate with the imaging source; and

(3) optically switching the time gate

solves the problem of jitter and

inhomogeneous gating.

Identification of the Domain of

Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte

Membrane Protein (PfEMP1) that

Mediates Adhesion to Chondroitin

Sulfate A

Arthur Scherf et al. (NIAID)

Serial No. 60/152,023 filed 01 Sep 1999

Plasmodium falciparum malaria is

more severe in pregnant women and

causes disease in the mother and fetal

death, even in those women who were

previously immune. Severe malaria

during pregnancy is more common

during the first pregnancy

(primigravida) and much less after

multiple pregnancies (multigravid).

Pregnant women are infected by

parasites that sequester in the placenta

and such sequestration contributes to

growth retardation, infant mortality and

severe anemia. Multigravid women

develop antibodies that block the

adhesion of infected erythrocytes to

their placental receptor, chondroitin

sulfate A (CSA). This interaction is

mediated by specific var (PfEMP1) genes

that bind to the host receptor CSA. The

domain of the CSA-binding var gene

that mediates adherence to CSA has

been identified. This domain and

potentially other parts of the molecule

can give rise to development of anti

malaria vaccines and therapeutics that

will protect women from placental

malaria, particularly during their first

pregnancy.

Method for Generating NMR Relaxation

Data and Identifying Ligands to Target

Molecules From Multiple Field NMR

Spectra

David Fushman, Nico Tjandra (NHLBI),

David Cowburn

Serial No. 09/385,227 filed 27 Aug 1999

The present invention provides a

nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation

method of screening compounds for

their ability to bind to target molecules

and elicit site specific changes in the

target molecule’s structure. Specifically,

this application pertains to a method of

generating site specific nuclear

relaxation data for target molecules and

their ligands. These data can be used for

exploration into the thermodynamic

requirements of ligand binding, the

calculation of structural constraints

helpful in predicting the solution

structure of a target molecule and its

ligand complexes, and to design new

ligands for target molecules.

Fast Displacement Encoding with

Stimulated Magnetic Resonance Echoes

by Sampling Both Components of a

Stimulated Echo

Anthony H. Aletras, Han Wen (NHLBI)

Serial No. 60/147,314 filed 05 Aug 1999

The present invention provides a

nuclear magnetic resonance method of

phase contrast motion encoding. This

methodology samples both the

simulated-echo and the simulated-antiecho by means of multiple 180 degree

refocusing radiofrequency pulses. The

pulses produced by the disclosed

methods are compatible for

reconstructing images without the need

for elaborate data processing steps. By

combining this method with pulses with

unequal first order moments, dynamic

range of motion measurements, in the

heart, can be extended within the time

period of a breath-hold in humans.

Utilizing this powerful new

methodology, a variety of diagnostic

information can be learned about

cardiac function in normal and diseased

states.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 79 / Monday, April 24, 2000 / Notices 21773

MRI Contrast Agents Depending on

Proton Chemical Exchange

Robert S. Balaban, Kathleen Ward,

Anthony H. Aletras (NHLBI)

DHHS Reference No. E–240–98/0 filed

21 Apr 1999

Recently, methods have been

developed to Magnetic Resonance

Imaging (MRI) contrast using exogenous

agents with exchangeable protons.

These methods incorporate the use of

selective reagents, such as sugars, amino

acids, and nucleosides with appropriate

proton exchange sites. Image contrast is

generated by using saturation transfer

techniques to selectively affect the water

protons used in forming the MR image.

The contrast agents developed do not

contain metals or metal chelates. The

agents have appropriate exchangeable

proton sites which can be irradiated at

known frequencies to obtain MRI

images with specific contrast. This

permits the image contrast to be turned

off and on based on the irradiation

scheme. This method also uses a

controlled irradiation scheme to

overcome the obstacle of broad proton

resonance that limits contrast

enhancement. In-Vivo data has shown

the utility of this invention.

Oligomeric HIV–1 Envelope

Glycoproteins

Patricia L. Earl, Chris C. Broder, Robert

W. Doms, Bernard Moss (NIAID)

Serial Nos. 08/165,314 filed December

10, 1993; 08/805,889 filed March 3,

1997; 09/070,291 filed April 30, 1998;

and 09/415,326 filed October 8, 1999

This invention embodies a method for

generating antibodies to HIV–1 envelope

glycoproteins, which could hold

powerful implications toward both the

diagnosis and the treatment of AIDS.

Specifically, the method involves the

expression of a soluble protein, gp140,

and the generation of antibodies to this

protein. gp140 is a recombinant version

of gp160, a protein which normally is

cleaved in vivo to generate two

glycoprotein subunits which are

expressed on the surface of the HIV–1

envelope. Unlike previously isolated

versions of gp160, gp140 is purified in

a manner which preserves the

quaternary structural elements of the

protein. Due to the conserved nature of

these structural elements, antibodies

generated against gp140 may be more

broadly reactive against various forms of

AIDS than other antibodies generated to

date.

Dated: April 17, 2000.

Jack Spiegel,

Director, Division of Technology Development

and Transfer, Office of Technology Transfer,

National Institutes of Health.

[FR Doc. 00–10179 Filed 4–21–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P

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

contacting Susan S. Rucker, J.D., at the

Office of Technology Transfer, National

Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive

Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville,

Maryland 20852–3804; telephone: 301/

496–7056 ext. 245; fax: 301/402–0220;

e-mail: sr156v@nih.gov. A signed

Confidential Disclosure Agreement will

be required to receive copies of the

patent applications.

Hybrid Adeno-Retroviral Vector for the

Transformation of Cells

C Zheng, B O’Connell, BJ Baum (NIDCR)

Serial No. E–258–98/0 filed 31 Jan 2000

The invention described and claimed

in this patent application provides for

novel hybrid vectors which may be used

for cell transformation, either in vivo or

in vitro. The hybrid vectors have an

adenoviral backbone with retroviral

long terminal repeats (LTRs). Such

vectors are capable of transforming

dividing or non-dividing cells and

integrate stably into the chromosome

providing a means of efficient, reliable,

long-term gene expression. The vector

was packaged as a recombinant

adenovirus and delivered to the target

cell. Unlike other chimeric or hybrid

vector systems, only a single vector is

required to deliver a transgene of

interest, and retroviral structural

proteins are not required.

This work has been published in part

in Nature Biotechnology Zheng, et al.

18(2): 176–180 (Feb 2000).

Calcium Channel Compositions and

Methods of Use Thereof

MI Lerman (NCI) et al.

Serial No. 09/470,443 filed 22 Dec 1999

and 60/114,359 filed 30 Dec 1998

(now abandoned)

This invention described in this

patent application relates to the

identification, isolation and cloning of a

three cDNAs identified during a search

of the short arm of chromosome 3 for a

tumor suppressor gene (TSG) associated

with lung cancer. The cDNA’s are

alternative isoforms which encode a

protein which functions as a subunit of

L-type voltage-dependent calcium

channel. Type L voltage-dependent

calcium channels represent one of five

families of calcium channels, L, R, P, N,

Q, which have been identified. Type L

voltage-dependent calcium channels are

found in a wide variety of tissues

including the brain, muscle and the

endocrine system.

The gene has been mapped to the

short arm of chromosome 3 at 3p21.3.

The gene, which corresponds to this

cDNA is an alpha2delta-2 (α2δ-2)

subunit, and has been shown to be

deleted in lung and breast cancer. The

scientists have demonstrated that the

expression of this calcium channel has

been shut off in lung cancer cells and

hypothesize that this may lead to a

malignant phenotype. Other cancers

which may be associated with this α2δ2 subunit include cervical cancer and

head and neck carcinoma. Other nonmalignant diseases which may also be

associated with this α2δ-2 subunit

include CNS diseases and

cardiovascular diseases.

Possible applications of this

technology include its use in drug

screening assays; its use as an early

diagnostic marker and/or as a prognostic

or treatment indicator; its use in gene

therapy where defective cells would be

reconstituted with the gene and as a

therapeutic agent for clearing

autoantibodies which develop toward

the alpha2delta-2 subunit in the disease

Lambert-Eton myasthenia syndrome.

Monoclonal Antibody Against Met

Protein

G Vande Woude, M Oskarsson, J Resau,

S Rulong, Y Chui (NCI–FCRDC)

Serial No. 60/168,835 filed 03 Dec 1999

The invention described in this

application relates to the Hepatocyte

Growth Factor/Scatter Factor/Tumor

Cytotoxic Factor (HGF/SF/F–TCF)-met/

Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor