Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 207 / Wednesday, October 25, 2000 / Notices 63875

affinity and biological activity toward δopiod and μ-opiod receptors. These

compounds therefore, have the potential

to treat opiate and alcohol abuse,

neurological diseases, neuropeptide or

neurotransmitter imbalances,

neurological and immune dysfunction,

graft rejections through

immunosuppression with antagonists,

pain control through short half-life

agonists, and shock and brain injuries.

Scratch Wound Assay Device

Katherine Malinda et al. (NINR), Serial

No. 09/496,134 filed 01 Feb 2000;

Licensing Contact: Dale Berkley;

301/496–7735 ext. 223; e-mail:

berkleyd@od.nih.gov.

Tissue wounds undergo a complex

and ordered series of events to repair

tissue. These events may include

infiltration of inflammatory immune

cells as part of the process to remove

and destroy necrotic tissue, increased

vascularization by angiogenic factors,

and increased cell proliferation and

extracellular matrix deposition.

Although the basic process of tissue

repair has been characterized, the

individual steps and factors necessary to

carry out this complex series of events

are not yet well understood or fully

identified. Accordingly, there is a need

to develop a way of reproducibly

injuring a layer of cells to study the

effects of different compounds of

treatments on the ability of the

remaining cells to repair the damaged

area.

The present invention provides a

device that reproducibly makes a

wound of a desired size in a cell layer

grown on a cell culture material. The

device allows researchers to use small

volumes of cells and test materials

suggesting its use as a tool in high

throughput screening of compounds.

This provides researchers with a faster,

more accurate way of screening large

numbers of factors and determining the

effects of cell growth and migration

agents in model wounds produced in

the cell, organ, or tissue layer.

Method of in vitro T cell Differentiation

of CD34+ Progenitor Cells

Ruiz et al. (NIAID), DHHS Reference No.

E–206–98/0 filed 29 Oct 1999;

Licensing Contact: J. P. Kim; 301/

496–7056 ext. 264; e-mail:

kimj@od.nih.gov.

The present invention relates to a

human in vitro system for inducing the

growth and de novo differentiation of T

cells from CD34+ progenitor cells in the

presence of various cytokine cocktails

and lymph node stroma. The mature T

cells which are generated may be used

to treat individuals with primary or

acquired T cell immunodeficiencies,

including HIV infection.

Dated: October 13, 2000.

Jack Spiegel,

Director, Division of Technology,

Development and Transfer, Office of

Technology Transfer, National Institutes of

Health.

[FR Doc. 00–27356 Filed 10–24–00; 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 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.

A Plasmid for Expression of a Soluble

Form of HIV–1 Integrase Protein

Robert Craigie et al. (NIDDK), NIH

Reference No. E–108–00/0;

Licensing Contact: J.P. Kim; 301/

496–7056 ext. 264; e-mail:

kimj@od.nih.gov.

Integrase is an essential HIV enzyme

and a promising target for antiviral

therapy. Integrase protein is required to

assay for inhibitors of this enzyme and

for mechanistic studies on HIV DNA

integration. Further, drugs targeted to

integrase would provide a new

therapeutic approach to the treatment of

AIDS and could be used in combination

therapy with drugs that target RT and

protease. The subject plasmid can be

used to produce large quantities of a

soluble form of HIV–1 integrase protein

for such work.

TTP as a Regulator of GM–CSF mRNA

Deadenylation and Stability

Ester Carballo-Jane, Wi S. Lai, Perry J.

Blackshear (NIEHS), NIH Reference

No. E–204–99/0 filed 13 Aug 1999;

Licensing Contact: Vasant Gandhi;

301/496–7056 ext. 244; e-mail:

gandhiv@od.nih.gov.

The disclosed invention provides

materials and methods to treat

granulocytopenia (low white cell count

in the blood) which is characterized by

a reduced number of granulocytes

(relative) or an absence of granulocytes

(absolute). This condition is commonly

associated with cancer chemotherapy,

but is seen less frequently in a number

of conditions including the use of

propylthiouracil, radiotherapy for

marrow ablation for bone marrow

transplantation, aplastic anemia,

systemic lupus erythematosus, AIDS

and a variety of other situations. The

invention proposes a method to increase

GM–CSF levels in a treated subject, and

this increase is achieved by inhibiting

the degradation of GM–CSF messenger

RNA (mRNA). Tristetraprolin (TTP) is

one member of a family of cys-cys-cyshis (CCCH) zinc finger proteins, and it

is a factor that binds to and causes the

instability of GM–CSF mRNA. Methods

are provided for the development of

screening assays for molecules that

inhibit the binding of TTP and its

related proteins to GM–CSF mRNA, or

otherwise inhibit the effect of TTP to

promote breakdown of the mRNA,

leading in turn to increased mRNA

stability and enhanced production of

GM–CSF. Compounds identified by

such screens, and their derivatives,

could be useful in treating

granulocytopenia from whatever cause.

Novel Post-Transcriptional Regulatory

Elements and Uses Thereof

George N. Pavlakis and Filomena Nappi

(NCI), NIH Reference Nos. E–143–

98/0 filed 22 May 1998 and E–143–

98/1 filed 22 May 1999; Licensing

Contact: Carol Salata; 301/496–7735

ext. 232; e-mail: salatac@od.nih.gov.

This invention concerns a novel posttranscriptional regulatory element that

can function as an RNA nucleocytoplasmic transport element (NCTE)

and its use to make recombinant

attenuated HIV strains useful as

vaccines. HIV regulates its expression

by controlling the nuclear transport of

unspliced mRNA encoding structural

proteins. HIV utilizes the Rev/RRE

system. RRE (Rev responsible element)

is an HIV encoded NCTE, which is part

of every HIV RNA encoding the

63876 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 207 / Wednesday, October 25, 2000 / Notices

structural genes (Gag/Pol and Env). Rev

is an HIV encoded protein which binds

to RRE. This interaction is essential for

nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of the RRE

containing viral mRNAs and the

expression of Gag/Pol and Env proteins.

The inventors have produced an

attenuated HIV by disabling Rev/RRE,

by point mutations, and inserting in its

place the novel murine NCTE of the

invention. The resultant HIV is

attenuated between 50 and 200 fold

compared to wild type HIV. Claimed at

the novel NCTE, recombinant

retroviruses comprising the NCTE and

vaccines.

Dated: October 6, 2000.

Jack Spiegel,

Director, Division of Technology,

Development and Transfer, Office of

Technology Transfer, National Institutes of

Health.

[FR Doc. 00–27358 Filed 10–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

Consensus Development Conference

on Adjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer

Notice is hereby given of the National

Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus

Development Conference on ‘‘Adjuvant

Therapy for Breast Cancer,’’ which will

be held November 1–3, 2000, in the

NIH’s Natcher Conference Center, 9000

Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland

20892. The conference begins at 8:00 am

on November 1 and 2, and at 9:00 am

on November 3 and is open to the

public.

Each year, more than 180,000 women

in the United States are diagnosed with

breast cancer, the most common type of

non-skin cancer among women in this

country. Through continuing research

into new treatment methods, women

with breast cancer now have more

effective treatment options than ever

before. Studies have shown that

adjuvant therapy—treatment to kill

cancer cells that may have begun to

spread, or metastasize, from the breast

tumor—given in addition to surgery or

other primary therapies increases a

woman’s chance of long-term survival.

Two types of systemic adjuvant

therapy, either alone or in combination,

are used for breast cancer. Adjuvant

chemotherapy involves a combination

of anticancer drugs. Adjuvant hormone

therapy deprives cancer cells of the

female hormone estrogen, which some

breast cancer cells need to grow. In

addition to these systemic therapies,

radiation therapy is sometimes used as

a local adjuvant treatment to help

destroy breast cancer cells that have

spread to nearby tissues.

The rapid pace of discovery in this

area continues to broaden the

knowledge base from which informed

treatment decisions can be made. The

purpose of this conference is to clarify,

for clinicians, patients, and the general

public, various issues regarding the use

of adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.

After 11⁄2 days of presentations and

audience discussion of the latest

adjuvant therapy research, an

independent, non-Federal consensus

development panel will weigh the

scientific evidence and draft a statement

that will be presented to the conference

audience on the third day. The

consensus development panel’s

statement will address the following key

questions:

Which factors should be used to select

systemic adjuvant therapy? 

For which patients should adjuvant

hormonal therapy be recommended? 

For which patients should adjuvant

chemotherapy be recommended?

Which agents should be used and at

what dose or schedule? 

For which patients should

postmastectomy radiotherapy be

recommended? 

How do side effects and quality-of-life

issues factor into individual decisionmaking about adjuvant therapy? 

What are promising new research

directions for adjuvant therapy? 

On the final day of the conference, the

panel’s draft statement will be read in

public, at which time members of the

public are invited to offer comments on

the draft.

The primary sponsors of this meeting

are the National Cancer Institute and the

NIH Office of Medical Applications of

Research. Cosponsors include the

National Institute of Nursing Research

and the NIH Office of Research on

Women’s Health.

This is the 114th Consensus

Development Conference held by the

NIH in the 23-year history of the

Consensus Development Program.

Advance information about the

conference and conference registration

materials may be obtained from

Prospect Associates of Silver Spring,

Maryland, by calling (301) 592–3320 or

by sending e-mail to

breastcancer@prospectassoc.com.

Prospect Associates’ address is 10720

Columbia Pike, Suite 500, Silver Spring,

Maryland 20901–4437. A conference

agenda and registration information is

also available on the NIH Consensus

Program Web site at http://

consensus.nih.gov.

Dated: October 13, 2000.

Ruth L. Kirschstein,

Principal Deputy Director, National Institutes

of Health.

[FR Doc. 00–27357 Filed 10–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

National Cancer Institute; Notice of

Meeting

Pursuant to section 10(d) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as

amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice

is hereby given of the meeting of the

National Cancer Institute Board of

Scientific Advisors.

The meeting will be open to the

public as indicated below, with

attendance limited to space available.

Individuals who plan to attend and

need special assistance, such as sign

language interpretation or other

reasonable accommodations, should

notify the Contact Person listed below

in advance of the meeting.

The meeting will be closed to the

public in accordance with the

provisions set forth in sections

552b(c)(6) and 552b(c)(9)(B), Title 5

U.S.C. The discussions could reveal

information of a personal nature where

disclosure would constitute a clearly

unwarranted invasion of personal

privacy and the premature disclosure of

discussions related to personnel and

confidential administrative information

would be likely to significantly frustrate

the subsequent implementation of

recommendations.

Name of Committee: National Cancer

Institute Board of Scientific Advisors.

Date: November 16–17, 2000.

Open: November 16, 8:30 am to 5 pm;

November 17, 8:30 am to 2 pm.

Agenda: Report of the Director, NCI;

Ongoing and New Business, Status Reports,

Budget Presentation, Reports of Special

Initiatives, and RFA/RFP Concept Reviews.

Closed: November 16, 5 pm to 6 pm.

Agenda: To review and evaluate personnel

and programmatic issues.

Place: National Cancer Institute, 9000

Rockville Pike, Building 31, C Wing, 6 Floor,

Conference Room 10, Bethesda, MD 20892.

Contact Person: Paulette S. Gray, Ph.D.,

Executive Secretary, Deputy Director,

Division of Extramural Activities, National

Cancer Institute, National Institutes of

Health, 6116 Executive Boulevard, Room

8141, Bethesda, MD 20892, (301) 496–4218.

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 93.392, Cancer Construction;

93.393, Cancer Cause and Prevention

Research; 93.394, Cancer Detection and

Diagnosis Research; 93.395, Cancer