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The Lankenau Institute for Medical Research in conjunction with the Lankenau Hospital and the Main Line Health System is committed to transferring discoveries made in the laboratory to new diagnostic and therapeutic uses in the clinical setting. Intellectual conceptions and inventions are encouraged and their commercializaion are understood to be in the best interest of the public. Technologies and materials invented at LIMR are available for further development and commercialization, in some cases after appropriate protection has been secured. To license the LIMR technologies available below, contact:
J. Todd Abrams, Ph.D.
Director, Philanthropy & Business Development
Lankenau Institute for Medical Research
100 Lancaster Avenue
Wynnewood, PA 19096
Tel: (610) 645-8145
Fax: (610) 645-8019
Email:abramsj@mlhs.org
Patented technologies
Cancer Susceptibility Screening - I
ODC
Allelic Analysis Method for Assessing Carcinogenic Susceptibility
Inventors: Thomas O’Brien, PhD, Yong Jun Guo, MD
U.S. Patent Nos. 6,277,581 B1 and 6,753,422; “ODC Allelic Analysis Method for Assessing Carcinogenic Susceptibility”
This technology describes a DNA screening method to identify individuals at high risk for cancer. The ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) gene encodes an enzyme involved in cell growth regulation. Within the gene are several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), one of which is located in a regulatory region of the gene. When abnormally regulated and expressed at higher than normal levels, ODC enhances tumor development.
There are two forms of the ODC gene, termed A and G alleles. Expression of the A allele is generally greater than the G allele in most tissues. This knowledge led to the hypothesis that individuals with one or two copies of the A allele might be at higher risk for cancer, compared to individuals with two copies of the G allele. A case/control study of individuals with prostate cancer revealed an association between one or two copies of the A allele and increased cancer risk. This association was particularly strong in men who smoked.
The ODC A allele represents a genetic variant of a gene that can modify the activity of environmental carcinogens, such as smoking, and thereby affect tumor development. While more research is needed to confirm initial studies correlating the ODC A allele with cancer susceptibility, this technology describes a high throughput method to determine ODC genotype by analyzing an individual’s DNA. The technology is useful for research designed to identify genetic polymorphisms responsible for increasing cancer susceptibility. Assuming the association between ODC genotype and cancer risk is confirmed for one or more types of cancer, the technology is useful for identifying individuals at high risk for cancer. These individuals would be advised to avoid known environmental risk factors and might be candidates for more frequent and/or aggressive diagnostic tests for cancer.
Cancer Susceptibility Screening - II
A simple test to screen for esophageal cancer risk
Inventors: James Mullin, Ph.D., James Thornton, M.D.
U.S. Patent No. 6,872,517; “Early Diagnosis of Cancerous and Precancerous Conditions by Leakage of Signature Peptides and Carbohydrates into the Bloodstream”
This invention discloses a simple, non-invasive, safe and inexpensive diagnostic test to screen for those individuals with chronic reflux disease who are most at risk of developing esophageal cancer. The technology is based on evidence that tight junctional seals between epithelial cells become leaky early in the process of neoplasia. A Phase I clinical trial based on this technology is underway to test the efficacy of the technology for predicting the onset and severity of Barrett’s esophagus, which is a precancerous condition of the esophagus.
A low-cost screen for esophageal preneoplasia would serve to highlight those individuals for whom higher-cost, more invasive upper endoscopy is warranted. The technology is predicted to indicate the onset of dysplasia in Barrett’s esophagus, a condition that predisposes to cancer, but is currently very difficult to diagnose even with endoscopy because limited tissue biopsy samples can miss the dysplastic area.
The described technology is particularly relevant to settings where gastrointestional specialists are not readily available and to a managed care environment where a less costly diagnostic test is needed to identify patients requiring additional higher-cost diagnostic tests. The test utilizes a urine sample. It relies on the patient drinking a concentrated solution of sucrose at bedtime, and collecting any and all urine voided over the next seven hours. Sucrose content in the urine is then determined by high pressure liquid chromatography and compared to normal levels. Higher than normal sucrose levels in the urine reflect a breach in the integrity of the epithelial barrier.
Non-patented reagents
Monoclonal antibodies available for licensing
- Anti-indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO)
IDO is an important immunomodulatory enzyme that catalyzes the first rate-limiting step in tryptophan catabolism. It has been implicated in immune tolerance in pregnancy, cancer, chronic viral disease, and other pathological states characterized by immune suppression.
Mouse monoclonal antibody recognizes human, rat, and mouse proteins. It can be used for immunoblot analysis (IB), immunoprecipitation (IP), immunofluorescence light microscopy (IF), and immunohistochemistry (IHC).
N-cadherin is a cell-cell adhesion protein.
Mouse monoclonal antibody recognizes human and mouse proteins. It can be used for IB, IP, IF, and IHC applications.
Bin3 is a BAR adapter protein that has been implicated in the regulation of cancer, IDO, and cataract formation. Along with Bin1 (aka Amphiphysin 2), it is one of the two members of the BAR protein family that are conserved in evolution (Routhier et al. J. Biol. Chem. 276: 21670 [2001]).
Mouse monoclonal antibody recognizes human, rat, and mouse proteins. It can be used for IB, IP, and IF applications.
Bin2 (aka BRAP1) is a BAR adapter protein that has been implicated in endocytotic and vesicle trafficking processes in hematopoietic cells (Ge and Prendergast, Genomics 67: 210 [2000]).
Rabbit polyclonal antibody recognizes human and mouse proteins. It can be used for IB, IP, and IF applications. IHC applications have not been tested.
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