Title: SiRNA-Mediated Gene Silencing in Transgenic Animals.
Number: 20050071893.
Filed: Oct. 15, 2003.
Lead Inventor: Jost Seibler, Artemis Pharmaceuticals.
According to the patent application's abstract, the invention "relates to a process that enables constitutive and inducible gene knock down in living organisms using a short-hairpin RNA expression vector integrated into the genome of the organism."
Title: RNA Interference-Mediated Inhibition of Tyrosine Phosphatase-1B (PTP-1B) Gene Expression Using Short Interfering Nucleic Acid.
Number: 20050070497.
Filed: July 19, 2004.
Lead Inventor: James McSwiggen, Sirna Therapeutics.
"This invention relates to compounds, compositions, and methods useful for modulating protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP-1B) gene expression using short interfering nucleic acid molecules," the patent application's abstract states. "This invention also relates to compounds, compositions, and methods useful for modulating the expression and activity of other genes involved in pathways of PTP-1B gene expression and/or activity by RNA interference using small nucleic acid molecules. In particular, the instant invention features small nucleic acid molecules, such as short-interfering nucleic acid, short-interfering RNA, double-stranded RNA, microRNA, and short-hairpin RNA molecules and methods used to modulate the expression of PTP-1B genes."
Title: Microelectronic Cell Electroporation Array.
Number: 20050070018.
Filed: Sept. 30, 2003.
Lead Inventor: Lee Johnson, Naval Research Laboratory.
"The electroporation array is comprised of three technologies: microwire glass electrodes, microelectronic multiplexer stimulator chips, and microfluidic flow chamber," the patent application's abstract states. "Various substances, such as genes, gene-silencing RNAi, gene-inhibition agents, or drugs, can be perfused into the microfluidic flow chamber. The entry of the various substances into the cells will be facilitated by electroporation."
The abstract states that "an applied electric potential causes nanoscale pores to open in the cell membrane allowing substances in the solution to freely diffuse into the cell. The specific cells selected for electroporation are defined using the computer controlled microelectronic stimulator array. An 'image' of which electrodes within the array to apply the electric potential to, and thus electroporate, is de-multiplexed onto the array," it notes. "All the selected electrodes deliver a current pulse varied by the intensity of the de-multiplexed 'image'. By serially perfusing different substances across the cells or tissue and electroporating different areas of the cell or tissue culture, it will be possible to have different cells within the culture contain different genes, gene-silencing RNAi, gene-inhibition agents, drugs, chemicals, or other substances or sets thereof.
"It is also possible to re-electroporate subsets of cells on the array to allow for multiple gene combinations," the abstract states. "In essence, this invention allows for the creation of cell arrays and would be analogous to gene arrays, which have been so important in recent advances in biotechnology, such as the human genome project."
Title: R2D2: an Enzyme of RNA Silencing.
Number: 20050069990.
Filed: Sept. 25, 2003.
Lead Inventor: Xiaodong Wang, the University of Texas.
The patent application's abstract states that "methods for making siRNA comprise recombinantly co-expressing a Dicer protein with an R2D2 protein to form a complex comprising the R2D2 protein and the Dicer protein, and contacting the complex with a double-stranded RNA under conditions wherein the complex cleaves the dsRNA into siRNA. The R2D2 protein may be a Drosophila R2D2 protein and the Dicer protein may be a Drosophila Dicer-2 protein. The Dicer protein and the R2D2 protein may be co-expressed in insect cells, such as S2, Sf9 or Hi5 cells, using a baculovirus expression system."
Title: Methods and Compositions for Seamless Cloning of Nucleic Acid Molecules.
Number: 20050069929.
Filed: Aug. 9, 2004.
Lead Inventor: Jonathan Chestnut, Invitrogen.
The invention, the patent application's abstract states, is in the fields of biotechnology and molecular biology. "More particularly, the … invention relates to cloning or subcloning one or more nucleic acid molecules comprising one or more type IIs restriction enzyme recognition sites. The … invention also embodies cloning such nucleic acid molecules using recombinational cloning methods such as those employing recombination sites and recombination proteins," the abstract states. "The … invention also relates to nucleic acid molecules (including RNA and iRNA), as well as proteins, expressed from host cells produced using the methods of the present invention."