IV PatentsALERT

35419 5584876

MEASUREMENT OF AN ENZYME CELL EXCLUDING SHEATH FOR MARKER AS AN AID TO DIAGNOSIS VASCULAR GRAFTS

OF LIVER TRANSPLANT REJECTION

Kilty Cormac; O’Byrne Seamus Monkstown, County Dublin, IRELAND assigned to Kilty Cormac G; O’Byrne Seamus

Bruchman William C; Switzer Anita J Flagstaff, AZ, UNITED STATES assigned to W L Gore & Associates Inc

A method which assists in the early diagnosis of rejection in a liver transplant recipient comprises measuring an increase in plasma or serum alpha glutathione S-transferase (alpha-GST) from said recipient in the absence of or preceding any change in plasma or serum transaminase. Alpha-GST is most suitably measured by enzymeimmunoassay, using a solid phase antibody which is monospecific for alpha-GST. The monospecific antibody cross-reacts with the alpha-GST dimers B 1B 1, B lB2 and B2B2.

The present invention is directed to a sheath for use with vascular prostheses derived from donor blood vessels, particularly mammalian blood vessels. A vascular prosthesis of the present invention employs an external sheath around a donor blood vessel. The sheath prevents access to the donor vessel wall by host cells originating from per&aft tissue. While resistant to host cell ingrowth, the external sheath is permeable to the flux of macromolecules across its thickness. The exclusion of host cells by the external sheath and the bi-directional flow of macromolecules through the external sheath assists in maintaining the original function of the underlying donor vascular tissue of the prosthesis.

5583033

T LYMPHOCYTE PRECURSOR 5587297

Terstappen Leon W M M; Picker Louis J Palo Alto, CA, UNITED STATES assigned to Becton Dickinson and Company

METHOD FOR IDENTIFICATION OF

A population of T lymphocyte precursor cells is disclosed. In bone marrow, the earliest identifiable T lymphocyte precursor is CD34+, CD7+ and Leu 8+-t-+. Methods of isolation and methods of therapeutic use of such cells also are disclosed.

DISEASE-SPECIFIC SURFACE COMPONENTS OF VASCULAR

ENDOTHELIAL CELLS

Jacobson Bruce S; Schnitzer Jan E Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES assigned to The Regents of the University of California

5583034

ENHANCEMENT OF ADOPTOSIS USING ANTISENSE

OLIGONUCLEOTIDES

Green Douglas; Cotter Thomas San Diego, CA, UNITED STATES assigned to La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology

A method is disclosed for enhancement of the efficacy of therapeutic treatment for inducing cell death in a cell having an anti-apoptotic gene by the enhancement of apoptosis. An antisense oligonucleotide is disclosed which hybridizes with the nucleic acid sequence of the anti-apoptotic gene. The oligonucleotide is administered to the cell in an amount sufficient to inhibit expression of the gene, thus rendering the cell susceptible to induction of apoptosis, and consequently achieving higher efficacy of therapeutic treatment.

The present invention provides methods for identifying molecular components (e.g. proteins and/or lipids) that are characteristic of vascular endothelia associated with a particular disease and are not also present in (i) normal (non-disease associated) vascular endothelia or (ii) non-disease associated vascular endothelia subjected to altered conditions that accompany the disease but are not unique to the disease. The methods include isolating plasma membrane fractions from disease-associated vascular endothelial cells, from normal (nondisease-associated) vascular endothelial cells and from nondisease-associated vascular endothelial cells subjected to at least one of the altered conditions; purifying and resolving molecular components from these membrane fractions; comparing the components resolved from each of the foregoing vascular endothelial cell sources and identifying components that are present in disease-associated endothelial cells and absent from the normal or otherwise conditioned endothelial cells. The resulting endothelial cell membrane components that are unique to the disease state can be used for diagnostic and/or therapeutic outnoses.