Licensing biotech intellectual property in university-industry partnerships

Appropriate negotiation and drafting of license agreements are critical to successfully establishing and managing the expansive and complex relationships that are becoming more common between industry and universities. More often than not, the resulting licensing agreements become quite lengthy and complex, and the key principles become difficult to discern among all the details. This summary provides a short, nonexhaustive introduction to some of the essential components of these licenses with the intent of providing the non-licensing professional a better appreciation of some of the key commercial and legal terms from both an academic and company perspective, keeping in mind some of the considerations that particularly apply to biotechnology deals.

Genetic control of susceptibility to experimental Lyme arthritis is polygenic and exhibits consistent linkage to multiple loci on chromosome 5 in four independent mouse crosses

C3H/He mice infected with Borrelia burgdorferi develop severe arthritis and are high antibody responders, while infected C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice develop mild arthritis and less robust humoral responses. Genetic analysis using composite interval mapping (CIM) on reciprocal backcross populations derived from C3H/HeN and C57BL/6N or C3H/HeJ and BALB/cAnN mice identified 12 new quantitative trait loci (QTL) linked to 10 murine Lyme disease phenotypes. These QTL reside on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17. A reanalysis of an F(2) intercross between C57BL/6N and C3H/HeN mice using CIM identified two new QTL on chromosomes 4 and 15 and confirmed the location of seven previously identified loci. Two or more experimental crosses independently verified six QTL controlling phenotypes after B. burgdorferi infection. Additionally, Bb2 on chromosome 5 was reproduced in four experimental populations and was linked to the candidate locus Cora1. Evidence of four distinct QTL residing within the 30-cM region of chromosome 5 encompassing the previously mapped Bb2 and Bb3 loci was shown by CIM. Interestingly, some alleles contributing to susceptibility to Lyme arthritis were derived from C57BL/6N and BALB/cAnN mice, showing that disease-resistant strains harbor susceptibility alleles.

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Governing Arthritis Severity and Humoral Responses in the Murine Model of Lyme Disease

A spectrum of disease severity has been observed in patients with Lyme disease, with ∼60% of untreated individuals developing arthritis. The murine model of Lyme disease has provided strong evidence that the genetic composition of the host influences the severity of arthritis following infection with Borrelia burgdorferi: infected C3H mice develop severe arthritis while infected C57BL/6N mice develop mild arthritis. Regions of the mouse genome controlling arthritis severity and humoral responses during B. burgdorferi infection were identified in the F2 intercross generation of C3H/HeNCr and C57BL/6NCr mice. Rear ankle swelling measurements identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosomes 4 and 5, while histopathological scoring identified QTL on a unique region of chromosome 5 and on chromosome 11. The identification of QTL unique for ankle swelling or histopathological severity suggests that processes under distinct genetic control are responsible for these two manifestations of Lyme arthritis. Additional QTL that control the levels of circulating Igs induced by B. burgdorferi infection were identified on chromosomes 6, 9, 11, 12, and 17. Interestingly, the magnitude of the humoral response was not correlated with the severity of arthritis in infected F2 mice. This work defines several genetic loci that regulate either the severity of arthritis or the magnitude of humoral responses to B. burgdorferi infection in mice, with implications toward understanding the host-pathogen interactions involved in disease development.

Identification of quantitative trait loci governing arthritis severity and humoral responses in the murine model of Lyme disease

A spectrum of disease severity has been observed in patients with Lyme disease, with approximately 60% of untreated individuals developing arthritis. The murine model of Lyme disease has provided strong evidence that the genetic composition of the host influences the severity of arthritis following infection with Borrelia burgdorferi: infected C3H mice develop severe arthritis while infected C57BL/6N mice develop mild arthritis. Regions of the mouse genome controlling arthritis severity and humoral responses during B. burgdorferi infection were identified in the F2 intercross generation of C3H/HeNCr and C57BL/6NCr mice. Rear ankle swelling measurements identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosomes 4 and 5, while histopathological scoring identified QTL on a unique region of chromosome 5 and on chromosome 11. The identification of QTL unique for ankle swelling or histopathological severity suggests that processes under distinct genetic control are responsible for these two manifestations of Lyme arthritis. Additional QTL that control the levels of circulating Igs induced by B. burgdorferi infection were identified on chromosomes 6, 9, 11, 12, and 17. Interestingly, the magnitude of the humoral response was not correlated with the severity of arthritis in infected F2 mice. This work defines several genetic loci that regulate either the severity of arthritis or the magnitude of humoral responses to B. burgdorferi infection in mice, with implications toward understanding the host-pathogen interactions involved in disease development.

Temporal and tissue-specific regulation of a Brassica napus stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase gene

The nucleotide sequence of a Brassica napus stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase gene (Bn10) is presented. This gene is one member of a family of four closely related genes expressed in oilseed rape. The expression of the promoter of this gene in transgenic tobacco was found to be temporally regulated in the developing seed tissues. However, the promoter was also particularly active in other oleogenic tissues such as the tapetum and pollen grains. This raises the interesting question of whether seed-expressed lipid synthesis genes are regulated by separate tissue-specific determinants or by a single factor common to all oleogenic tissues. Parts of the plants undergoing rapid development such as the components of immature flowers and seedlings also exhibited high levels of promoter activity. These tissues are likely to have an elevated requirement for membrane lipid synthesis. Stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase transcript levels have previously been shown to be temporally regulated in the B. napus embryo (S.P. Slocombe, I. Cummins, R.P. Jarvis, D.J. Murphy [1992] Plant Mol Biol 20: 151-155). Evidence is presented demonstrating the induction of desaturase mRNA by abscisic acid in the embryo.

Differential DNA damage detected in hybridomas

Monoclonal antibody technology has improved over recent years. However, there remains a serious problem with regard to the stability and antibody production of the hybrid cell lines. In order to investigate the potential increased sensitivity of hybridomas to DNA damage, we produced a monoclonal antibody producing cell line in our laboratory. Three types of cells were analyzed by the single cell gel technique to determine single strand DNA damage, including the fusion partner FO, BALB/c splenocytes and an IgM producing hybridoma. The hybridoma cell line displayed a statistically significant increase in sensitivity to induced DNA damage as compared to the fusion partners used in its establishment. The instability of hybridomas in culture may be associated with their inherent increased susceptibility to DNA damage.

Application of confocal laser scanning microscopy to analysis of H2O2-induced DNA damage in human cells

Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) offers improved depth discrimination and spatial resolution to the analysis of biologic samples. We demonstrate in this paper that such technology is valuable in examining DNA single-strand breaks in human cells. The single-cell-gel (SCG) assay is a new technique for measuring DNA strand breaks in individual cells. Cells embedded in low-melting-point agarose are treated with varying concentrations of hydrogen peroxide to induce DNA strand breaks. Following cell lysis and alkaline electrophoresis, which enables single-stranded break detection, analysis of the resulting "comets" provides an accurate method of comparing changes in DNA migration patterns, which have been shown to reflect the DNA damage levels. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.01) in single-stranded DNA damage levels was detected in cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide concentrations as low as 10 nm for 2 min. LSM analysis of the SCG technique allows rapid, sensitive, and reproducible quantitation of single-stranded breaks of cellular DNA.

Multienzymic nature of pyruvate kinase during development of Hymenolepis diminuta (Cestoda)

H. diminuta at different stages of development contained as many as five pyruvate kinase isozymes. Four of these were unusually sensitive to allosteric activation by fructose-1,6-P2. One isozyme which occurred only in adults or near-adults was insensitive but had a relatively low Km. All were inhibited by ATP and Ca2+, none by alanine, and the pH optimum was unaffected by fructose-1,6-P2. The five isozymes were present in gravid or reproductively active proglottids. Two of them occurred after eight days growth in the rat intestine, and three after four days. These three were also present in the immature, anterior proglottids of adult parasites. Hexacanth larvae from gravid proglottids, as well as cysticercoids developing from these larvae in Tenebrio molitor, possessed only two isozymes. It was inferred from information on tissue concentrations of ADP, ATP, phosphoenolypyruvate (PEP) and on K0.5S and Km that competition between pyruvate kinase and PEP carboxykinase is probably controlled by fructose-1,6-P2 concentrations. Since H. diminuta is an obligatory fermenter in which gluconeogenesis is minimal, the probable function of its L-type pyruvate kinases is to control the specific composition of lactic, acetic and succinic acid mixtures that are excreted at different stages of development.

Ribosomal RNA synthesis during cleavage of Ascaris lumbricoides eggs

The appearance of well-defined nucleoli in 4-celled Ascaris embryos is associated with the synthesis of ribosomal RNA.

THE DISTILLATION, EXTRACTION, AND CHROMATOGRAPHIC SEPARATION OF THE C2–C8FATTY ACIDS

Thirty-five milliliters of an aqueous solution containing 5 to 70 micromoles of volatile C2to C8acids was distilled to constant volume without refluxing. The distillate was titrated, made alkaline, and evaporated to dryness at 110°C. The free acids were regenerated by the addition of 0.03 ml. of 10 N sulphuric acid, absorbed on filter paper, and extracted quantitatively with 3 ml. of chloroform–butanol (99: 1). Acids present in the extract were separated by chromatography on a composite silica-gel column employing two internal indicators, and after elution were determined by titration, the details for which are given. The preparation of a reproducible silica is described.