The nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2) protein plays a key role in innate immunity as a sensor of muramyl dipeptide (MDP), a breakdown product of bacterial peptidoglycan. Bacterial peptidoglycan promotes the innate immune response through the activation of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), which ultimately provokes inflammation. Activation of NOD2 by MDP negatively regulates the activity of TLR2, and thus reduces inflammation.

The ability to easily detect small mutations in nucleic acids, such as single base substitutions, can provide a powerful tool for use in cancer detection, perinatal screens for inherited diseases, and analysis of genetic polymorphisms such as genetic mapping or for identification purposes. Current approaches make use of the mismatch that occurs between complimentary strands of DNA when there is a genetic mutation, the electrophoretic mobility differences caused by small sequence changes, and chemicals or enzymes that can cleave heteroduplex sites.

Niemann-Pick disease is a class of inherited lipid storage diseases. Niemann-Pick Type C disease is an autosomal recessive neurovisceral lipid storage disorder which leads to systemic and neurological abnormalities including ataxia, seizures, and loss of speech. Patients with the disease typically die as children. The biochemical hallmark of Niemann-Pick Type C cells is the abnormal accumulation of unesterified cholesterol in lysosomes, which results in the delayed homeostatic regulation of both uptake and esterification of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

TTP has been implicated in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases through its role as a regulator of the transcripts encoding several pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor alpha. However, it has been difficult to study endogenous TTP in man and other animals because it is expressed at very low levels in most cells and tissues, and because of the lack of mouse monoclonal antibodies directed at the human protein.

The invention hereby offered for licensing is in the field of Immunotherapy and more specifically in therapy of autoimmune diseases such as Type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosis and immune mediated allergies such as asthma as well as in transplantation-related disorders, such as graft acceptance and graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD).

This technology relates to compositions and methods for improving the growth characteristics of cells engineered to produce live viruses such as the Influenza virus. Featured is a method that uses the gene candidate, siat7e, or its expressed or inhibited products in Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells. The gene expression modulates anchorage-dependence of the cell line thereby allowing scale-up on bioreactor platforms without the use of microcarrier beads and reducing production costs.

This technology relates to novel animal models of several human bone diseases that have been linked to enhanced BMP signaling. More specifically, this mouse model expresses a mutant receptor for BMP, known as Alk2 that is always actively signaling. This receptor is under the control of the Cre-loxP system, which allows control of expression of the mutant Alk2 in both a developmental and tissue-specific manner. As a result, the enhanced signaling conditions exhibited in multiple human bone-related diseases can be studied with the same animals.

PTEN is a tumor suppressor gene that is frequently deleted or mutated in a variety of human cancers, including prostate, breast, endometrial, lung, and ovarian cancers. In prostate cancer cells, PTEN deletion is the most common event observed. The loss of PTEN is thought to play and important role in tumor cell proliferation and metastasis due to a lack of control of the signaling pathways that mediate cellular processes such as apoptosis and migration.

Oxidative stress resulting in the formation of biological radicals has been implicated in a number of human diseases, such as cancer as well as aging. There is, however, a paucity of reliable methods for in vivo or ex vivo detection of radical formation. Until now the only general technique that allowed for the detection of these highly reactive species was electron spin resonance (ESR) using spin traps. One of the most popular of these spin traps is 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO).

Glycosphingolipids are organizational building blocks of plasma membranes that participate in key cellular functions, such as signaling and cell-to-cell interactions. Glucosylceramide synthase - encoded by the Ugcg gene - controls the first committed step in the major pathway of glycosphingolipid synthesis. Global disruption of the Ugcg gene in mice is lethal during gastrulation. The inventors have established a Ugcg allele flanked by loxP sites (floxed).