Lessons from Bilski

In this paper, I will examine how the U.S. and Canadian courts have approached the patentability of intangible inventions and discuss whether any lessons can be learned from the U.S.’s patent dilemma. In section 2, I will review the American jurisprudence on patentability of intangible inventions. In section 3, I will discuss the potential impact Bilski may have on the American jurisprudence. Section 4 will assess the Canadian jurisprudence on patentability of intangible inventions. In section 5, I will discuss the Federal Court of Canada’s decision in Amazon/FCC. I argue that based on recent events in the American jurisprudence, Canadian courts should carefully consider the consequences of opening up patent protection to intangible inventions because granting too much patent protection can impede innovation and endanger the patent system

Molecular mechanisms of mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells, meaning that they can give rise to all tissues in the body. This has catalyzed research in both early embryogenesis as a model system for mammalian development as well as regenerative medicine as a renewable source of unspecialized cells which can be converted into nearly any cell type required by a patient. ES cells have been an invaluable resource for advancing fundamental understanding of global transcriptional and epigenetic regulations, signaling pathways, and noncoding RNA in mammalian systems. However, the molecular mechanisms of how ES cells are differentiated remain much less understood. Differentiation is a complex process involving actions of ES cell core factors, lineage specific regulators, epigenetic modifications, and chromatin remodelers. Thus, a single reporter-based screen would have been inappropriate to identify novel regulators of ES cell differentiation. To overcome the problems, we have developed a unique signature-based screen. This screen is capable of analyzing the expression of 48 genes simultaneously across dozens of different samples, and our gene list covers all three germ layers that arise during normal embryonic development, the trophectoderm, and epigenetic regulators of chromatin status. Our signature-based screen established several categories of genes based on their comparative functions during the differentiation of ES cells. This will be a valuable information for other researchers interested in ES cell differentiation from various perspectives. We have identified two novel regulators of ES cell differentiation – Yap1 and Rbpj. Yap1 is a transcriptional co-activator of Hippo signaling pathway. We disproved past misconceptions in the field about the role of Yap1 concerning its function in ES cell self-renewal, showing that like the inner cell mass, Yap1 is dispensable for long-term maintenance in culture. Conversely, we found that Yap1 is essential for proper ES cell differentiation. Rbpj is a transcriptional regulator of Notch signaling pathway. Consistent with previous observations of repressive role of Rbpj, Rbpj serves as a repressor of ES cell core factors in the absence of Notch signaling pathway. Repressive role of Rbpj is also required for proper differentiation of ES cells by silencing core factors.Cellular and Molecular Biolog

Tgif1 Counterbalances The Activity Of Core Pluripotency Factors In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Core pluripotency factors, such as Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog, play important roles in maintaining embryonic stem cell (ESC) identity by autoregulatory feedforward loops. Nevertheless, the mechanism that provides precise control of the levels of the ESC core factors without indefinite amplification has remained elusive. Here, we report the direct repression of core pluripotency factors by Tgif1, a previously known terminal repressor of TGF beta/activin/nodal signaling. Overexpression of Tgif1 reduces the levels of ESC core factors, whereas its depletion leads to the induction of the pluripotency factors. We confirm the existence of physical associations between Tgif1 and Oct4, Nanog, and HDAC1/2 and further show the level of Tgif1 is not significantly altered by treatment with an activator/inhibitor of the TGF beta/activin/nodal signaling. Collectively, our findings establish Tgif1 as an integral member of the core regulatory circuitry of mouse ESCs that counterbalances the levels of the core pluripotency factors in a TGF beta/activin/nodal-independent manner.Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) R1106Molecular Bioscience

Applying synthetic biology and computational biology to advance biologics expression platforms

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Lessons from Bilski

In this paper, I will examine how the U.S. and Canadian courts have approached the patentability of intangible inventions and discuss whether any lessons can be learned from the U.S.’s patent dilemma. In section 2, I will review the American jurisprudence on patentability of intangible inventions. In section 3, I will discuss the potential impact Bilski may have on the American jurisprudence. Section 4 will assess the Canadian jurisprudence on patentability of intangible inventions. In section 5, I will discuss the Federal Court of Canada’s decision in Amazon/FCC. I argue that based on recent events in the American jurisprudence, Canadian courts should carefully consider the consequences of opening up patent protection to intangible inventions because granting too much patent protection can impede innovation and endanger the patent system

Global Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Distinct Functions of Thymic Stromal Subsets and Age-Related Changes during Thymic Involution

Summary: Age-associated thymic involution results in diminished T cell output and function in aged individuals. However, molecular mediators contributing to the decline in thymic function during early thymic involution remain largely unknown. Here, we present transcriptional profiling of purified thymic stromal subsets from mice 1, 3, and 6 months of age spanning early thymic involution. The data implicate unanticipated biological functions for a subset of thymic epithelial cells. The predominant transcriptional signature of early thymic involution is decreased expression of cell-cycle-associated genes and E2F3 transcriptional targets in thymic epithelial subsets. Also, expression of proinflammatory genes increases with age in thymic dendritic cells. Many genes previously implicated in late involution are already deregulated by 3–6 months of age. We provide these thymic stromal data sets, along with thymocyte data sets, in a readily searchable web-based platform, as a resource for investigations into thymocyte:stromal interactions and mechanisms of thymic involution. : Heterogeneous thymic stromal cells regulate proper T cell development. Age-associated thymic involution results in diminished T cell output and immunity. Ki et al. now present transcriptional profiling of six thymic stromal subsets during early thymic involution. They conclude that diminished E2F3 activity in thymic epithelial cells and an augmented inflammatory signature in dendritic cells are early hallmarks of involution. Data are provided on a web-based platform to facilitate discovery of molecular mediators of thymocyte:stromal cell crosstalk and early thymic involution

An Immunofluorescence-assisted Microfluidic Single Cell Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Analysis of Tumour Cells Separated from Blood

Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are important indicators of metastatic cancer and may provide critical information for individualized treatment. As CTCs are usually very rare, the techniques to obtain information from very small numbers of cells are crucial. Here, we propose a method to perform a single cell quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis of rare tumour cells. We utilized a microfluidic immunomagnetic assay to separate cancer cells from blood. A combination of detailed immunofluorescence and laser microdissection enabled the precise selection of individual cells. Cancer cells that were spiked into blood were successfully separated and picked up for a single cell PCR analysis. The breast cancer cell lines MCF7, SKBR3 and MDAMB231 were tested with 10 different genes. The result of the single cell analysis matched the results from a few thousand cells. Some markers (e.g., ER, HER2) that are commonly used for cancer identification showed relatively large deviations in expres‐ sion levels. However, others (e.g., GRB7) showed devia‐ tions that are small enough to supplement single cell disease profiling

Dual Binding to Orthosteric and Allosteric Sites Enhances the Anticancer Activity of a TRAP1-Targeting Drug

The molecular chaperone TRAP1 is the mitochondrial paralog of Hsp90 and is overexpressed in many cancer cells. The orthosteric ATP-binding site of TRAP1 has been considered the primary inhibitor binding location, but TRAP1 allosteric modulators have not yet been investigated. Here, we generated and characterized the Hsp90 inhibitor PU-H71, conjugated to the mitochondrial delivery vehicle triphenylphosphonium (TPP) with a C-10 carbon spacer, named SMTIN-C10, to enable dual binding to orthosteric and allosteric sites. In addition to tight binding with the ATP-binding site through the PU-H71 moiety, SMTIN-C10 interacts with the E115 residue in the N-terminal domain through the TPP moiety and subsequently induces structural transition of TRAP1 to a tightly packed closed form. The data indicate the existence of a druggable allosteric site neighboring the orthosteric ATP pocket that can be exploited to develop potent TRAP1 modulators