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Biotech / Medical : Introgen Therapeutics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tuck who wrote (186)	1/12/2005 5:51:32 PM
From: zeta1961	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 802

On first blush, it looks like it should involve INGN..the third link mentions use of P53 and mda7. The below link is a PR of the mda7 patent..apparently, INGN obtained worldwide exclusive rights for mda7 from Corixa(will do some more digging when I have more time to check when that occurred) Did you go to Targeted Growth Website?..mix of agro-human stuff Thanks for digging this up Tuck...it's all Sci-Fi to me! Zeta corporate-ir.net

To: tuck who wrote (186)	1/12/2005 11:03:53 PM
From: Jibacoa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 802

Note the authors and keywords. Do we have an INGN connection of substance here? That is, any chance INGN has access to the IP? "The invention provides for a method for introducing into the host cell a gene transfer vector comprising an Mda-7 promoter nucleotide sequence." The MDA-7 protein was discovered at the laboratory of Dr. Paul B. Fisher at Columbia Univ., here is a list of some articles concerning the subject since 1995: In December 1995, Jiang H,et al (Including Paul B, Fisher.<g>)from Columbia Univ.,identified a novel melanoma differentiation associated gene, mda-7, modulated during human melanoma differentiation, growth and progression and confirmed that mda-7 has antiproliferative properties in human melanoma cells, could contribute to terminal cell differentiation and could also function as a negative regulator of melanoma progression. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov In August 1996,Jiang H,et al (Including Paul B.Fisher.<g>) from Columbia Univ.,found that forced expression of MDA7 inhibited growth of diverse human tumor cells. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov In November 1998,Su ZZ, et al (Including Paul B. Fisher.<g>)from Columbia Univ.,showed that mda-7 selectively induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cells and inhibits tumor growth in nude mice. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov In October 2001,Huang EY et al (Including Paul B. Fisher.<g>)from Columbia Univ., showed that human MDA7 encompasses 7 exons, and by radiation hybrid mapping assigned the mda-7 gene to human chromosome 1q, at 1q 32.2 to 1q41, an area containing a cluster of genes associated with the IL-10 family of cytokines and concluded that Mda-7 represents a differentiation, growth and apoptosis associated gene with potential utility for the gene-based therapy of diverse human cancers. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov From Introgen: "INGN 241 uses Introgen's proprietary adenovector technology to deliver the gene encoding the MDA-7 protein. The mda-7 gene was discovered by the laboratory of Dr. Paul B. Fisher, Professor of Clinical Pathology at Columbia University. Introgen holds an exclusive worldwide license for the gene from the Corixa Corporation." Bernard

To: tuck who wrote (186)	1/25/2005 9:45:25 PM
From: zeta1961	Respond to of 802

bio.com Fisher quoted about PEG 3..no mention of p53 and mda7 although the patent you posted includes these..hmm..staying tuned.. 01/25/05 -- Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered a way to overcome one of the major hurdles in gene therapy for cancer: its tendency to kill normal cells in the process of eradicating cancer cells. In a new study published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers demonstrated that the technique works by incorporating it into a specially designed virus. The virus eradicated prostate cancer cells in the lab and in animals while leaving normal cells unscathed. Gene therapy based on the new technique should also be effective for a wide range of tumors - such as ovarian, breast, brain (glioma), skin (melanoma) and colon cancer - because the virus is constructed to exploit a characteristic of all solid cancers. "What's exciting is we may now be able to design a therapy that will seek out and destroy only cancer cells," said the study's senior author, Paul B. Fisher, Ph.D., professor of clinical pathology and Michael and Stella Chernow Urological Cancer Research Scientist at Columbia University Medical Center. "We hope it will be particularly powerful in eradicating metastases that we can't see and that can't be eliminated by surgery or radiation. Gene therapy, especially for cancer, is really starting to make a comeback." The virus's selectivity for cancer cells is based on two molecules called PEA-3 and AP-1 that, the researchers found, are usually abundant inside cancer cells. Both of the molecules flip a switch (called PEG) that turns on the production of a cancer-inhibiting protein uniquely in tumor cells. The researchers say the PEG switch can be exploited to produce gene therapies that will only kill cancer cells even if the therapy enters normal cells. As an example, the researchers constructed an adenovirus that carries the PEG switch and a toxic protein. The switch and the protein were connected to each other so that the deadly protein is only unleashed inside cancer cells when the switch is flipped on by PEA-3 or AP-1. When added to a mix of normal and prostrate cancer cells, the virus entered both but only produced the toxic protein inside the cancer cells. All the prostrate cancer cells died while the normal cells were unaffected. The same virus also selectively killed human cancer cells from melanoma and ovarian, breast, and glioma (brain) tumors. Dr. Fisher's team is now altering the virus and developing additional viruses based on the PEG switch for use in clinical trials with patients. Other investigators associated with the PNAS study include Drs. Zao-zhong Su (research scientist), Devanand Sarkar (associate research scientist) and Luni Emdad (postdoctoral research scientist) in Dr. Fisher's group; Drs. Gregory J. Duigou (associate research scientist) and C. S. Hamish Young (professor) in the Department of Microbiology (Columbia University Medical Center); and Dr. Joy Ware (professor), Mr. Aaron Randolph (graduate student) and Dr. Kristoffer Valerie (professor) at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. Source: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons