Appeal No. 1999-1245
Application No. 08/245,282
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and
the appellant regarding the noted rejections, we make reference to the examiner's
Answer for the examiner's reasoning in support of the rejection, and to the appellant’s
Brief and Reply Brief for the appellant’s arguments thereagainst. As a consequence of
our review, we make the determinations which follow.
Background
According to the specification, the method of the invention is based, at least in
part, “on the discovery that stimulation of a T cell through the CD28 surface receptor
leads to the production of D-3 phosphoinositides in a T cell and that an inhibitor of
phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (also referred to herein as PI3K) inhibits production of D-3
phosphoinositides in the T cell upon CD28 ligation. The invention is further based, at
least in part, on the discovery that inhibition of PI3K activity in a T cell inhibits T cell
responses, such as cytokine production and cellular proliferation.” Specification, page
5. “Accordingly, one aspect of the invention pertains to methods for inhibiting a
response by a T cell by interfering with intracellular signal transduction associated with
signal transduction. ... [A]n intracellular signal is inhibited by contacting a T cell
expressing a cell surface receptor that binds a costimulatory molecule with an agent
which inhibits production of D-3 phosphoinositides in the T cell.” Id. D-3
phosphoinositides are generated intracellularly by the activity of a phosphatidylinositol 3
4
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