Interference No. 104,733
Page No. 4
connected via disulficle bonds. This two-chain intermediate is converted to APC by
cleaving a 12-residue peptide from the heavy chain. APC plays a critical role in the
regulation of blood coagulation as it represents a physiological mechanism for blood
anticoagulation.1
To understand the nature of cDNA it is necessary to understand the function of
DNA. DNA ("deoxyribonucleic acid") is the blueprint of an organisms genetic makeup
as it is the primary genetic material. In an organism, a portion of DNA, a gene, may
undergo transcription to form mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid). The mRNA in turn,
may then be translated to form a polypepticle, e.g., an enzyme or a structural protein.
DNA is the term used to represent the complex macromolecules made up of
nucleotide units. A nucleoticle unit is characterized by a specific combination of a base,
a sugar and a phosphoric acid residue. There are four different nucleotide units in
DNA: adenine ("A"), guanine ("G"), cytosine ("C") and thymine ("T").
As explained in In re Deuel:
A sequential grouping of three such nucleotides (a "coclon") codes for
one amino acid. A DNA's sequence of codons thus determines the
sequence of amino acids assembled during protein synthesis. Since
there are 64 possible coclons, but only 20 natural amino acids, most
amino acids are coded for by more than one codon. This is referred to as
the "redundancy" or "degeneracy" of the genetic code.
DNA functions as a blueprint of an organism's genetic information. It is
the major component of genes, which are located on chromosomes in the
cell nucleus. Only a small part of chromosomal DNA encodes functional
proteins.
'A detailed discussion of the mechanism by which protein C down regulates
blood coagulation is provided in Bang et al., U.S. Patent No. 4,775,624. (Ex 1018).
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