Appeal No. 2005-0147
Application No. 10/203,081
Claim 1 is representative of the subject matter on appeal and reads as follows:
1. A method of screening a compound to determine whether the compound
affects caspase activation induced by a viral reaper protein, said method
comprising:
a) obtaining a vertebrate cell extract in which the addition of isolated
viral reaper protein induces detectable caspase activation;
b) adding isolated viral reaper protein having at least 50% sequence
similarity to SEQ ID NO:2 and capable of inducing caspase activation in a
vertebrate cell, and a test compound to said vertebrate cell extract;
c) measuring caspase activation; and
d) comparing caspase activation that occurs in the presence of the
test compound to that which would be expected in the absence of the test
compound;
where a decrease in caspase activation compared to that which would be
expected in the absence of the test compound indicates that said compound
inhibits viral reaper-induced caspase activation, and an increase in caspase
activation compared to that which would be expected in the absence of the test
compound indicates that said test compound enhances viral reaper-induced
caspase activation.
The examiner relies on a single reference:
Murphy, “Virus Taxonomy,” in Fields Virology, 3rd edition, B. N. Fields et al., eds.,
Lippincott-Raven Publishers, Philadelphia, pp. 15-53, (1996).
The claims stand rejected as follows:
I. Claims 1, 4-6, 9-14 and 17-20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first
paragraph, written description, as containing subject matter which was not described in
the specification in such a way as to reasonably to one skilled in the relevant art that
the inventor had possession of the claimed invention at the time the application was
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