Appeal No. 2006-0299 Page 2 Application No. 09/964,412 Specification, pages 1-2. “AD neurodegeneration is characterized by prominent atrophy of corticolimbic structures with neuronal loss, neurofibrillary tangle formation, aberrant proliferation of neurites, senile plaques, and βA4-amyloid deposition in the brain.” Id., page 2. AD7c-NTP cDNA was isolated from a cDNA library prepared from the temporal lobe of an individual with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Specification, page 33. According to appellants, the 1442-nucleotide AD7c-NTP cDNA “is an Alu sequence-containing gene” and “encodes a ~41 kD membrane spanning protein” (id., page 17). AD7c-NTP is expressed in normal brain tissue, but “[q]uantitation of data obtained from 17 AD and 11 age-matched control brains demonstrated significantly higher levels of AD7c-NTP gene expression in AD. In situ hybridization and immunostaining studies localized AD7c-NTP gene expression in neurons, and confirmed the over-expression associated with AD neurodegeneration . . . [These] results suggest that . . . abnormal expression of AD7c-NTP is a phenotype associated with Alzheimer’s disease.” Id., page 18. In addition, various neuronal cell lines were stably transfected with AD7c- NTP cDNA and examined for growth properties, morphology, and expression of AD7c-NTP. Specification, pages 45 and 46. “Over-expression of AD7c-NTP . . . resulted in significantly lower densities of viable cells in the cultures, despite normal or elevated levels of DNA synthesis” (id., page 46). The “[r]educed cell density in the cultures was caused by increased cell death” (id.), as shown by the invariable presence of “numerous round, refractile floating [dead] cells” (id.). According to appellants, “[t]he attendant increase in nuclear p53 expression inPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007