Appeal No. 2006-1879 Page 3
Application No. 10/010,114
Discussion
1. Claims
Claims 1, 2, 5-9, and 17-52 are on appeal. Claims 3 and 4 are also pending;
claim 4 has been objected to but not rejected, and claim 3 has been withdrawn from
consideration by the examiner.
Claim 1 is representative and reads as follows:
1. A method for the transfer of a nucleic acid composition to cells, comprising
the step of introducing a multifunctional molecular complex into cells,
wherein said multifunctional molecular complex comprises:
A) a nucleic acid composition; and
B) a transfer moiety comprising
(i) one or more cationic polyamine components, wherein each cationic
polyamine is non-covalently bound to said nucleic acid composition
and comprises from three to twelve nitrogen atoms; and
(ii) one or more endosome membrane disruption promoting
components independently selected from (a) at least one lipophilic
long chain alkyl group or (b) a fusogenic peptide, cholic acid or
cholesterol group or a derivative thereof;
wherein said multifunctional molecular complex transfers said nucleic acid
composition to said cells.
Thus, claim 1 is directed to a “method for the transfer of a nucleic acid
composition to cells.” The claim is not limited to cells in culture or in a subject, so the
claim encompasses both in vitro and in vivo methods. The claim comprises “introducing
. . . into cells” a multifunctional complex comprising a nucleic acid composition; a
cationic polyamine comprising three to twelve nitrogen atoms, noncovalently bound to
the nucleic acid composition; and an endosome disrupting agent (which can be a
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007