Recent
Patents on Biotechnology
ISSN: 1872-2083
Recent Patents on Biotechnology
Volume 4, Number 2, June 2010
Contents
Recent Patents on Plant Transgenic Technology
Pp. 98-111
Xiaoyan Yin and Zhanyuan J. Zhang
[Abstract] [Purchase
Article] [PMID:
20156132 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Genus Vaccinium: Medicine, Cosmetics,
and Coatings Pp. 112-124
Brandy J. Johnson, Baochuan Lin and
Jason E. Bongard
[Abstract] [Purchase
Article] [PMID:
20156133 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
A Method for the Isolation of Protoplasts
from Grape Berry Mesocarp Tissue Pp. 125-129
Natacha Fontes, Serge Delrot and
Hernâni Gerós
[Abstract] [Purchase
Article] [PMID:
20156134 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Recent Patents on Imaging Nanoprobes
for Brain Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy Pp.
130-135
Lifeng Qi, Shu Zheng and Biaoyang
Lin
[Abstract] [Purchase
Article] [PMID:
20156135 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Plant Biotechnology Patents: Applications
in Agriculture and Medicine Pp. 136-152
Kathleen L. Hefferon
[Abstract] [Purchase
Article] [PMID:
20180763 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Secretory Expression of Human Protein
in the Yeast Pichia pastoris by Controlled Fermentor
Culture Pp. 153-166
Akira Murasugi
[Abstract] [Purchase
Article] [PMID:
20180764 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Patent
Selections Pp. 167-169
Abstracts
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Article] [PMID:
20156132 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Recent Patents on Plant Transgenic Technology
Xiaoyan Yin and Zhanyuan J. Zhang
Plant transformation technology plays an ever-increasing role
in improving crop plant traits and addressing research questions.
In recent years, a number of important patents on plant transgenic
technologies have been published. These patents represent
significant new progresses, many representing novel approaches
in the field of plant transgenic technology. This review highlights
selected as well as the most significant advancements made
mostly within the past 2 years in plant transgenic research.
These advancements include the improvements of plant transformation
systems, development of new plant selectable markers, engineering
for plant stress tolerance, production of vaccines in transgenic
plants, etc. Of these, the engineering for plant stress tolerance
accounts for a high percentage of the transgenic field of
inventions. Some results are drastic and unexpected, having
a great potential in their applications towards a wider range
of plant species. This review also tries to avoid terms and
languages pertaining to the patent and legal documents to
ease readings.
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[Purchase
Article] [PMID:
20156133 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Genus Vaccinium: Medicine, Cosmetics, and Coatings
Brandy J. Johnson, Baochuan Lin and
Jason E. Bongard
Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs several of
which, including cranberry, lingonberry, and blueberry, produce
edible fruit. Consumption of the fruit of these plants and
juices pressed from it has long been known to have healthful
effects. A number of functional compounds have been extracted
from the fruits and seeds of these plants. Anthocyanidins
and related compounds have been reported to possess antimicrobial,
antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Extracts of
the fruits have been applied to the inhibition of non-enzymatic
glycosylation in anti-aging preparations. The oil of the cranberry
seed is high in antioxidants and is a source of omega-3, -6,
and -9 fatty acids making it an attractive cosmetics component.
The inhibition of tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis
by extracts of these fruits has been described. Extracts of
the plants have also been applied to the development of antimicrobial
paints and coatings. Here, we provide an overview of the wide
range of applications described for various compounds from
and preparations of these plants and survey the recent patents
related to those applications.
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[Purchase Article] [PMID:
20156134 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
A Method for the Isolation of Protoplasts from Grape Berry
Mesocarp Tissue
Natacha Fontes, Serge Delrot and
Hernâni Gerós
As single cell systems, protoplasts have been used
in physiological, biochemical and molecular studies aiming
towards the investigation, improvement or modification of
plants. In grapevine, protoplasts have been isolated from
several source tissues but not from grape berry, a major challenge
given the uniqueness of grape fruit for human diet and wine
production. Also, as the ripe grape berry has long been considered
a ‘small bag of sugary water’ without cell compartmentation
and/or membrane integrity, the isolation of intact cells from
the mesocarp is of special scientific significance. Protoplasting
from grape berry mesocarp cells was achieved with cellulase
and pectolyase digestion, followed by differential and gradient
centrifugations; however, given the special characteristics
of berry tissue, cell wall digestion and protoplast purification
were performed in a special environment to maintain their
integrity and viability. Light and epifluorescence microscopy
revealed the spatial organization of the cytoplasm, where
an intricate acidic vacuolar apparatus predominates supporting
the idea that berry softening during ripening is not strictly
associated with loss in compartmentation and/or membrane integrity.
Following the worldwide economical and social importance of
wine in modern days, grape berry protoplasts are a major advance
for both basic research of fruit ripening and biotechnological
applications.
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[Purchase Article] [PMID:
20156135 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Recent Patents on Imaging Nanoprobes for Brain Tumor Diagnosis
and Therapy
Lifeng Qi, Shu Zheng and Biaoyang
Lin
Multifunctional nanoprobes, such as nanocrystals, nanoshells,
and luminescent nanomaterials, have been developed for imaging
biological processes, such as cell signaling, neuroimaging,
protein conformation probing, DNA conformation probing, gene
transcription, virus infection and replication in cells, protein
dynamics, tumor diagnosis, and therapy evaluation. With the
application of nanotechnology for CNS-active agents’
delivery, nanostructured materials are emerging as a powerful
means for diagnosis of CNS disorders, including brain tumors,
because of their unique optical size, and surface properties.
This review summarizes the recent patents on imaging nanoprobes
for brain tumor diagnosis and therapy. The future development
in this active cross-disciplinary field will be discussed
as well.
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[Purchase Article] [PMID:
20180763 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Plant Biotechnology Patents: Applications in Agriculture and
Medicine
Kathleen L. Hefferon
Recent advances in agricultural biotechnology have
enabled the field of plant biology to move forward in great
leaps and bounds. In particular, recent breakthroughs in molecular
biology, plant genomics and crop science have brought about
a paradigm shift of thought regarding the manner by which
plants can be utilized both in agriculture and in medicine.
Besides the more well known improvements in agronomic traits
of crops such as disease resistance and drought tolerance,
plants can now be associated with topics as diverse as biofuel
production, phytoremediation, the improvement of nutritional
qualities in edible plants, the identification of compounds
for medicinal purposes in plants and the use of plants as
therapeutic protein production platforms. This diversification
of plant science has been accompanied by the great abundance
of new patents issued in these fields and, as many of these
inventions approach commercial realization, the subsequent
increase in agriculturally-based industries. While this review
chapter is written primarily for plant scientists who have
great interest in the new directions being taken with respect
to applications in agricultural biotechnology, those in other
disciplines, such as medical researchers, environmental scientists
and engineers, may find significant value in reading this
article as well. The review attempts to provide an overview
of the most recent patents issued for plant biotechnology
with respect to both agriculture and medicine. The chapter
concludes with the proposal that the combined driving forces
of climate change, as well as the ever increasing needs for
clean energy and food security will play a pivotal role in
leading the direction for applied plant biotechnology research
in the future.
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[Purchase
Article] [PMID:
20180764 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Secretory Expression of Human Protein in the Yeast Pichia
pastoris by Controlled Fermentor Culture
Akira Murasugi
The heterologous protein expression system of Pichia pastoris
is now widely used for expression of many human proteins,
because the efficiently expressed proteins will be correctly
folded in Pichia pastoris cells and also efficiently
secreted from the cells. Recombinant human serum albumin (rHSA)
is efficiently secreted from Pichia pastoris. Nowadays,
the expression of rHSA exceeds 10g in 1 L fermentor culture
broth, and the protein is completely purified. Recombinant
HSA expressed in Pichia pastoris was approved as
a medicine by the authorities in 2007, and launched in 2008
in Japan. One of the insulin precursors (IP) was also successfully
expressed in Pichia pastoris, and secreted up to
3.6g in 1 L medium using a multi-copy transformant. The insulin
precursor could be efficiently converted to insulin, the final
product, in vitro. Human growth hormone was also
expressed in Pichia pastoirs, and secreted up to
49 mg in 1 L medium. These proteins are also important for
clinical applications. Midkine and pleiotrophin may be two
of the candidates for clinical applications. Secretion signals,
the copy number of an expression cassette in transformants,
and culture conditions for fermentation were examined for
efficient expression of these proteins in Pichia pastoris.
The best signal was selected, and other factors were optimized.
The amounts of native midkine and native pleiotrophin expressed
were approximately 0.36g and 0.26g in 1 L medium, respectively.
Expression of bile-salt stimulated lipase (BSSL) had been
extremely low in the beginning of a fermentor culture experiment.
However, approximately 1 g rBSSL in 1 L medium was finally
expressed in a fermentor by unlimited feeding of glycerol
for cell growth and optimization of other factors. BSSL from
human milk and rBSSL from Pichia cells are glycosylated.
The structure differences between these glycans are obvious.
When humanization of Pichia glycans is established
by genetic engineering, the Pichia pastoris expression
system will become indispensable for the production of therapeutic
proteins.
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