The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 13, 2021
Filed:
Mar. 21, 2012
Minoru S. H. Ko, Cockeysville, MD (US);
Tomokazu Amano, Parkville, MD (US);
Minoru S. H. Ko, Cockeysville, MD (US);
Tomokazu Amano, Parkville, MD (US);
ELIXIRGEN, LLC, Baltimore, MD (US);
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Bethesda, MD (US);
Abstract
Described herein is the finding that increasing the frequency of Zscan4 activation in mouse ES cells not only enhances, but also maintains their developmental potency in long-term cell culture. Particularly disclosed herein is the finding that the constitutive presence of Zscan4-ERT2, even in the absence of its usual activator tamoxifen, can increase the frequency of endogenous Zscan4 activation in ES cells, resulting in the increase of developmental potency of the ES cells. Accordingly, provided herein are Zscan4-ERT2 fusion proteins and nucleic acid molecules and vectors encoding Zscan4-ERT2 fusion proteins. Further provided are methods of prolonging and/or enhancing stem cell plmipotency using the disclosed Zscan4-ERT2 nucleic acid molecules and fusion proteins.