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:
Jun. 30, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 23, 1993
Michael A Kuhn, Eugene, OR (US);
Tobias Meyer, Durham, NC (US);
Nancy L Allbritton, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Molecular Probes, Inc., Eugene, OR (US);
Abstract
This invention describes bifunctional polysaccharides conjugated to both a chelating group suitable for the selective complexation of metal cations, and a targeting peptide specific for a cellular substructure. These bifunctional polysaccharides are primarily useful for the regulation, detection and quantification of metal ion levels, such as Ca.sup.2+, Mg.sup.2+, Na.sup.+, K.sup.+, or Li.sup.+, in specific cellular structures. Localization within the cellular structure is accomplished by the targeting peptide, whereupon the large, water-soluble polysaccharide prevents diffusion of the chelating group from the targeted site. When the target cell structure is the nucleus of a fertilized egg cell, the polysaccharide-chelator conjugate remains sequestered within the nucleus until the breakdown of the nuclear envelope, whereupon the reagent becomes sequestered into both daughter nuclei. This means of tracking daughter cells is practical even through several cell divisions.