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:
Feb. 23, 2010
Filed:
Jun. 09, 2005
Mina J. Bissell, Berkeley, CA (US);
John L. Muschler, Albany, CA (US);
Mina J. Bissell, Berkeley, CA (US);
John L. Muschler, Albany, CA (US);
The Regents of the University of California, Oakland, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides methods and compositions for the diagnosis and treatment of cells lacking normal growth arresting characteristic. The present invention demonstrates that many tumor cells lack normal cell surface α-dystroglycan and thereby lack dystroglycan function. Dystroglycan can be lost from the cell surface by proteolytic shedding of a fragment of α-dystroglycan into the surrounding medium. Upon restoration of dystroglycan function and over-expression of the dystroglycan gene, the once tumorigenic cells revert to non-tumorigenic cells which polarize and arrest cell growth in the presence of basement membrane proteins, demonstrating that dystroglycan functions as a tumor marker and suppressor.