Patents by Inventor Beth E. Drees

Beth E. Drees has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Assaying apparatus, kit, and method for lipids and associated enzymes
    Patent number: 7067269
    Abstract: A lipid assay method, kit, and apparatus involving exposure of a protein, having a lipid recognition motif that interacts with a target lipid and a competing lipid, to a solution containing the competing lipid, and determining whether the target lipid is present in the solution. The target lipid has a stronger affinity to the lipid recognition motif than does the competing lipid. The lipid recognition motif is preferably a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain, with the target lipid being a phosphoinositide. The assay determines activity of a lipid kinase, the target lipid being a phosphorylation product of a reaction between the lipid kinase and a substrate lipid. The assay can be a cancer screening method for detection of cancer cells, where detection of certain levels of a PI(3,4,5)P3 target lipid is an indicator of a cancer cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2006
    Assignee: Echelon Biosciences, Inc.
    Inventors: Beth E. Drees, Glenn D. Prestwich, Paul O. Neilsen, Leena Chakravarty, Michael J. Mostert
  • Lipid phosphatase assays in disease and drug discovery
    Publication number: 20040096923
    Abstract: A lipid assay method, kit, and apparatus involving exposing a lipid detector protein containing a lipid recognition motif with a binding specificity for a product lipid of a lipid phosphatase, to a solution containing a substrate lipid of the lipid phosphatase; and determining whether the product lipid is present. The assay is preferably a competitive assay wherein the product lipid has a stronger affinity to the lipid detector protein than the substrate lipid. The lipid recognition motif is preferably a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2003
    Publication date: May 20, 2004
    Applicant: ECHELON BIOSCIENCES INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Beth E. Drees, Paul O. Neilsen, Angie M. Branch, Amber Weipert
  • Assaying apparatus, kit, and method for lipids and associated enzymes
    Publication number: 20030100028
    Abstract: A lipid assay method, kit, and apparatus involving exposure of a protein, having a lipid recognition motif that interacts with a target lipid and a competing lipid, to a solution containing the competing lipid, and determining whether the target lipid is present in the solution. The target lipid has a stronger affinity to the lipid recognition motif than does the competing lipid. The lipid recognition motif is preferably a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain, with the target lipid being a phosphoinositide. The assay determines activity of a lipid kinase, the target lipid being a phosphorylation product of a reaction between the lipid kinase and a substrate lipid. The assay can be a cancer screening method for detection of cancer cells, where detection of certain levels of a PI(3,4,5)P3 target lipid is an indicator of a cancer cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2001
    Publication date: May 29, 2003
    Inventors: Beth E. Drees, Glenn D. Prestwich, Paul O. Neilsen, Leena Chakravarty, Michael J. Mostert