Patents by Inventor Timo P. J. Otonkoski

Timo P. J. Otonkoski 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).

  • Method of stimulating proliferation and differentiation of human fetal pancreatic cells ex vivo
    Patent number: 5587309
    Abstract: A method of inducing the proliferation and/or differentiation of human fetal pancreatic cells entails contacting such cells in primary culture with Hepatocyte Growth Factor/Scatter Factor, thereby inducing a proliferation of .beta.-epithelial cells, an increase in the number of .beta.-epithelial cells which form islet-like cell clusters, and an increase in insulin production per cell. The method provides increased numbers of functional islet-like cell clusters for transplantation, for example, into Type 1 diabetic patients. The method can be scaled up so as to provide clinically useful numbers of cells for transplantation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1996
    Assignees: The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services, Whittler Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology
    Inventors: Jeffrey Rubin, Alberto Hayek, Gillian M. Beattie, Timo P. J. Otonkoski