1. A method of manufacturing a closure member for a surgical instrument, the method comprising the following steps:
providing a closure member including an upper flange portion, a lower flange portion and a vertical beam portion interconnecting the upper flange portion and the lower flange portion, the upper and lower flange portions having an internal surface and an external surface;
drilling a hole through at least one of the upper and lower flange portions, the hole extending from the external surface to the internal surface of the at least one upper and lower flange portion; and
injecting a material having a low coefficient of friction through the hole using an injection molding process to cover at least a portion of the internal surface of the at least one upper and lower flange portion.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one upper and lower flange portion includes both the upper and lower flange portions.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of injecting a material includes substantially covering the internal surface of the at least one upper and lower flange portion.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the material having the low coefficient of friction is a plastic material.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a closure member includes providing a recess in the internal surface of the at least one upper and lower flange portion.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the step of injecting includes injecting a material into the recess.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of injecting a material into the recess includes injecting a material into the recess such that the material extends inwardly of the internal surface.
8. The method according to claim 7, further including the step of machining the material after the step of injecting.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-36. (canceled)
37. An isolated nucleic acid molecule, comprising a sequence of nucleotides that encodes a uracil transport protein, wherein the sequence of nucleotides is selected from the group consisting of:
(a) a sequence of nucleotides as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1;
(b) a sequence of nucleotides that encode a protein having an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:3;
(c) a sequence of nucleotides degenerate with the uracil transport protein encoding sequence of (a) or (b).
38. The isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:3.
39. The isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1.
40. An isolated nucleic acid molecule, comprising a sequence of nucleotides that encodes a uracil phosphoribosyltransferase protein, wherein the sequence of nucleotides is selected from the group consisting of:
(a) a sequence of nucleotides that encodes a uracil phosphoribosyltransferase protein comprising the sequence of nucleotides set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or a coding portion thereof;
(b) a sequence of nucleotides that encode a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2;
(c) a sequence of nucleotides degenerate with the uracil phosphoribosyltransferase protein encoding sequence of (a) or (b).
41. The isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 40, comprising the sequence of amino acid as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
42. A substantially purified protein comprising the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
43. An expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule comprising the sequence of nucleotides as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, operably linked to a regulatory nucleotide sequence that controls expression of the nucleic acid molecule in a host cell.
44. Host cells transformed or transfected with the nucleic acid molecule of claim 43.
45. A method for identifying DNA sequences encoding a uracil transport protein of bacterial origin, the method comprising probing a cDNA library or a genomic library with a labeled probe comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, and recovering from the library those sequences having a significant degree of homology relative to the probe.
46. A method for identifying a uracil transport protein, comprising:
(a) introducing the nucleic acid molecule of claim 1 into eukaryotic cells; and
(b) detecting nucleoside transport activity in the cells of step (a), wherein the activity is mediated by a polypeptide encoded by the introduced nucleic acid molecule.
47. A method for detecting a uracil phosphoribosyltransferase protein in a biological sample comprising the steps of (i) contacting a sample suspected of containing said protein with a detectable probe that is specific for the gene product of the isolated nucleic acid molecule of claim 40, under conditions favoring formation of a probegene product complex, and (ii) detecting said complex.
48. A method for screening for a compound able to bind to the gene product of the nucleic acid molecule of claim 40, comprising the steps of:
(a) expressing a polypeptide comprising the amino acids of SEQ ID NO:2 from recombinant nucleic acid;
(b) providing to said polypeptide a test preparation comprising one or more test compounds; and
(c) measuring the ability of said test preparation to bind to said polypeptide