A Novel System for Producing Infectious Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Virions and Development of a Novel Reporter System for Studying HCV Entry

HCV has infected an estimated 3% of the world population in whom viral infection persists for more than two third of the cases, often resulting in life-threatening complications. The standard of care (pegylated interferon alpha-2 plus ribavirin) is efficient in only 50% of treated patients, costly and has numerous side effects. In addition, viral resistance to newly developed drugs -- targeting viral protease or RNA polymerase -- has been described, but no vaccine is yet available.

CXCR4 Reduction Leads to Enhancement of Engraftment of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Methods of enhancing engraftment of donor hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) by reducing expression or activity of CXCR4 in HSCs is described. HSC are the only cells in the bone marrow that are both pluripotent and long lived. Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) using HSC is an increasingly common medical therapy for severe hematologic cancers and primary hematologic immunodeficiencies. However, for significant HSC engraftment to occur there must usually be pre-transplant conditioning with either irradiation or chemotherapy or both.

Potency Assay for Membrane Transporter Protein-based Drugs Acting on Antioxidant, Redox, and Apoptosis Response Pathways

This technology includes a method of analyzing the potency of membrane transporter protein-based drugs acting on intracellular antioxidant and redox response pathways (and associated apoptosis pathways), wherein the drug delivery and activity is lipid associated. The present invention is a cell-based bioassay for measuring the bioactivity of drug substance and formulated drug product by determining the drug's dose-dependent inhibitory effects on 4 hydroxynonenal (4-HNE)-induced antioxidant response element (ARE) activity.

LRRK2 Inhibitors: Novel Treatment for Intestinal Bowel Disorders

Use of Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) inhibitors for the treatment of Intestinal Bowel Disorders (IBD) is disclosed. IBD is a broad term that describes conditions with chronic or recurring immune response and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, two common forms of idiopathic IBD, are chronic, relapsing inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract.

Human Monoclonal Antibodies That Target Plasmodium Falciparum Sporozoites

Malaria is one of the worlds deadliest infectious diseases, causing an estimated 249 million cases and 608,000 deaths annually, with children in the regions of Africa and South Asia being most vulnerable. Approx 2,000 cases of malaria are reported in the United States each year, by travelers from malaria-risk countries. Malaria is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease transmitted through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, which introduces Plasmodium sporozoites into the bloodstream of the human host.

qPCR Assay for Detection of JC Virus

JC Virus causes a fatal disease in the brain called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) that occurs in many patients with immunocompromised conditions. For example, more than five percent (5%) of AIDS patients develop PML. Additionally, these conditions include, but are not limited to, cancers such as leukemias and lymphomas, organ transplants such as kidney, heart and autoimmune conditions with treatment that modulates the immune system such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Monoclonal Antibodies that Bind Zika Virus Envelope Protein for Zika Diagnostics and Research

Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause microcephaly and other severe birth defects. The CDC Zika MAC-ELISA (IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) currently used for diagnosis detects antibodies produced to fight a Zika virus infection. However, reactivity of flavivirus antibodies (from exposure to other mosquito-borne infections such as dengue or West Nile virus) can complicate the interpretation of these results.

A Novel Strategy to Produce 6-cys Proteins Based on Pfs230D1 Domain Fusions

The Plasmodium parasite has a complex lifecycle during human infection and in the mosquito vector. Most advanced malaria vaccine candidates can confer only partial, short-term protection in malaria-endemic areas. A means of breaking the transmission of malaria to subsequent individuals could prevent a significant amount of human disease.

The primary embodiments of this technology are novel compositions of matter that produce enhanced transmission-blocking responses over current transmission blocking vaccines:

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