This technology includes a novel vaccine for forming autoantibodies against apoC-III, a plasma enzyme that inhibits lipolysis. The vaccine can possibly be used to treat patients with high triglycerides and are at risk for pancreatitis and cardiovascular disease. This disclosure describes an ApoC3 immunogen that includes an antigenicApoC3 peptide linked to a bacteriophage virus-like-particle (VLP) immunogenic carrier.
This technology includes rhesus macaque induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) lines from multiple animals and various types of cells to establish this pre-clinical model. iPSCs are a type of pluripotent stem cell that can be generated from adult somatic cells. The iPSC technology holds great potential for regenerative medicine. Before clinical application, it is critical to evaluate safety and efficacy in a clinically-relevant animal model. We propose that non-human primate models are particularly relevant to test iPSC-based cell therapies.
This technology includes monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that specifically and with high affinity bind the final complement components C3dg and C3d (subsequently referred to as C3d), which can be used to kill tumor cells that carry C3d on their cell surface. We show that tumor cells of patients treated with the therapeutic anti-CD20 mAb ofatumumab carry C3d on the cell surface and can bind and be killed by addition of anti-C3 mAbs. In contrast, further addition of more ofatumumab has only minimal effects.
This technology includes three cell lines of dopaminergic neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line BC1, human iPSG line X1 and human embryonic stem cell (hESC) line H14 to be utilized in neurology research. These cell lines will be used for to study the biology of brain development and may also be used to test different characterization and differentiation assays. The dopaminergic neurons and/or their derivatives may also be used as controls in studies to screen for small molecules to change cell fate and/or to alleviate the phenotypes of various diseases.
This technology involves an innovative method for differentiating neural stem cells (NSCs) into neurons, primarily for use in basic science research and in developing therapies for brain and spinal cord disorders. Existing methods for generating neurons from NSCs typically result in high efficiency but low survival rates, especially when neurons are dissociated and regrown. This new method utilizes Life Technologies StemPro embryonic stem cell serum-free medium, which significantly enhances differentiation efficiency into neurons with minimal cell death.
This technology includes a neural stem cell (NSC) line derived from a Niemann Pick C (NPC) patient, aimed at advancing research and drug development for NPC, an inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of cholesterol in neurons. The NSCs, which serve as a crucial intermediate cell type, can be differentiated into any neuronal or glial cell of the brain or spinal cord under appropriate culture conditions. These cells originate from fibroblasts reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells.
This technology includes a novel plasmid design for cell immortalization. It uniquely combines the conditional activation of human telomerase and c-myc genes through cumate addition, a method distinct from traditional immortalization techniques which commonly use SV40 T-antigen, telomerase, or c-myc. This plasmid also includes a GFP reporter and a puromycin resistance gene, enhancing the efficiency of the immortalization process.
This technology includes a microscopy method that reduces the speed penalty at least 1000-fold, while retaining resolution improvement. A Digital mirror device (DMD) or sweptfield confocal unit is used to create hundreds to thousands of excitation foci that are imaged to a sample mounted in a conventional microscope and record the resulting emissions on an array detector. Detection of each confocal spot is done in our proprietary software, as is the processing and deconvolution that is used for a 2x resolution enhancement.
This technology includes an IgA antibody, specifically designed to target the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. Administered intranasally, this antibody has potential neutralizing activity, aiming to prevent COVID-19. IgA, an antibody class present in mucosal areas, plays a crucial role in immune defense at the initial site of viral infection. The primary application of this technology is envisioned as a therapeutic nasal spray, intended to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in high-risk populations.
This technology includes algorithms and software that improve the speed of iterative deconvolution, a common method for improving spatial resolution and contrast in fluorescence microscopy images. These algorithms also improve the registration of multiview datasets, and apply deep learning to accelerate spatially varying deconvolution.