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NIAID has a hybridoma available for non-exclusive licensing that produces a monoclonal antibody specific for DNA/RNA hybrids. This antibody, which has been extensively characterized by NIH researchers, is already a widely-used research tool. It is currently the only monoclonal antibody available that is specific for DNA/RNA hybrids, making it a unique reagent. It is used in immuno-fluorescence (IF) microscopy, where it can be used to detect sites of transcriptional activity and potentially sites of viral replication.

Rotavirus is a highly contagious, diarrhea-inducing pathogen that annually causes approximately 250,000 deaths worldwide and millions of hospitalizations, especially afflicting infants and young children. One strategy to combat this virus is through vaccination. Continuing safety and efficacy concerns with the currently existing live, oral vaccines against rotavirus have led researchers to search for alternative treatment approaches, such as vaccines containing inactivated rotavirus.

NIH immunologists have created a solution, Clearing-enhanced 3D (Ce3D), that can be used to make entire organs extremely transparent (top right panel). This allows the tissue to be imaged using advanced fluorescence microscopy techniques (bottom panel). Unlike current tissue clearing solutions, the Ce3D tissue clearing solution is robustly compatible with a variety of staining methods, and preserves tissue morphology and reporter fluorescence. Ce3D enabled microscopy provides unprecedented insight into the spatial organization of cells within intact organs.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes (ALDHs) have a broad spectrum of biological activities through the oxidation of both endogenous and exogenous aldehydes. Unbalanced biological activity of ALDHs has been associated with a variety of disease states such as alcoholic liver disease, Parkinson’s disease, obesity, and Cancer. Increased expression of ALDH1A1 has been identified in a wide-range of human cancer stem cells and is associated with cancer relapse and poor prognosis, raising the potential of ALDH1A1 as a therapeutic target.

The technology relates to a protein-based nanoparticle platform that allows presentation of immunogenic molecules such as influenza virus antigens. This protein platform is made up of hepatitis B capsid/core proteins. The core proteins contain immunogenic loop c/e1, where other antigens can be inserted and the chimeric protein retains the ability to form capsid-like particles. The technology describes the insertion of one or more copies of influenza epitopes derived from the globular head or the stem region of hemagglutinin protein into or around the c/e1 loop of the core protein.

Rotaviral infection is the most common gastrointestinal illness of children in the world, affecting both developed and developing economies. There is no specific drug treatment for rotavirus infection. Vaccination and good hygiene are key to prevention.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) continues to be the leading viral cause of severe acute lower respiratory tract disease in infants and children worldwide. A licensed vaccine or antiviral drug suitable for routine use remains unavailable. This invention relates to the use of murine pneumonia virus (MPV), a virus to which humans normally are not exposed to and that is not cross-protected with RSV, as a vector to express the RSV fusion (F) glycoprotein as an RSV vaccine candidate. The RSV F ORF was codon optimized.

Coronaviruses (CoVs) can cause severe respiratory disease with high fatality rates in humans. The 2002-2003 SARS-CoV epidemic resulted in 8098 cases and 744 deaths, and MERS-CoV, which emerged in 2012, has resulted in 2144 cases and over 750 deaths as of March 2018. Currently, there are no effective prophylactic or therapeutic measures, and because other CoVs are poised to emerge as new human pathogens, there is a need to define a general CoV vaccine solution.

With respect to quantification of metabolites in the brain, conventional methods of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) yield results that are highly variable and highly dependent on the sequence type being applied. This invention describes a novel MRS technique that involves preparing longitudinal steady states at different flip angles using trains of RF pulses interspersed with field gradients to quantify metabolites.

Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction is a life-threatening complication of transcatheter mitral valve replacement caused by septal displacement of the anterior mitral leaflet (AML). The AML is a mobile structure that physically separates inflow and outflow zones of the left ventricle. Preserving the AML during surgical mitral valve replacement can cause left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, either when the prosthesis struts protrude into the left ventricular outflow tract or when along redundant anterior leaflet prolapses into the left ventrical outflow tract.