Tamperless Tensor Elastography Imaging

Summary:

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) seeks research co-development partners and/or licensees for the development of tamper-less tensor elastography imaging in assessing disease (e.g., cancer), normal and abnormal developmental processes, degeneration and trauma in the brain and other soft tissues, and other applications.

Codon-optimization of HIV-1 Viral Infectivity Factor (VIF) Gene

Expression of the HIV-1 Vif protein in the absence of other viral factors such a Tat and Rev is extremely inefficient due to the presence of inhibitory sequences on its mRNA. This invention uses codon optimization to remove such inhibitory sequences without altering the amino acid sequence of the protein. The modified vif gene in the resulting pcDNA -hVIF vector is expressed under the control of the CMV promoter. In this, the protein functions as wild type and is more amendable to high-level expression in mammalian cells.