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.

A Rapid Method for Producing Antibodies

Antibodies are specialized proteins produced by the immune system which target and neutralize foreign materials, such as viruses or bacteria. Antibodies have a variety of useful applications in diagnostics, therapeutics, and as research reagents. Despite their widespread use there is no standard method to produce antibodies, and currently available methods are labor and time intensive.

Novel System for HIV-1 Vaccine Development

The available technologies describe specific immunogenic peptides, peptide modifications and methods for identifying additional immunogens against HIV-1 surface proteins, gp120 and gp41. Additionally, detailed methods for use of the described immunogenic peptides in the development of vaccines and diagnostics for HIV-1 are disclosed. The current technologies further include a comprehensive system for immunogen design, comprising in silico design coupled to feedback from X-ray crystallography, antigenic analysis, and immunization.

Device and Method for Protecting Against Coronary Artery Compression During Transcatheter Mitral Valve Annuloplasty

Catheter-based mitral valve regurgitation treatments that use a coronary sinus trajectory or coronary sinus implant can have unwanted effects because the coronary sinus and its branches have been found to cross the outer diameter of major coronary arteries in a majority of humans. As a result, pressure applied by any prosthetic device in the coronary sinus (such as tension on the annuloplasty device) can compress the underlying coronary artery and induce myocardial ischemia or infarction.

Method for HLA LOH Detection in Liquid Biopsies

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) LOH (LOH) is a known resistance mechanism by which cancers evade T cell receptor-(TCR-)based immunotherapies. This class of therapies includes immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI, e.g., Pembrolizumab), engineered TCR (T cell receptor)-T cell adoptive transfer, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), T-cell engagers, and other modalities. Dozens of therapies in this category were developed with many in clinical trials. The resistance mechanism noted here, HLA LOH, causes these therapies to fail.

Inhibition of HIV Infection through Chemoprophylaxis Using Emtricitabine and Tenofovir

The invention is directed to prophylactic administration of emtricitabine (FTC) in combination with tenofovir or its prodrug, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), to protect against transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Also disclosed are other nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NtRTIs) that, when administered in combination, protect against HIV infection.

Fluorinated MU-Opioid Receptor Agonists

Summary: 
Investigators at the National Institute on Drug Abuse seek co-development partners and/or licensees for collection of mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonists as alternatives for existing compounds.

Description of Technology: 
Although existing opioids are excellent analgesics and useful as positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers, they come with debilitating side effects. These include addiction, respiratory distress, hyperalgesia, and constipation. Therefore, there is a need for alternatives with lower adverse effects.

Intralipid as a Contrast Agent to Enhance Subsurface Blood Flow Imaging

This technology includes a blood flow imaging method that allows for a higher density of smaller particles to be detected. Current imaging methods that are based on Doppler measurements are limited by the discontinuity in the capillary flow in the space between red blood cells. The core technology is to use a scattering agent to enhance capillary flow or microcirculation. This technology has been tested for optical coherence Doppler tomography, but can be expended to any Doppler based flow imaging techniques such as laser speckle imaging.