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4/9/2013
Novel Peptoid Heparin Antagonists
Heparin and Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) are widely used anticoagulants; drugs which prevent blood clotting. These anticoagulants can often present the risk of potentially serious bleeding side effects. Protamine is currently the only approved drug used to reverse the action of heparin, and there is no approved reversing agent for LMWH. Protamine presents its own risks of side effects including anaphylactoid shock so there exists an unmet need for alternative Heparin and LMWH antagonists.
UCR researchers have demonstrated significant binding affinity in two synthetic peptide analogues of the HIP heparin-binding domain. Both peptide analogues have been found to be equally effective in neutralizing heparin activity using the Coatest heparin in vitro assay.
For more information about this technology or its licensing, please contact Senior Licensing Officer Michael Arciero at michael.arciero@ucr.edu. Reference UC No. 2012-552.
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4/8/2013
Transparent Cranial Implants for Laser Therapy
Delivery and collection of laser light across the scalp and skull would enable non-invasive, real-time and highly precise visualization and treatment of various brain pathologies localized in shallow and deep brain tissues. However, the highly scattering and absorptive nature of intact scalp and skull throughout the visible and infrared spectrum diminish the visualization and/or treatment effectiveness due to the heat produced within the scalp, skull and brain tissue.
Dr. Guillermo Aguilar and Dr. Javier Garay have developed a novel transparent zirconia cranial implant where laser light can more readily be delivered through the skull and thus maximizing laser light penetration to multiple affected areas within the brain. By providing this “window” to the brain, in vivo optical diagnostics can monitor the imaging of the laser light-tissue interactions and post-operatory evolution of targeted brain tissue.
This ground-breaking technology has the potential to treat a variety of neurological and brain pathologies including but not limited to traumatic brain injury (TBI), Parkinson’s disease, Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS), depression, and metastatic brain tumors among others. Currently, this technology is protected by a provisional application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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4/7/2013
Methods for producing High-Efficiency Graphene Thermal Materials
As power densities increase for electronic devices, more heat energy is generated from within the electronic device. Therefore, efficient heat removal will be necessary to remove this additional heat energy generated by higher power densities. Current thermal materials, such as graphene, do not achieve the required thermal conductivity to handle the higher power densities expected in electronic devices. More efficient thermal interface materials will be necessary to remove this increased heat energy.
University of California researchers have developed an optimized mixture of graphene and multilayer graphene that utilizes high-yield liquid phase exfoliation techniques to significantly increase the thermal conductivity of thermal interface materials. The graphene and few layer graphene are utilized as filler materials with various base (or matrix) materials to form the thermal interface materials. By innovating a thermal interface material of specific thickness and size, the resulting composition increases its thermal conductivity.
This revolutionary new technology in thermal interface materials can be applied to a variety of devices, batteries, and systems that face the significant problem of self-heating and efficient removal of that heat.
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4/6/2013
Aluminum Nitride Laser
Thermal management continues to limit the development of photoluminescent and laser host materials. However, by improving the thermal conductivity of the host materials, the overall output power and duty cycle available in high-powered light emitters increases.
UCR’s Dr. Garay has innovated a fabrication method that combines aluminum nitride (A1N) with rare earth (RE) dopant powders to produce a new class of high thermal conductivity host materials known as Rare Earth Doped Polycrystalline Bulk Aluminum Nitride (“RE:A1N”). Through Dr. Garay’s research, he has demonstrated that RE:A1N host materials possess five times the thermal conductivity of current host materials. Dr. Garay’s method has proven effective in densifying a wide variety of hard-to-densify ceramics.
Dr. Garay’s new technology has great potential to develop new more powerful lasers than currently available.
For more information about this technology or its licensing, please contact Christopher Del Vecchio at cvecchio@ucr.edu. Reference UC No. 2011-639.
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4/5/2013
VACCINES AND METHOD OF INHIBITING INFECTION BY INFLUENZA AND OTHER VIRUSES
This work identifies a physiological role for the Influenza A virus RNAi suppressor protein NS1 in the inhibition of specific host miRNA function.
Influenza A virus causes seasonal infections and periodic pandemics in humans and is a major public health concern. The viral pathogenesis requires expression of its multifunctional nonstructural protein 1 (NS1), which inhibits the interferon response and binds dsRNA in vitro. NS1 also suppresses experimentally induced RNAi, but a physiological role for this activity is unknown. Here we show that NS1 interferes with the biogenesis of specific cellular miRNAs by direct binding to the structured miRNA precursors in infected human cells. Expression of NS1 is associated with depletion of specific precursor miRNA that have important cellular and/or immune functions, our findings indicate a role for viral suppression of RNAi in the influenza virus pathogenesis and specific methods for the treatment or inhibition of influenza infection.
For more information about this technology or its licensing, please contact Senior Licensing Officer Michael Arciero michael.arciero@ucr.edu. Reference UC No. 2012-597.
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4/4/2013
Methods for producing High-Efficiency Graphene Thermal Materials
UCR Researchers have achieved the synthesis of novel compounds useful for regulating the ubiquitinproteasome pathway. They can be prepared in just a few steps, in high efficiency, and in good quantity, as would be needed for a manufacturing process. Due to the role of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in important cellular processes such as apoptosis, and cellular proliferation , the inhibition of the proteasome has been recognized as a useful property for the development novel anti-cancer therapeutics. In addition to cancer therapy, it is envisioned that molecules that specifically inhibit the proteasome such as those in this invention could have other uses, including as drugs for autoimmune diseases or as agrochemical and possibly antibacterial agents.
For more information about this technology or its licensing, please contact Senior Licensing Officer Michael Arciero at michael.arciero@ucr.edu. Reference UC No. 2013-156
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4/3/2013
A Novel Cell Targeting Peptide for Mucosal Vaccination
Most infectious agents enter the body through mucosal surfaces such as the intestine or airways. Protective immune responses induced by such infections involve both cellular immune responses and systemic IgG antibodies. Vaccination at mucosal surfaces is a strategy that can help overcome the limitations of injected vaccines (needle disposal, trained medical staff required to administer the vaccine), while also providing the benefit of mucosal IgA responses.
Professor David Lo and his team have tested the mucosal immune response to engineered vaccine fusion proteins incorporating an antigen and a novel cell targeting peptide and have found that these epithelial cell targeted fusion proteins are effective in enhancing secretory IgA responses. These findings indicate that mucosal vaccination strategies relying on targeting ligands such as UCR’s novel targeting peptide should have promise in clinical applications.
For more information about this technology or its licensing, please contact Richard Tun, Senior Licensing Officer at richard.tun@ucr.edu. Reference UC No. 2008-495
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4/2/2013
Attacking Cancer with Splice Modulating Oligomers - a new class of therapeutics
Many growth factors, hormone receptors, and signaling molecules are known to promote the growth, survival and migration of cancerous cells. Many of these have natural splice variants, some of which have already been shown to act as “dominant negatives” that oppose the function of other active forms of an encoded protein.
Professor Ameae Walker and her colleagues at UCR have designed novel splice modulating oligonucleotides (SMO’s) that decrease expression of the growth promoting and/or increase expression of dominant negative varieties of specific growth factor receptors, thereby decreasing cancer cell survival and metastatic potential.
An attractive feature of SMO therapy is the potential to target more than one receptor, signaling molecule, or transcription factor at a time, thereby increasing the impact of treatment and reducing the possibility that cells can become resistant.
This insight may lead to a new class of drugs targeting cancer and other indications affected by gene products that undergo alternative splicing.
For more information about this technology or its licensing, please contact Richard Tun, Senior Licensing Officer at richard.tun@ucr.edu. Reference UC No. 2012-794.
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4/1/2013
Improved Abiotic Stress Tolerance
A team led by Dr. Julia Bailey-Serres (UC Riverside) with co-inventors from University of Nottingham and University of Sheffield have disclosed that modification of amino acid sequence of proteins improves abiotic stress tolerance in plants.
A unique amino acid sequence of specific proteins directs such proteins for degradation. Manipulating the extent to which these proteins are directed for degradation will make crop plants more resistant to oxygen stress, have improved water use efficiency, improved resistance to abiotic stresses in general and improved germination performance.
Dr. Julia Bailey-Serres’ technology has potentially high payoffs in the ag-biotech industry. University of Nottingham (coinventor) is taking on the lead in this case, with a pending Licensee, and are filing a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application having effect in 117 countries.
For more information about this technology or its licensing, please contact Joyce Patrona joyce.patrona@ucr.edu. Reference UC No. 2011-884.
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3/4/2013
AVOCADOS
The industry standard, the “Hass” avocado, is a year round variety which is the one variety that has controlled the market for many years. UCR has been evaluating and breeding avocado varieties since the 1940s. A UCR developed and patented variety, “Lamb Hass”, is a summer variety which is gaining in popularity against Hass. Recently, a new UCR variety called “Gem” is showing promise to take on Hass as an industry standard. This variety is gaining a large interest in foreign markets to meet the need for a great tasting fruit with a specific growing season.
At UCR’s South Coast Field Station, there are over 200 different Mexican and Guatemalan avocado varieties representing the largest collection of its kind in the US. Each of these varieties is a source of breeding stock from which to develop new varieties to meet the pest and growth condition needs of growers and future market demands. SCFS preserves UCR’s avocado breeding efforts and serves as an irreplaceable source of germplasm for development of future avocado varieties.
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