Available Technologies

Pseudo Random Arterial Spin Labeling for Cerebral Blood Flow Detection

1474 — Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is one of the most important physiological variables in understanding local brain metabolism. By detecting changes in blood flow, regions of the brain with increased blood oxygen requirements can be identified - this is the most frequently used method to estimate changes in neural activation. Previously CBF measurements have used PET, CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect radioactive tracers or radiographic or MR contrast agents administered to the pa...

Mice lacking the 5-HT5A receptor

1500 — From Increased Exploratory Activity and Altered Response to LSD in Mice Lacking the 5-HT(5A) Receptor, Neuron, Vol. 22, 581-591, March, 1999. R. Grailhe, C. Waeber, S. Dulawa, J. Hornung, X. Zhuang, D. Brunner, M. Geyer, and R. Hen Although classical pharmacological strategies have identified functions of many serotonergic receptors (Wilkinson and Dourish, 1991), specific ligands have not yet been identified for the recently cloned 5-HT(5A), 5-HT(5B), 5-HT(6), and 5-HT(7) receptors. When...

Gene strain for encoding taurine and GABA transporters and LPA receptor for epilepsy and migraine driug development

1856 — Epilepsy and migraine drug development using gene strain for transporter genes: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a glycerophospholipid whose signaling is involved in cell proliferation, neurite retraction, platelet agregation, smooth muscle contraction, tumor cell invasion, neurotransmitter release, chloride efflux, and chemotaxis. LPA receptors are important potential therapeutic targets for cancer, autoimmune disease, ischemia-reperfusion injury, thrombosis, neuropathic pain, infertil...

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Diagnosis and Treatment using LRG-47

2123 — Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that affects an estimated 2.5 to 3 million patients worldwide. The immune system attacks the myelin sheath encasing and protecting nerve fibers, thus disrupting the transmission of electrical signals between the brain, spinal cord, and various parts of the body. Affected individuals often exhibit a constellation of heterogeneous motor and sensory symptoms, some of which are extremely debilitating. Currently av...

Transgenic mouse for impaired expression of endogenous ZDHHC8 as Marker for Schizophrenia

1806 — Microdeletions in chromosome region 22q11 are associated, with relatively high frequency, with severe mental illness. Whereas a person in the general population has a risk of about 1% of developing schizophrenia, that risk may be 25-30 times higher in persons having a deletion in the 22q11 region. It therefore seems likely that the 22q11 region harbors genes that, alone or in combination, are causally implicated in schizophrenia. An emerging “"genetic”“ picture is that the 22q11 micro...

Oral Clobazam for Treatment of Post Stroke Hypertonia

2174 — “Lead Inventor: Randolph S. Marshall Hypertonia Hinders Recovery in Stroke Patients: Approximately 750,000 patients suffer a stroke in the United States annually. Of these, about two-thirds require rehabilitation for sequelae related to CNS damage, including aphasia, paralysis, and hypertonia. In 2003, there were over 4.7 million patients in the U.S. living with chronic stroke. Of those with hemiparesis, 63% developed hypertonia. Hypertonia, is a condition in which muscles maintain a leve...

Compounds for targeted photodelivery of therapeutic substances for cancer

m09-102 — “Lead Inventors: , , Luis Baraldo, Ph.D. Tech Ventures Reference: M09-102 & In photodynamic therapy (PDT), light energy is used to induce a chemical reaction of a specifically-designed photosensitive drug. Using this method, the effects of the drug can be precisely targeted to the tissue of interest. Currently, PDT is used to treat Barrett's esophagus, and cancers of the esophagus, skin, lung, and pancreas. However, most PDT agents require high-energy ultraviolet light for effective...

Two rapid, reversible optical clearing methods for clearing brain tissue while preserving tissue properties

cu12270 — Visualization of neuronal projections is critical to understand the complex interactions between neuronal networks within the brain to analyze brain function. Histology and immunostaining are currently used to visualize brain tissue intact and in sections. However, standard tissue sections are limited in their thickness and clarity, causing 3D reconstruction of 2D images to be difficult and imprecise. Optically clearing tissue with an amide-polyether compound allows larger volume brain s...

Transgenic Mammals and Reagents for Improving Longterm Memory

809 — “Name of the inventor: Isabelle Mansuy Non-Human Mammal for Long-Term Memory Improvement A transgenic non-human mammal whose germ or somatic cells contain a nucleic acid molecule encoding calcineurin or a variant thereof under the control of a promoter is described. The gene encoding calcineurin is introduced into the mammal, or an ancestor at an embryonic stage. A method of evaluating the efficacy of a compound in rescuing the long-term memory defect in a transgenic animal with increase...

Reducing Seizure-Induced Neuronal Damage

1394 — “Name of the inventor: Shi Du Yan, Guy McKhann, David M. Stern Treating Seizures To Reduce Neuronal Damage: A method for inhibiting neuronal damage comprises administering a prophylactically effective amount of an inhibitor/receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) which would otherwise result from a seizure in the event the subject were to suffer a seizure. Neuronal Damage from Seizure Therapy The method is useful in the treatment/inhibition of human seizure disorders. ”

Murine Model for Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 2E

2977 — Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 2E (CMT2E) is a currently incurable disease characterized by progressive degeneration of peripheral motor and sensory neurons that first manifests itself in late childhood or early adulthood. It is known that the disease is caused by mutations in the neuronal intermediate filament protein (NEFL) gene; however, a lack of studies correlating disease onset with anatomy or histology and a lack of published autopsy results regarding disease progression has com...

High Throughput Solid Phase Assay for Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) Activity

cu12029 — Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is an enzyme responsible for the degradation of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and has an important role in several diseases. Diseases such as Alzheimer’s and glaucoma are thought to be caused by reduced synthesis of acetylcholine and one therapy for such diseases is the use of an AChE inhibitor (AChEI). In order to administer such a treatment, one must first assess the level of AChE in the body and how modifications to the enzyme change its activity. For ...

Dorsalin-1 polypeptide and uses thereof

292 — Lead Inventor: Discovery of a new morphogenetic protein with potential use as an inducing agent in wound healing, bone repair and neuronal repair. Classic treatment options that utilize tissue grafts are accompanied by risks such as donor site morbidity, disease transmission, infection and adverse immune reactions. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have been identified as a class of growth factors required for proper tissue organization throughout the body and hold great interest in th...

Neural axon outgrowth modulators

276 — “Name of the inventor: Marc Tessier-Lavigne Isolated Polypeptides Comprising Vertebrate/Insect Netrins or Axon Growth Moduator Portions Methods and compositions relating to netrins and netrin genes are described. Nucleic Acids that encode Netrin Proteins and Probes/Primers that Hybridize with Netrin Genes Isolated polypeptides comprising ...

Long-term memory enhancement compound

604 — “Name of the inventor: Dusan Bartsch Agent to enhance long-term memory: A method for enhancing long-term memory in a subject with repressed cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate) responsive gene expression is described. Therapeutic agent capable of enhancing long-term memory: An effective amount of a therapeutic agent that is capable of interfering with the binding of a cAMP-response-element-binding-protein-2 to a protein and/or a DNA associated with cAMP-responsive gene expression ...

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Errors Reduced & Corrected with Algorithm Formula

2930 — Comparative DNA sequencing of diseased and normal tissues can be used to find genes responsible for particular diseases. However, DNA sequencers can introduce errors that make artifacts indistinguishable from actual genetic abnormalities - leading to erroneous findings. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies now deliver high throughput DNA sequencing of the entire genome. Because of their high throughput, NGS technologies produce sequence-reading errors that can yield unreliable s...

Genetic Pharmacotherapy for Target Validation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

2931 — Drug discovery for neuropsychiatric disorders is a time and resource intensive process. This technology would provide the necessary tools to validate drug targets of interest in mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders prior to their development. This technology utilizes mouse lines that can temporally and spatially reduce protein expression. The reduction demonstrated by this system is comparable to the levels of reduction seen when treating with high affinity drugs in vivo. Mo...

Cloning, expression and uses of a secreted protein, F-spondin

287 — Name of the inventor: Thomas M. Jessell Ph.D. An isolated vertebrate nucleic acid molecule encoding F-spondin. A nucleic acid probe capable of specifically hybridizing with a sequence included within the nucleic acid sequence encoding an F-spondin is also disclosed. Nerve cells are made to attach to a matrix and are stimulated to grow using effective concentration of purified F-spondin. A method of nerve cell regeneration in a subject by administering a pharmaceutical composition cont...

Intracellular Amyloid-Beta Binding Polypeptide

658 — “Name of the inventor: David Mark Stern Polypeptide for Neurodegenerative Conditions: An isolated nucleic acid encoding an endoplasmic reticulum associated amyloid-beta peptide binding (ERAB) polypeptide is described. The ERAB polypeptide may comprise human ERAB polypeptide. A purified ERAB polypeptide is described. A method for treating a neurodegenerative condition in a subject by administering an effective amount of an agent to inhibit ERAB polypeptide binding to amyloid-beta peptide ...

Homeodomain Protein Code Specifying Progenitor Cell Identity and Neuronal Fate in the Ventral Neural Tube

1045 — “Name of the inventor: Thomas M. Jessell Ph.D. Genetically Engineered Neurons Generated for Motor Neuron Injury and Disease Methods for generating genetically engineered neurons for treating subjects having a motor neuron injury or a motor neuron disease are described. The method involves implanting genetically engineered neural cells in the injured/diseased neural tissue of the subject. Retroviral expression systems are administered which are capable of expressing the appropriate homeodo...

Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPF) Biosensor for Measuring Anti-Glycolipid Antibody Levels in Neuropathy

1124 — This technology shows that PAK5, a novel target of the Rho GTPases Cdc42 and Rac, triggers filopodia formation and neurite outgrowth in neuronal cell lines, a finding that holds great promise for future drug development. It provides new nucleic acids encoding human PAK5-related proteins as well as the encoded proteins. Additionally, methods to regulate various cellular processes using the instant nucleic acids and proteins are described. Norman Latov M.D. Neurological Disease ...

Autistic spectrum, gastrointestinal disorders, visceral inflammation, central nervous system disorders, autoimmune disorders treatment

1534 — “Name of the inventors: Martha Welch M.D., David Ruggiero Ph.D., Muhammad Anwar Gut and brain disorders treatment for Autism, gastrointestinal disorders, visceral inflammation, central nervous system disorders Description: Novel multipeptide regimens and associated kits comprising a combination of secretin and oxytocin for use in treating and/or preventing gastrointestinal disorders, central nervous system disorders, autoimmune diseases and pain are described. The pharmaceutical compo...

Single Trial Detection in Encephalography

m03-074 — “Name of the inventor: Paul Sajda Interpreting Brain Activity with EEG Cap, Computer: An EEG cap to be placed on the head of a subject when viewing the CRT monitor described. A system for interpreting brain activity comprises a high-density array of brain activity sensors for application to the head of a subject and a computer that receives signals from the sensors. The computer is programmed to compute a respective spatial weighting coefficient corresponding to each of the sensors in re...

Compounds which prevent neuronal cell death

535 — “Name of the inventor: Carol M. Troy MD, PhD Treatment for neurodegenerative disorder slows nerve cell death by inhibiting enzyme activity: A method of inhibiting cell death and for alleviating symptoms of a neurodegenerative disorder in a subject is described. Alzheimer's treatmet inhibits enzyme by using a peptide fragment: The method involves inhibition of enzyme activity on a substrate in a cell by contacting the enzyme with a peptide fragment derived from an active site of the enz...

Transgenic Mice Over-Expressing Amyloid-Beta Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ABAD) in Brain as Model of Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

1069 — “Name of the inventor: David Mark Stern M.D. Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Models Analyzed for Potential Therapy Drug Treatment Transgenic non-human animal whose cells over-express (amyloid-beta alcohol dehydrogenase) (ABAD) in brain ABAD in brain linked to familial Alzheimer's disease in humans are described. Protein Interactions in Transgenic Animal Useful as Models for Testing AD Drugs The method involves evaluation in a non-human transgenic animal, the potential therapeutic effect of an age...

Transgenic Mice Expressing a Calcineurin Inhibitor in Regulatable Manner

1152 — “Name of the inventor: Isabelle Mansuy Long-Term Memory Formation Studied in Transgenic Nonhuman Mammal and Cell Models Methods for determining whether an agent inhibits long-term potentiation and/or learning and memory in a mammal are described. The method provides a transgenic nonhuman mammal and mammalian cell models. Transgenic Mammal Behavioral Tests Reveal Hippocampal-Dependent Synaptic Plasticity and Memory Sstorage A method for determining whether an agent inhibits potentiation, long...

Isolating Terpene Trilactones in Ginkgo Biloba for Dietary Supplements and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Treatment

m01-055 — Ginkgo biloba is a frequently used herbal remedy for increasing cognitive function (particularly in the elderly and Alzheimer’s patients), treating vascular and neurodegenerative dementia, as well as improving circulation and tinnitus. The main active ingredients have been identified as flavonoids and terpene trilactones (TTLs), including Ginkgolides A,B,C,J and Bilobalide, which have antioxidant and neuroprotective effects. Although Ginkgo biloba extract has been approved as medicine in...

Computational methods for increasing the spatial resolution of human electroencephalography for the detection of synchronous brain activity

1512 — Electroencephalography (EEG) measures electrical activity by measuring the electrical potential between two electrodes. Arrays of electrodes can be utilized to measure electrical activity over a wide area. Within clinical neurology and neuroscience research electroencephalography has been utilized extensively to study the function of the human brain under a variety of conditions. Mathematical measures of synchronous brain activity, such as coherence and correlation, have been used to inf...

"Increasing learning and memory in amyloid-b related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's "

1811 — Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, initially characterized by memory loss, progressing to dementia and death. Approximately 4.5 million Americans are affected; longer lifespans will make AD a risk for most people. Temporary, symptomatic relief has been achieved by two classes of drugs, cholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA antagonists, which increase synaptic communication. No treatment currently exists that stops the disease progression. AD diagnosis is confirmed ...

Intravascular Systems for Corporeal Cooling

863 — “Name of the inventor: Arthur E. Schwartz MD Intravascular Catheter Systems for Corporeal Cooling: The method of treating a patient involves positioning the distal portion of a corporeal cooling catheter within the patient's affected organ and providing cooled blood through the catheter into the internal part of the organ. The intravascular catheter systems for corporeal cooling are specially characterized with a pressure dependent valve, balloons with variable inflation, an annular in...

Intravascular Systems for Corporeal Cooling

862 — “Name of the inventor: Arthur E. Schwartz MD Intravascular Catheter Systems for Corporeal Cooling: The method of treating a patient involves positioning the distal portion of a corporeal cooling catheter within the patient's affected organ and providing cooled blood through the catheter into the internal part of the organ. The intravascular catheter systems for corporeal cooling are specially characterized with a pressure dependent valve, balloons with variable inflation, an annular in...

Optical Probing of Neuronal Connections with Fluorescent Indicators

ms98-11-17 — Name of the inventor: Rafael Yuste Neuron Connection Indentifier: A method for identifying a connection/ inhibitory connection between a first neuron and a second neuron or plurality of neurons, for detecting the effect of a neuromodulator on this connection and to identify an inhibitory connection between a first neuron and a second neuron or plurality of neurons. The method of identifying a connection between two/more neurons comprises loading neurons in a neural tissue slice with a ...

Prion-Like Form of CPEB

1333 — “Name of the inventor: Eric Kandel CPEB Protein from Non-Prion to Prion Form: Methods for determining whether an agent facilitates the conversion of a cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding (CPEB) protein from its non-prion form to its prion form are described. Methods for determining the presence and amount of the prion form of CPEB protein in a cell are also proposed. The method provides a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of an agent that facilitates the co...

Heritable disorders, peripheral neuropathies, and cancer and neurodegenerative disorders screening

1562 — “Name of the inventor: Thomas M. Jessell Ph.D. In-vitro screening to identify drug targets for heritable disorders, peripheral neuropathies, and cancer and neurodegenerative disorders In-vitro systems for use in identifying modulators of neural differentiation and modulators identified by these systems are described. The method for identifying a modulator of neural differentiation comprises contacting the system with a candidate modulator and determining if the candidate modulator has ...

Neuropsychiatric Disorders Diagnoses using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

2855 — Over 25 percent of Americans suffer from diagnosable neuropsychiatric disorders. Unfortunately, diagnosis is based on qualitative judgment of a patient’s clinical symptoms that typically only present themselves in late stages of disorders. This frequently leads to misdiagnosis and misclassification of patients, especially those with comorbidity or other underlying conditions with similar symptoms. More often than not, mistrust of doctors and stigma against disorders causes only patients ...

Genetic Demonstration of Requirement for nkx6.1, nkx2.2 and nkx6.2 in Ventral Neuron Generation

1046 — “Name of the inventor: Thomas M. Jessell Ph.D. Stem Cell Converted into Ventral Neuron for Neuronal Degeneration Diagnosis and Treatment A method of converting a stem cell into a ventral neuron is described. Methods for diagnosing and treating neuronal degeneration in the subject are also described. Nucleic Acid Introduced into Stem Cell to Convert it into Ventral Neuron A nucleic acid which expresses homeodomain transcription factor Nkx6.1 or Nkx6.2 protein is introduced into the stem cell,...

Ceramide de novo synthesis-based therapeutic and prophylactic methods, and related articles of manufacture

1270 — “Name of the inventor: Tilla S. Worgall Decreasing Sterol Regulatory Element Binding-Proteins (mSREBP)in a Cell The method for increasing or decreasing the amount of mSREBP in a cell using an agent that specifically increases/inhibits de novo synthesis of ceramide in the cell is described. There is an associated decrease in the levels of fatty acids, cholesterol and triglycerides. Cholestrol Level Related Disease Therapy The method is useful in the treatment of hereditary disorders lik...

Dopaminergic Cell Lines Stably Expressing A53T Alpha-Synuclein for Parkinson's Study

1320 — “Name of the inventor: Leonidas Stefanis and Lloyd Greene Cell Line with Dysfunctions and Non-Apoptotic Cell Death for Study: The invention discloses a PC12 cell line stably expressing Human A53Talpha-synuclein, and methods of using the same. The cells of the cell line are characterized by proteasomal dysfunction, dopaminergic dysfunction, lysosomal dysfunction, and increased non-apoptotic cell death. A method for generating a dopaminergic cell line involves introducing an expression vect...

Regulating Differentiation of Neural Cells, Tumor Cells, Stem Cells

1416 — “Name of the inventor: Lloyd Greene Neuronal Cell Differentiation for Nervous Tissue Degeneration Treatment A method for promoting differentiation of a neural stem cell or a neural progenitor cell in vivo or in vitro into a differentiated neural cell is performed by inhibiting activating transcription factor 5 (ATF5) in the cell. The differentiated neural cells may be transplanted into a subject to treat the nervous tissue degeneration. The method will promote a replenishable sourc...

Neurological Disorder Treatment with Cell-Surface Estrogen Receptor Binding 17 Alpha Estradiol

1230 — “Name of the inventor: C Dominique Toran-Allerand Mammalian Cell-Surface Estrogen Receptor for Neurological Disorder Treatments The method provides an isolated mammalian cell-surface estrogen receptor with specific characteristics and related methods for assaying compounds and treating disorders. 17.alpha.-estradiol for Determining if Agent Binds to Estrogen Receptor A method for determining whether an agent specifically binds to the estrogen receptor involves contacting it with the agent an...

Simultaneous Multi-Region Non-Linear Microscopy Using Spectral Encoding

2884 — Non-linear microscopy is a powerful tool for in-vivo imaging of structural and functional characteristics of materials including biological tissues by measuring the distribution of fluorescent molecules, or structures exhibiting second or third harmonic generation (SHG/THG). In non-linear microscopy, a laser is focused to excite fluorophores or SHG at specific 3D locations in the tissue sample. By systematically moving the focus point around the sample, 2D or 3D images of fluorescence or...