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Although multidimensional diffusion/relaxation NMR experiments are widely used in materials sciences and engineering applications, preclinical and clinical MRI applications of these techniques were not feasible. Moreover, higher-field MRI scanners posed another obstacle to translation of this NMR method. Their specific absorption rate (SAR) limits the use of multi-echo or CPMG pulse trains, so that the large amounts of data required by these methods cannot be collected in vivo due to exceedingly long scan times.

Measuring and mapping nervous tissue microstructure noninvasively is a long sought-after goal in neuroscience. Clinically, several neuropathologies such as cancer and stroke, are associated with changes in tissue microstructure. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which models diffusion anisotropy, is an ideal imaging modality to elucidate these changes. However, DTI provides a mean diffusion tensor averaged over the entire MRI voxel. This has limitations when applied to heterogeneous neural tissue.

Immunotherapy is a cutting-edge new category of treatment that aims to harness and, in some cases, modify the patient’s own immune cells to improve their ability to cure diseases. It can be an effective approach for a variety of conditions, ranging from cancer to inflammatory diseases.  However, a number of obstacles to the overall success of immunotherapy still exist.  For example, reactivity against a target antigen can be attenuated or the lifespan of the “modified” immune cells can be too short.

Tumor invasion and metastasis are the primary drivers of cancer-related mortality. Therapies that have an ability to specifically target invasive and/or metastatic cells are anticipated to have a significant impact in the clinical management of advanced cancers.

Bioluminescence imaging with luciferin-luciferase pairs is a well-established technique for tracking cells and other biological features in animal models. Bioluminescent is a chemical process which does not require an external input for excitation. Bioluminescent imaging is often limited to monitoring single processes in vivo due to the lack of distinguishable probes. Additionally, existing probes typically operate with light in the visible range, which is highly scattered and exhibits poor tissue penetration. 

Up to 10% of the US population suffers from food allergies, with more than 40% of those experiencing life-threatening anaphylaxis. Peanut is one of the most common food allergens that give rise to persistent IgE-mediated food allergy. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is used to reduce sensitivity to an allergen through repeated, small-dose exposure to the allergen. However, only a subset of patients develop a sustained response to the allergen and OIT carries notable side effects. 

Summary: 

The National Cancer Institute seeks research co-development partners and/or licensees for a standardized method of detecting T-cell receptor (TCR) cross-reactivity as a means of proving safety and efficacy in preclinical evaluations ahead of clinical trials. 

Description of Technology: 

Spatial proteomics and transcriptomics are fast-emerging fields with the potential to revolutionize various branches of biology. In the last five years, various multiplex immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry imaging methods have been developed to stain 5-60 different protein markers in a given tissue. Nonetheless, most of these techniques are iterative and can image a maximum of 3-8 markers in a single cycle, resulting in processing time of several hours to days.

There are five known Ebolavirus species: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus or SUDV); Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus, formerly Cote d'Ivoire ebolavirus); Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus); and Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus). Last year an ebolavirus outbreak resulted in 164 cases and 55 deaths. While there is an FDA-approved Ebola virus vaccine authorized for use against Ebola virus infections, ERVEBO, this vaccine is not effective against SUDV due to the significant variation between Ebola virus and SUDV.

Disorders of adult beta-globin synthesis, which include sickle cell disease (SCD) and beta-thalassemia, are the most common monogenic disorders in the world. While the curative potential of bone marrow transplantation has been demonstrated, this approach is limited to a small fraction of affected patients due to the requirement for an HLA-matched donor, the highly specialized approach that requires critical infrastructure, and the high cost.