Main Menu

This technology involves an innovative method for differentiating neural stem cells (NSCs) into neurons, primarily for use in basic science research and in developing therapies for brain and spinal cord disorders. Existing methods for generating neurons from NSCs typically result in high efficiency but low survival rates, especially when neurons are dissociated and regrown. This new method utilizes Life Technologies StemPro embryonic stem cell serum-free medium, which significantly enhances differentiation efficiency into neurons with minimal cell death.

This technology includes a neural stem cell (NSC) line derived from a Niemann Pick C (NPC) patient, aimed at advancing research and drug development for NPC, an inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of cholesterol in neurons. The NSCs, which serve as a crucial intermediate cell type, can be differentiated into any neuronal or glial cell of the brain or spinal cord under appropriate culture conditions. These cells originate from fibroblasts reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells.

This technology includes a novel plasmid design for cell immortalization. It uniquely combines the conditional activation of human telomerase and c-myc genes through cumate addition, a method distinct from traditional immortalization techniques which commonly use SV40 T-antigen, telomerase, or c-myc. This plasmid also includes a GFP reporter and a puromycin resistance gene, enhancing the efficiency of the immortalization process.

This technology includes a microscopy method that reduces the speed penalty at least 1000-fold, while retaining resolution improvement. A Digital mirror device (DMD) or sweptfield confocal unit is used to create hundreds to thousands of excitation foci that are imaged to a sample mounted in a conventional microscope and record the resulting emissions on an array detector. Detection of each confocal spot is done in our proprietary software, as is the processing and deconvolution that is used for a 2x resolution enhancement.

This technology includes a microscopy technique that combines the strengths of multiview imaging (better resolution isotropy, better depth penetration) with resolution-improving structured illumination microscopy (SIM). The proposed microscope uses a sharp line-focused illumination structure to excite and confocally detect sample fluorescence from 3 complementary views.

This technology includes an illuminator and reflector that enables flexible standing wave illumination on an inverted microscope stand, and procedures for using such illumination to improve axial resolution in confocal or instant SIM imaging systems. The axial resolution in conventional fluorescence microscopy is typically limited by diffraction to ~700 nm. This method that improves axial resolution ~7-fold over the diffraction limit, and that can be applied to any fluorescence microscope.

This technology includes algorithms and software that improve the speed of iterative deconvolution, a common method for improving spatial resolution and contrast in fluorescence microscopy images. These algorithms also improve the registration of multiview datasets, and apply deep learning to accelerate spatially varying deconvolution.

This technology includes a number of dimeric RGD peptides which been developed and labeled with various PET isotopes (1BF, 68Ga, and 64Cu) for imaging integrin expression in cancer, inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, myocardial infarct, stroke and traumatic injury. A number of these peptides have been translated into clinic for diagnosis and therapy response monitoring.

This technology includes a mouse model of TRIOBP human deafness which can be used for research and treatment development for deafness. This model contains mutations altering the TRIOP-5 isoform.

This technology includes a mouse model containing a hypothetical, previously undescribed, gene that we have proven is expressed in hair cells of the inner ear and few other tissues in the body. The hair-cell limited expression of Cre is a genetic tool for creating conditional mutations affecting hair cells almost exclusively. Hair cells are the sensory receptors of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in the ears of all vertebrates.