Improved Antibodies Against ERBB4/HER4

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Section on Molecular Neurobiology is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further evaluate or commercialize specific rabbit monoclonal antibodies generated against the ErbB4 receptor (also known as HER4) that have been validated for specificity using tissue sections and extracts from ErbB4 knockout mice.

Lentiviral Vectors with Dual Fluorescence/Luminescence Reporters

The National Cancer Institute’s Protein Expression Laboratory seeks parties to co-develop dual luminescent/fluorescent cancer biomarkers.

In research settings, visualization of  tumors or tumor cells is often done using either bioluminescence or fluorescence.  However, both of these methods have shortcomings: bioluminescence is not sensitive enough to sort individual tumor cells, and fluorescence cannot be used effectively to view internal tumors and is best used with surface tumors.

Use of the Ketamine Metabolite (R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine in Depression

This technology includes the identification and use of a ketamine metabolite, (2R,6R)-2-amino-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-6-hydroxycyclohexanone (HNK), for the treatment of depression. Ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist that exerts a rapid and sustained antidepressant and anti-suicidal effect. However, even low doses of ketamine has addictive and psychomimetic effects. The downstream metabolite, (2R,6R)-HNK, does not inhibit the NMDA receptor but recapitulates the antidepressant and anti-suicidal effect of ketamine.

Monoclonal Antibodies That Bind to the Underside of Influenza Viral Neuraminidase

Current influenza vaccines mainly induce antibodies against the surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) that block viral attachment to its host receptors and viral membrane fusion to the host cell. The immunodominant head region of HA undergoes antigenic drift and antibodies directed to the head confer little cross-protections between strains or subtypes.

Programmable and Modular Nucleic Acid Nanoassemblies-based (NAN) Platforms to Regulate Mechanosensitive Activation of T-cells

This technology includes mechanobiological nucleic acid nanoassemblies-based platforms with dynamically controlled efficiency of T-cell activation. T-cells are the central players in adaptive immune response led by a T-cell receptor (TCR) centric machinery. Current T-cell activation strategy (e.g., micron-scale beads) focuses on 2D TCR-agonist biomimetic surfaces and biomimetic 2D immune synapses with planar traction, which requires non-physiological hyper-stimulatory cytokines levels (e.g., IL-2), and thus, is incompatible with clinical applications.

Removal of Selected Proteins Using Light Energy: Photoimmunotherapy

Researchers at the NCI  Laboratory of Molecular Theranostics and the Molecular Imaging Program have developed a new method to modify, isolate and remove a single chemically-labeled molecule or a cluster of proteins associated with the chemically-labeled protein. The chemical label can be an antigen-antibody complex. This discovery is based on the mechanism of photo-immunotherapy (PIT).

89Zr-Oxine Complex for In Vivo PET Imaging of Labelled Cells and Associated Methods

This technology from the NCI Molecular Imaging Program relates to a Zirconium-89 (89Zr)-oxine complex for cell labeling, tracking of labeled cells by whole-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging, and associated methods. A long half-life of 89Zr (78.4 hours), high sensitivity of PET, and absence of background signal in the recipient enable tracking cells over a week using low levels of labeling radioactivity without causing cellular toxicity.