The invention concerns novel capsid-free AAV vectors that can be used for gene delivery and gene therapy applications. The invention provides for a linear nucleic acid molecule comprising in this order: a first adeno-associated virus (AAV) inverted terminal repeat (ITR), a nucleotide sequence of interest, and a second AAV ITR, wherein said nucleic acid molecule is devoid of AAV capsid protein coding sequences. The said nucleic acid molecule can be applied to a host at repetition without eliciting an immune response.

The invention pertains to methods of increasing the density of carboxylic acids on the surface of a carbon nanoparticle that can be functionalized with biologically relevant molecules, such as antibodies or peptides, for biomedical applications. Advantageously, the method could increase functionalization of a nanoparticle by at least about 1x107 functional groups/g of nanoparticle.

Influenza virus is a major public health concern, causing up to 500,000 deaths annually. The current strategy of reformulating vaccines annually against dominant circulating strains leads to variable protective efficacy and is unlikely to protect against novel influenza viruses with pandemic potential. Thus, there is a great need for a vaccine that provides “universal” protection against influenza viruses.

One of four deaths in the United States is due to cancer despite an emphasis on prevention, early detection, and treatment that has lowered cancer death rates by 20% in the past two decades. Further improvements in survival rates are likely to come from improving the limits of detection sensitivity at earlier stages of cancer. New approaches that rely heavily on genomic information, however, may change future testing strategies.

Due to the disorganized nature of blood vessels that run through tumors, chemotherapeutic agents often fail to penetrate tumors and kill cancer cells at the tumor’s center. This can lead to ineffective chemotherapeutic treatments, because tumors can quickly grow back if the entire tumor is not destroyed. NIH researchers have developed a therapeutic agent that solves this problem facing current chemotherapy treatments.

Anti-neoplastic drugs, also known as anti-cancer drugs or chemotherapy, are used in the treatment of many types of cancer. However, these drugs are harmful to healthy cells as well as the cancerous cells. Exposure of healthcare workers to anti-neoplastic drugs from contaminated surfaces and drug vials in hospitals and pharmacies is a continuing problem as the drugs can cause both acute and long-term effects. Although there are sensitive techniques to evaluate contamination, results from these tests take time and must be performed in a laboratory.

The invention relates to compounds that inhibit HIV-1 DNA synthesis mediated by reverse transcriptase (RT). HIV-1 DNA synthesis by RT utilizes deoxynucleoside 5’-triphosphate (dNTP) as substrate and like many other enzymes, the reaction is reversible. Pyrophosphate analogs like imidodiphosphate strongly promote reverse reaction dNTP products containing the imidodiphosphate group instead of the naturally occurring pyrophosphate group. This imidodiphosphate-containing dNTP was found to be a potent inhibitor of the forward RT reaction.

The invention is an imaging agent and method of use for imaging blood pools and the lymphatic system. The imaging agent binds with high affinity to serum albumin, the most abundant serum protein, and can be tagged with several isotopes making it suitable for magnetic resonance imaging or positron emission tomographic imaging. To date, only very few blood-pool tracers have been introduced for positron emission tomography. The existing ones have short half-lives (20.4 min for ¹¹C and 2.05 min for ¹⁵O) and thus can only be used in centers with an in-house cyclotron.

The invention relates to recombinant chimeric rabbit/human monoclonal antibody fragments (Fabs) against hepatitis B Virus e-antigen (HBeAg), notably Fab me6. Viral hepatitis is the seventh leading cause of death worldwide. Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) forms an icosahedral structure containing the viral genome. Both the HBcAg and the HBeAg of interest here are expressed by two different start codons of the viral C gene. Unlike the related HBcAg which activates type 1 T helper (Th1) cells leading to immune attack, the HBeAg activates Th2 cells which promote immune tolerance.

Inhibiting the ability of HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS, to infect cells is one approach to both prevention and treatment of HIV. Scientists at the NIAID Vaccine Research Center have isolated and characterized neutralizing antibodies (VRC01, 02, 03, and 07) that bind to the CD4 binding site of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120. These human monoclonal antibodies can potentially be used as a therapeutic to: (1) treat an HIV infection, (2) decrease and prevent HIV-transmission from mother to infant, and (3) be effectively combined with anti-retroviral drug therapy.