Retinal degeneration is a deteriorative condition of the human retina caused by the progressive and eventual death of photoreceptor cells. To date, no effective treatment for genetically inherited or age-associated retinal degeneration, which includes a large patient population worldwide, is available.
Medical clamps currently available are not efficient nor are they sufficiently precise in closure and alignment of the edges of an incision or wound. Many available designs are difficult to use and handle, especially in situations where repeated opening and closure of an incision or wound is required. The functional short-comings of existing clamp designs may result in surgical complications, such as excess loss of fluids and pressure and hemostasis during some procedures.
Griffithsin is a potent anti-viral protein with activity against HIV, HCV, Sars, HSV 1 & 2 and other viruses. It is active against HIV and HCV at picomolar concentrations. Griffithsin is moving into clinical trials as an anti-HIV microbicide. Based on the structure of griffithsin and the necessities of pharmaceutical product development and regulatory approval, certain mutations in the sequence of griffithsin have been generated which could add to the stability and solubility of the protein.
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that typically affects the lungs. Current therapies include a panel of antibiotics given over a range of 6-9 months. As a result of the expense of treatment, the extended timeframe needed for effective treatment, and the scarcity of medicines in some developing countries, patient compliance with TB treatment is very low and results in multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). There remains a need for a faster, more effective treatment for TB.
Dopamine is a major neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and among other functions is directly related to the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse. Dopamine signaling is mediated by D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5 receptors. The dopamine D3 receptor is a known target to treat a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, including substance use disorders (e.g. cocaine and opioid), schizophrenia and depression.
Integrase strand transfer inhibitors (“INSTIs”) are currently in use as a component of prophylactic antiretroviral therapy for preventing HIV-1 infection from progressing to AIDS. Three INSTIs are approved by the FDA for inclusion in antiretroviral regiments: raltegravir (RAL), elvitegravir (EVG) and dolutegravir (DTG). Clinicians have already identified several HIV-1 integrase mutations that confer resistance to RAL and EVG, and additional mutations that confer resistance to all three INSTIs has been identified in the laboratory.
Tissues samples collected during medical procedures, such as biopsies, are used to diagnose a wide variety of diseases. Before diagnosis, patient samples are typically processed by fixation and paraffin embedding. This fixation/embedding process is used to preserve tissue morphology and histology for subsequent evaluation. Unfortunately, most fixative agents can damage or destroy nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) and damage proteins during the fixation process, thereby potentially impairing diagnostic assessment of tissue.
B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is a cancer characterized by a progressive accumulation of functionally incompetent lymphocytes. Despite high morbidity and mortality, the only available potential cure is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCST). However, there is less than a 50% chance of finding a matching bone marrow or blood donor for B-CLL patients. Other clinically tested targeted therapies such as rituximab and alemtuzumab target both malignant and normal B cells, resulting in immunosuppression.
Molecular profiling with high throughput assays has gained utility in the management of select cancer patients and several gene expression-based assays are now marketed for improved prognostic accuracy for patients with cancer.
The development of an effective HIV vaccine has been an ongoing area of research. The high variability in HIV-1 virus strains has represented a major challenge in successful development. Ideally, an effective candidate vaccine would provide protection against the majority of clades of HIV. Two major hurdles to overcome are immunodominance and sequence diversity. This vaccine utilizes a strategy for overcoming these two issues by identifying the conserved regions of the virus and exploiting them for use in a targeted therapy.