Inventor Recognition Program
The UC Santa Cruz Office of Research has created the Inventor Recognition Program (IRP) to acknowledge researchers on a quarterly basis for their U.S. patent awards and to showcase the groundbreaking research that is conducted on the UCSC campus every day. Launched in December 2016, the IRP is meant to recognize the hard work of UCSC faculty, students, and staff and to help them realize the value of their inventions by commercializing their inventions and discoveries.
April to June 2019 IRP Award Winners
NON-ENZYMATIC SALT MEDIATED SYNTHESIS OF POLYNUCLEIC ACIDS
Patent Numbers: US 10,280,191
David Deamer, Research Professor - Biomolecular Engineering
This invention resulted from a collaboration with investigators at Université Pierre et Marie Curie. The invention comprises a cell-, protein-, and lipid-free method for preparing an RNA polymer from its component mononucleotides. The method involves repeated drying and resolubilizing a solution containing mononucleotides (rAMP, rCMP, rGMP, rUMP) and other components. An RNA polymer of a desired length and sequence can be made by the addition of a template polynucleotide (such as a DNA oligonucleotide.) This method promises rapid, inexpensive, large scale synthesis of RNA molecules for research or therapeutic use, such as siRNA and miRNA.
4-((2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)amino)benzenesulfonamide DERIVATIVES AS POTENT AND SELECTIVE INHIBITORS OF 12-LIPOXYGENASE
Patent Numbers: US 10,266,488
Ted Holman, Professor - Chemistry & Biochemistry
This invention resulted from a collaboration with investigators at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Thomas Jefferson University, and the National Institutes of Health. The invention involves potential drug compounds that inhibit lipoxygenases – enzymes that transform fatty acids into cell signaling agents. The compounds described in this patent inhibit a particular lipoxygenase known as arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase, or 12-LOX. 12-LOX activity is implicated in a wide range of conditions including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, transplanted organ rejection, and Alzheimer’s disease. The compounds potently and selectively inhibit 12-LOX, excluding the other lipoxygenases. These compounds are in development.
INHIBITORS OF HUMAN 12/15-LIPOXYGENASE
Patent Numbers: US 10,287,279
Current UCSC Inventor:
Ted Holman, Professor - Chemistry & Biochemistry
This invention resulted from a collaboration with investigators at Boston Children’s Hospital and the National Institutes of Health. The invention involves potential drug compounds that inhibit a lipoxygenase known as human reticulocyte 15-lipoxygenase-1 or 12/15-LOX. Similar to 12-LOX, 12/15-LOX is implicated in a wide range of conditions such as stroke, atherogenesis, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease, among others. Also similar to the above patent, these compounds potently and specifically inhibit 12/15-LOX excluding the other lipoxygenases.
FLOURESCENCE METHOD FOR SENSING CHLORINATED DISACCHARICES
Patent Numbers: US 10,274,483
Current UCSC Inventor: Bakthan Singaram, Professor - Chemistry & Biochemistry
This invention describes a method of measuring sucralose (the main ingredient in Splenda®) in a biological fluid, such as a urine sample. According to the method, the sample is treated with a reagent that removes chlorine atoms from the sucralose molecule and then the sample is combined with a solution that includes a boronic acid derivative and a fluorescent molecule such as 4,4’-N,N’-bis-(benzyl-2-boronic acid)-dipyridinium dibromide (also known as oBBV). Sucralose, if present, will result in the emission of fluorescent light in an intensity that depends on the concentration of sucralose. Sucralose has long been used to measure colon permeability by feeding sucralose to a patient and identifying sucralose in the urine, but measurement of sucralose has historically been performed using expensive equipment such as mass spectrometers. This assay provides a rapid and low cost measurement of sucralose.
CATALYTIC STRANDS OF MINIMAL HAMMERHEAD RIBOZYMES AND METHODS FOR USING THE SAME
Patent Numbers: US 10,301,626
Most enzymes that catalyze chemical reactions are proteins. Ribozymes are ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules that catalyze chemical reactions. A hammerhead ribozyme is a particular type of ribozyme that can cut another RNA molecule at a specific place. The invention described in this patent is an engineered hammerhead ribozyme that includes the minimal number of components of the hammerhead ribozyme required for the ribozyme to still function as a fully active catalyst. The ribozyme can be synthesized to cleave a selected target strand, such as a critical site in the HIV genome. As a result, this hammerhead ribozyme could be used in an HIV treatment.
METHODS OF PRODUCING NUCLEIC ACID LIBRARIES AND COMPOSITIONS AND KITS FOR PRACTICING SAME
Patent Numbers: US 10,280,449
Current UCSC Inventor:
This invention involves a method of creating nucleic acid libraries for high throughput sequencing of nucleic acids too long to be sequenced by some sequencing techniques (e.g. the Illumina® sequencer). The method (called TMIseq) involves tagging sequences of interest with primers that both facilitate high throughput sequencing and that also identify individual nucleic acid molecules. The tagging is followed by treating the tagged sequences with an enzyme known as a Tn5 transposase. The Tn5 transposase is associated with either a forward or reverse sequencing primer and fragments the sequence of interest into a more readily sequenced length and inserts the sequencing primer onto the end of the fragment. Fragments with both a forward and reverse sequencing primer can be sequenced. This invention can be used for any of a number of sequences of interest and the patent describes the sequencing of a human antibody heavy chain repertoire using the method.
Honorary Mentions
Patent(s) Issued as Continuation of Patent Previously Recognized
BAMBAM: PARALLEL COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS OF HIGH THROUGHPUT SEQUENCING DATA
Patent Numbers: US 10,249,384, US 10,268,800
Current UCSC Inventor:David Haussler, Distinguished Professor - Biomolecular Engineering
Inventor Previously at UCSC: John Sanborn
ROBUST SINGLE PHASE DC/AC INVERTER FOR HIGHLY VARYING DC VOLTAGES
Patent Numbers: US 10,263,541
Current UCSC Inventor:
Ricardo San Felice Professor - ECE
Inventor Previously at UCSC: Jun Chai
See all IRP award winners
The IRP is managed by Jeff Jackson, Director of Intellectual Property Management in the office of Industry Alliances and Technology Commercialization (IATC).
For more information about the IRP, the honorees, their patents, other campus inventions and discoveries, or IP portfolio management services, please contact the IATC.
Would you like to be an IRP award winner?
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Industry Alliances & Technology Commercialization
Kerr Hall — Room 413
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Tel: 831.459.5415
innovation@ucsc.edu
