UNM Rainforest Innovations

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued fourteen U.S. patents and registered one trademark during July, August, and September for technologies invented at the University of New Mexico. The patents issued during STC.UNM’s 2019 fiscal 1st quarter are for a variety of technologies created by researchers in the Departments of  Pharmaceutical Sciences, Computer Science, Radiology, Chemical & Biological Engineering, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Pathology, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Centers for Molecular Discovery, Biomedical Engineering, and High Technology Materials.

Issued Patent for “Frankiamicin A Compositions and Methods” 
Patent No. 10,010,558, issued July 3, 2018
Inventors:  Charles Melancon, Pamela Hall, Snezna Rogelj, Jacob Greenberg, Yasushi Ogasawara

This technology is a discovered compound Frankiamicin A from a natural source that possesses bioactivity.  Frankiamicin A has been shown to cause dose-dependent downregulation of PSM alpha and HLA, which are involved in quorum sensing.  This compound has the potential to have a variety of bioactivities for the treatment of infections, such as, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis; inhibition of estrone sulfatase; HIV-1 integrase; RNase H; glutathione S-transferase; calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterase; alpha-glucosidase; yeast glutathione reductase; vasodilatory activity; antitumor activity; and cytotoxicity.

Issued Patent for “Single Arc Dose Painting for Precision Radiation Therapy”
Patent No. RE46,953, issued July 17, 2018
This technology is currently optioned/licensed.
Inventors:  Shuang (Sean) Luan, Xinsheng Cedric Yu, Chao Wang, Danny Z. Chen, Matthew Earl

This technology is a method for designing a radiation treatment for a subject using single arc dose painting and a method for irradiating a tumor in a subject, which delivers a continuous dose of radiation to the tumor through sets 15 of multiple leaf collimation (MLC) aperture sequences during a single rotation along one or more treatment single arc paths.

Issued Patent for “Porous Nanoparticle-Supported Lipid Bilayers (Protocells) for Targeted Delivery and Methods of Using Same”
Patent No. 10,022,327, issued July 17, 2018
Inventors:  C. Jeffrey Brinker, Carlee Erin Ashley, Eric C. Carnes, Cheryl L. Willman

This technology is a new form of a bi-layer vessel, wherein this peptide-targeted porous nanoparticle protocell provides targeted delivery of drugs without damaging the non-cancerous surrounding cells/tissues. Composed of a core containing supercoiled plasmid DNA with a nuclear localization sequence for the cancer cells and a bilayer which can be easily modified to meet certain conditions, the invention improves upon the more widely practiced and simpler liposomal means of delivery.

Registered Trademark for “System and Methods for Detecting Bots Real Time”
Trademark No. 88,044,424 registered July 19, 2018
Inventors:  Abdullah Mueen, Nikan Chavoshi

This is a trademark/service mark for DEBOT® for computer software for detecting autonomous computer programs.

Issued Patent for “Detection of Bioagents Using a Shear Horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave Biosensor”
Patent No. 10,031,135, issued July 24, 2018
This technology is currently optioned/licensed.
Inventors:  Marco Bisoffi, David C. Brown, Pamela Hall, Richard S. Larson, Brian L. Hjelle, Darren Branch, Susan Brozik, Thayne Edwards, David Wheeler

This technology is a group of biological ligands that bind specific toxins as well as microbes, both bacterial and viral. These ligands, combined with signal transducing materials and surface chemistry, produce a highly selective ligand-based biosensor. The ligands are tethered to a surface that allows transduction of a signal and the ability to recognize specific pathogens or toxins from a mixture of targets in real time without sample preparation. Broad-range applications include front-line military use, bioterrorism, medical diagnostic and public health.

Issued Patent for “Active Support for Cathode Catalysts”
Patent No. 10,038,196, issued July 31, 2018
This technology is currently optioned/licensed.
Inventors:  Alexey Serov, Plamen B. Atanassov

This technology is a new type of active support for ORR catalysts where the support itself is active for oxygen reduction and, when used in combination with other ORR catalysts (platinum, palladium, ruthenium, base metal-chalcogenides, and non-PGM), can promote catalytic activity towards oxygen reduction.  The active support can be synthesized from compounds containing nitrogen-carbon as a source of carbon and nitrogen, and metal-soluble salts as a source of metal, where the preparation method is based on use of sacrificial supports (silicas, aluminas, zeolites, etc). The active support’s morphological, structural and electronic properties are tuned to achieve a high-surface area, a level of high graphitization-controllable pores sizes, and hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties.

Issued Patent for “Method for Cancer Cell Reprogramming”
Patent No. 10,039,771, issued August 7, 2018
Inventors:  Alexandre Chigaev, Dominique Perez, Larry A. Sklar

This technology is a novel assay for the detection, characterization, and removal of cellular regulators as a diagnostic tool for hematological cancers that will respond to treatment by a repurposed therapeutic.  This technology reprograms cancer cells to reverse their loss of apoptosis. The technique that can be applied to the treatment of malignancies on a patient-by-patient basis by testing individual patient blood samples.

Issued Patent for “Compounds with Reduced Ring Size for Use in Diagnosing and Treating Melanoma, Including Metastatic Melanoma and Methods Related to Same”
Patent No. 10,047,135, issued August 14, 2018
This technology is currently optioned/licensed
Inventor:  Yubin Miao

This technology is a novel class of radiolabeled lactam bridge-cyclized α-MSH peptides for melanoma detection. The α-MSH peptide has enhanced tumor uptake and decreased renal uptake. These capabilities make this novel peptide an effective radiopharmaceutical for melanoma imaging and therapy.

Issued Patent for “High-Affinity Small-Molecule Formaylpeptide Receptor Ligands from Screening of Combinatorial Mixture-based Libraries”
Patent No. 10,048,272, issued August 14, 2018
Inventors:  Bruce S. Edwards, Larry A. Sklar, Clemencia Pinilla, Richard Houghten, Jon R. Appel, Marc A. Giulianotti, Jose Medina-Franco

This technology is a series of novel, high-affinity (nanomolar) formylpeptide receptor ligands.  These newly identified compounds are structurally different from FPR ligands described in current literature and explore novel areas of chemical space.  The inventors identified both potent agonist and antagonist interactions for FPR1 and FPR2 in the compounds.  The ligands are drug candidates for use to optimize initial compounds for binding affinity and selectivity.

Issued Patent for “System and Methods for Analyzing Stability Using Metal Resistance Variations”
Patent No. 10,048,939, issued August 14, 2018
This technology is currently optioned/licensed
Inventor:  James Plusquellic

This technology is a process for the analysis of the statistical quality of bit-strings produced by a Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) that leverages resistance variations in the power grid wires of an integrated circuit (IC). The power grid is an existing and distributed resource in every design of an IC; the space required by a power grid-derived PUF is limited to the area available for the added challenge/response circuitry. Moreover, the distributed nature of the power grid makes it more prone to larger random and systematic process variation effects. The technology evaluates the randomness, uniqueness and stability characteristics of a PUF based on metal wire resistance variations.

Issued Patent for “System and Methods for Computing Forward and Inverse Discrete Periodic Radon Transform”
Patent No. 10,049,469, issued August 14, 2018
Inventors:  Cesar Carranza, Marios S. Pattichis, Daniel Llamocca Obregon

This technology is a scalable hardware architecture and associated algorithm for faster computing of the Discrete Periodic Radon Transform (DPRT) for prime-sized images. The inventors have come up with a parameterizable approach that can be implemented with limited hardware resources while allowing for the maximum possible execution speed, as measured in the required number of clock cycles. The system is currently under development for computing 2D convolutions.

Issued Patent for “Highly Efficient Enzymatic Bioanodes and Biocathodes”
Patent No. 10,050,296, issued August 14, 2018
Inventors:  Sofiya “Sofia” Malinova Babanova, Plamen B. Atanassov

This technology is a biofuel cell that uses enzyme-substrate interactions as a base for efficient enzyme orientation towards electrodes composed of hierarchically structured carbonaceous materials. The placement of the enzyme with its active center facing the electrode surface allows for fast and efficient electron transfer between the electrode and the enzyme, producing a biofuel cell with high electrochemical oxygen reduction, high current output, and high stability that is inexpensive to manufacture.

Issued Patent for “Antimicrobial Materials and Methods”
Patent No. 10,058,099, issued August 28, 2018
This technology is currently optioned/licensed
Inventors:  Eunkyung Ji, David G. Whitten, Dimitri Dascier, Thomas S. Corbitt, Anand Parthasarathy, Kirsten N. Cicotte, Elizabeth L. Dirk, Xuzhi Zhu, Kirk S. Schanze

This technology methods and materials for decontamination of surfaces and fabrics, such as non-woven fabrics, that are contaminated with infestations of microorganisms such as bacteria.  This technology can be applied as antimicrobial coatings that can function catalytically and can be used in a variety of environments. Cationic conjugated polyelecrolytes (CPEs) can be used to entrap bacteria in a dark process and subsequently kill the entrapped bacteria. Novel photoactive polyelectrolyte capsules function in a manner reminiscent of the insect entrapping devices called “Roach Motels” with respect to their ability to attract, concentrate, and kill bacteria trapped within and on the surface of the capsules.

Issued Patent for “Fabrication of Enclosed Nanochannels Using Silica Nanoparticles”
Patent No. 10,060,904, issued August 28, 2018
This technology is currently optioned/licensed.
Inventors:  Steven R. J. Brueck, Yuliya Kuznetsova, Alexander Neumann

This technology uses interferometric lithography (IL) to make large areas of periodic photoresist (PR) structures on a Si wafer for use as templates for patterning spin-coated silica nanoparticles. Following particle deposition, the PR was removed by heating or by chemical treatment, leaving ordered silica particle arrays on flat substrate. Spin coating is simple, convenient, faster and more uniform than immersion methods for patterning colloid particles.  Applications for this technology include photonic crystals, chemical sensors, catalysts, nanofluidics and biotechnology.

Issued Patent for “Method and Apparatus for Fabrication of Large Area 3D Photonic Crystals with Embedded Waveguides”
Patent No. 10,061,194, issued August 28, 2018
Inventors:  Steven R. J. Bueck, Alexander K. Raub

This technology is a multi-exposure, two-beam interferometric lithography technique for fabricating three-dimensional photonic crystals (PhC).    This allows for independent dimensional control of each axis of the crystal.  The invention significantly reduces constraints on size, shape, and having independent control over ear periodic pitch of the 3D PhCs.  These 3D PhCs can be integrated with a waveguide device creating several applications for reflective coatings, optical diodes, and high-speed data routing.

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