Inflammation is an important response for resisting infection and repairing damage. Under circumstances such as cancer or infectious diseases, stimulation of the inflammatory response is therapeutic. It is unclear why the existing adjuvant therapies tend to be more effective in the treatment of some disease, such as breast and colon cancer, than others. This invention identifies additional ways to stimulate the immune response and induce inflammation in order to accelerate repair of disease-related tissue injury. (more...)

The University of California-San Diego (UCSD) has recently received an exceptional donation for an Anti-Adherent Wound Dressing. This donation includes: three patents related to the dressing; a complete business plan for the production and sales in China; and a near complete program for development in the United States. This anti-adherent wound dressing has been in development since 1994. This product was developed for sale in both China and the United States. The Chinese business program is near complete and includes establishment of a company with both contract manufacturing and distribution. Small quantities of both raw material and sterile, packaged material are also available. In the United States, this product was also set up for established manufacturing capabilities and initial registration was begun with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). UCSD have also been provided with the data from numerous toxicology tests that were to be used for this FDA submission. This near complete product offers a novel, yet reasonably priced wound care product that could be marketed in the near future and also offers a product that could be further developed for advanced wound care management. (more...)

Decellularization of tissues has recently emerged as a major player in the field of regenerative medicine and offers the possibility of producing a scaffold that closely mimics the physical and chemical cues seen by cells in vivo. Materials produced in this manner often have positive angiogenic and chemoattractant properties. Despite the availability of several injectable materials, there has yet to be identified an engineered material that avoids immune complications and encourages new fat formation. And while many tissues share similar extracellular matrix (ECM) elements, each tissue has its own complex composition and concentration of chemical constituents, which are known to regulate numerous cell processes including attachment, survival, migration, proliferation, and differentiation. There continues to be a need for improved compositions for loose connective tissue repair, regeneration and cell culturing that will closely mimic the complexity of natural adipose extracellular matrix. (more...)

While inflammation is a beneficial component of the body’s response to harmful stimuli, prolonged or excessive inflammation can damage tissues and initiate a cascade of events that culminate in a wide variety of diseases. Anti-inflammatory drugs include steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) and immune selective anti-inflammatory derivatives. However, these agents have undesirable side effects and a need remains for novel anti-inflammatory agents that exert their effects through different modes of action. (more...)

UC San Diego researchers have discovered a potent peptide in skin with activity against viral infections. It is also a potent antimicrobial protein with activity against bacteria such as Staph. aureus that are resistant to conventional antibiotics. The antiviral and antimicrobial peptides are naturally occurring in epithelial surfaces such as the skin, lung, and gut, and exhibit several immune defense functions. The natural peptide antiviral has potential applications in limiting viral proliferation and augmenting the host immune response. Animal models deficient in this natural antiviral peptide show increased susceptibility to viral skin diseases and are prone to atopic dermatitis. The antimicrobial peptide exhibits an ability to inhibit destructive enzymes that may prevent proper wound healing. The invention also includes an enhancing factor that can stimulate the activity of the peptides. (more...)

UCSD researchers have discovered a potent antimicrobial protein with activity against bacteria, such as Staph. aureus, that are resistant to conventional antibiotics. The protein is naturally occurring in epithelial surfaces such as the skin, lung, and gut, and exhibits several immune defense functions including an ability to inhibit destructive enzymes that may prevent proper wound healing. The natural protein antibiotic has potential applications in treating sepsis, osteomyelitis, acne, wounds, and systemic or local infections. (more...)

Although algorithms and chemistries for developing new therapeutic entities are constantly evolving, none can replicate the path and novelty of natural selection over eons of time. Inventors at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have engaged their fleet of research ships to cull the oceans for marine organisms from which new compositions are isolated.  Using a variety of culture systems, selective fractionation and bioassays, two, distinct classes of compounds, isolated from actinomycetes, have demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity and considerable selectivity toward some cancers. One class of compounds, the ammosamides, are unique molecules that target a previously untargeted intracellular pathway. It is anticipated that proprietary methods and naturally evolved compositions may yield therapeutics that are significantly differentiated from those developed by limited iteration of pre-defined platforms. (more...)

Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) bacteria is involved in many human polymicrobial diseases. It is the causative agent in acne vulgaris, a human polymicrobial disease. Acne vulgaris is the most common skin disease, affecting more than 85 percent of people at some time during their lives and currently affects more than fifty million people in the U.S. Current antibiotic therapy for acne lesions provides a non-specific treatment that kills the majority of skin bacteria and impacts the homeostasis of skin- and intestinal-resident flora. Acne vulgaris can result in severe inflammatory lesions that are highly associated with P. acnes infection. There are no appropriate therapeutic modalities that are long-lasting and systemically effective and that specifically suppress P. acnes-induced pathogenesis and inflammation. In addition, these bacteria have the ability to trigger inflammatory responses. Many antibiotics have been used for acne treatment, but these antibiotics in general are non-specific, short lasting, and normally are applied when acne lesions have already occurred (such as in late stages of acne). Available topical treatments for acne lesions, including drugs, are palliative and effective only while treatment is maintained. When treatment is discontinued, increased acne gain inevitably results. (more...)