Professor Kevin Kou and colleagues from the University of California, Riverside and the City of Hope National Medical Center have developed a chemical synthetic strategy that allows for the efficient generation of a diverse library of oxyberberine derivatives. This technology is advantageous because the family of protoberberine molecules, the best known being berberine, is generally considered non-toxic. As such, protoberberine derivatives are likely to elicit a better safety profile compared to existing AMPK inhibitors that are highly toxic and be developed to treat a range of diseases.  Fig 1: Four of the UCR novel AMPK inhibitors resulting from the UCR synthesis strategy.

Dr. René Riedel and Stephen Lepore from the University of California, Riverside have developed an NMR tube/reactor that enables in-situ irradiation to photo-initiate reactions in an inert or controlled atmosphere. It allows for the data acquisition of air, moisture, and temperature-sensitive liquid samples by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy without needing to remove the sample from the spectrometer for irradiation. This technology is advantageous because it makes photochemical reactions and kinetic measurements of sensitive samples more reproducible, and it enables the previously impossible maintenance of a controlled environment during photochemical NMR investigations.

 Professors Richard Schrock, Matthew Conley, and colleagues from the University of California, Riverside have developed a new Schrock catalysts for olefin metathesis that can be produced in fewer synthetic steps, activated with perfluorinated alcohols, and reactivated using light or heat. The method provides a more convenient route to a variety of Schrock catalysts that avoid corrosive triflic acid and reactive Grignard reagents to yield Schrock catalysts, which can then be converted readily into other catalyst variations. This technology is advantageous because it is a safer and less expensive way to synthesize and activate Schrock catalysts for industrial and research applications.  

Professor Xiaoping Hu’s lab at the University of California, Riverside has developed a novel method that allows creatine to bypass the BBB and directly reach the brain. The technology works by delivering creatine intranasally using microparticles. These creatine particles have shown to not exhibit cytotoxicity, are highly stable, and are not disruptive to cell barriers. This technology is advantageous over traditional creatine monohydrate and anhydrous creatine because the smaller particle size ensures even distribution and greater permeability across the BBB. 

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Professor Bahman Anvari and colleagues from the University of California, Riverside and the University of Maryland have developed nanoparticle systems with greater fluorescence emission when compared to known dyes. These nanoparticles incorporate dual near infrared fluorescence (NIR) and magnetic resonance (MR) dyes for improved fluorescence.  The nanoparticles encapsulate brominated carbocyanine dyes with MR qualities and ICG with NIR properties. This technology is advantageous because these nanoparticles containing these dyes exhibit greater fluorescence emission when compared to the individual dyes.  This presents a promising dual-mode platform with high optical sensitivity and clinical diagnostic and research applications.  

This technology provides methods for synthesizing a group of naturally occurring compounds, syrbactins, and their derivatives, being of significant commercial value due to the ability of some of the members to inhibit proteasomal activity. TIR-199, for example, is one of the most potent proteasome inhibitors synthesized so far. The efficacy and efficiency of this novel drug candidate in inducing tumor cell death in multiple myeloma, neuroblastoma, and other types of cancer (e.g. kidney, colon, melanoma, ovarian) has been demonstrated using in vitro systems, cell lines, and animal models (reported for the first time for a syrbactin compound). TIR-199 drug candidate is ready for further pre-clinical and eventually clinical studies.  

Professor Giulia Palermo and colleagues from the University of California, Riverside and the University of Rochester have developed high-fidelity Cas13a variants with increased sensitivity for base pair mismatches.The activation of these Cas13a variants can be inhibited with a single mismatch between guide-RNA and target-RNA, a property that can be used for the detection of SNPs associated with diseases or specific genotypic sequences.