With the discovery of penicillin in the 1940’s, many scientists proclaimed the defeat of infectious diseases which had plagued mankind. However, the remarkable healing power of antibiotics unfortunately invited widespread and indiscriminate use of antibiotics. This misuse and overuse of antibiotics has led to the dramatic rise in antibiotic resistant bacterial strains and increased healthcare costs.

The invention is a diagnostic technology, as well as a research and development tool. It is a simple, easy to operate, and effective platform for the analysis of pharmaceuticals and biological species. Specifically, this platform generates hydroxyl radicals for oxidative footprinting – a technique commonly employed in protein mapping and analysis. The platform itself is inexpenisve to fabricate, scalable, and requires nothing more than an ordinary pipet to use. In addition, it is highly amenable to scale-up, multiplexing, and automation, and so it holds promise as a high-throughput method for mapping protein structure in support of product development, validation, and regulatory approval in the protein-based therapeutics industry.

Boron building blocks play a key role in modern organic chemistry, especially in drug design and materials synthesis. Methods to generate heterocycles and borylated compounds in the same synthetic step are largely unknown; the ability to do both increases efficiency and rapidly builds molecular complexity while providing access to previously unavailable building blocks.

Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is a key metabolizing enzyme that regulates the oxidation and clearance of most drugs. The inhibition of this enzyme may be useful in improving the efficacy of drug cocktails and the ability to give lower, less toxic doses of drugs. The development of new CYP3A4 inhibitors with high affinity and specificity is described.

Treatment of fungal infections remains a medical challenge and better and more efficacious treatments are needed. Antifungal agents provide relief from fungal infections that can potentially infect almost any part of the human body, but, systemic fungal infections can be life threatening. A commonly prescribed antifungal drug for systemic fungal infections is fluconazole. Fluconazole tends to be well tolerated; however there have been reports of various undesirable side effects as well as the emergence of fluconazole resistant fungal strains.

Cognitive deficits associated with aging and other age-related disorders involve deficits in processing sensory information, attention, consolidation of memory, recall of information, and executive functions such as planning, problem solving and self-monitoring among others. There is a large unmet medical need to identify therapies and novel therapeutic regimes for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction, e.g., cognitive deficits related to aging, age-related disorders and Alzheimer's disease. Previously published research suggests a correlation between neurological disorders and trimethylation of histone H3K9 in the brain. Therefore, an inhibitor of histone methyl transferase SUV39h1 and its effects on the progression of age-related disorders was investigated.

Small molecule CYP34A inhibitor oncology therapeutics are being developed in collaboration between scientists at UC Irvine and U of Minnesota. These molecules have been shown effective against ER+ xenograft models of breast cancer. Due to their mechanism of action, these molecules may enhance treatment with tamoxifen and paclitaxel to decrease risk of recurrence.

The tumor suppressor p53 normally functions to prohibit unregulated growth of cells. p53 is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancers. The most frequent p53 mutation is a missense mutation known as R175H. We have discovered 11 small molecules that interact with and stabilize R175H protein. The stabilization of R175H by these small molecules restores p53 function and can be a potential drug candidate. Currently, there are no known drug targets that specifically work on p53 mutants and our compounds will be the first to have specific targeting capacity.

Synthetic polymer nanoparticles (NPs) capable of recognizing specific biomacromolecules and can be used as substitutes for natural antibodies .

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a novel chitosan derivative that may be used simultaneously as a systemic drug delivery agent and a systemic antibiotic treatment.

Bioactive lipids, including anandamide (AEA), are important signaling molecules in humans. Acting through CB1 cannabinoid receptors in the brain and peripheral tissues, the local concentrations of these lipids have effects on several areas of human health including pain sensation, inflammation, appetite regulation, anxiety, and depression. The regulation of these lipids is partially controlled by their degradation rate by the enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). The present portfolio of inventions provides novel small-molecule inhibitors FAAH, including molecules that are limited to peripheral FAAH inhibition as well as molecules improved for oral bioavailability. These compounds have been tested in a number of animal models and one molecule has entered clinical trials in humans. This portfolio includes molecules with IC50 values at single digit nanomolar and in some cases, less than 1.0 nanomolar concentrations in vitro.

Acid ceramidase (AC) catalyzes the hydrolysis of the lipid messenger ceramide thereby regulating ceramide levels in cells. AC is involved in multiple physiological and pathological processes, including cancer resistance and neuropathic pain. Previous AC inhibitors are ceramide analogs with weak inhibitory activity in vitro and virtually no utility in vivo.  The present portfolio of inventions provides two chemically distinct classes of small-molecule inhibitors of intracellular AC activity, which act at single digit nanomolar concentrations in vitro and at low doses in vivo.

Anandamide is a biologically active lipid molecule that regulates multiple biological functions – including pain, nausea and mood – by activating CB1 cannabinoid receptors in the brain and peripheral tissues. In the brain, the biological actions of anandamide are stopped by a selective mechanism that starts with the uptake of anandamide by neurons and glial cells. Researchers at UCI have developed novel, small molecules that inhibit this transport process, causing anandamide levels to increase. This produced in turn a spectrum of CB1 receptor-mediated responses that include reduced pain and nausea.

Picornaviruses, viruses that belong to the family Picornaviridae, are single-stranded RNA viruses that infect both humans and animals. The major picornaviruses that affect humans include enteroviral pathogens (poliovirus, coxsackievirus, enterovirus, echovirus), rhinoviruses (approximately 105 serotypes), hepatitis A virus, and parechoviruses. Currently, there no medications indicated to treat picornavirus infections, and only the symptoms can be treated. New treatments for picornavirus infections would be extremely useful for medical professionals and their patients. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered an enzyme that is involved in the virus life cycle of the picornavirus. This enzyme may be a novel anti-viral target for chemotherapeutics that can be used against picornaviruses.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have synthesized new chemical entities that selectively bind to regions in the brain that accumulate Aβ-amyloid plaques.

Microfluidic devices are poised to revolutionize environmental, chemical, biological, medical and pharmaceutical detectors and diagnostics. The term “microfluidic devices” loosely describes the new generation of instruments that mix, react, count, fractionate, detect, and characterize samples in a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) circuit manufactured through standard semiconductor lithography techniques. Although a wide array of microfluidic technologies are currently available, novel MEMS fluidic systems are needed as scientists continue to work with smaller sample volumes and desire devices with increased sensitivity and effectiveness. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a unique non-contact system for sorting monodisperse water-in-oil emulsion droplets in a microfluidic device. The technology can be coupled to other on-chip processes to increase device efficiency by sorting out un-reacted droplets.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have found a new use for a known compound for treatment of fatty liver disease which has been shown to be effective in animal studies.

It is estimated that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. One of the consequences of removing the prostate for prostate cancer is a non-permanent injury of the cavernosal nerve during open radical prostatectomy (RP) or robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), which may result in post-operative sexual dysfunction. These sexual side effects can severely affect the quality of life for men and their loved ones. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a new use for an existing compound that can be used to prevent, mitigate, or treat erectile dysfunction associated with prostate removal surgery.

Cyanide is a highly toxic and rapidly acting poison that is infamous due to its use in murders, suicides, wars and attempted genocide.In the present day, cyanide may be responsible for up to 10,000 deaths annually in the United States due to smoke inhalation.Cyanide may also be used as a terrorist weapon. Prior methods to measure cyanide in the blood have involved acidifying the blood after lysis of red blood cells.However, this method is time consuming (takes at least a few hours) and tedious, and thus, inadequate for rapid detection of cyanide toxicity in field or hospital settings.Field or laboratory devices capable of rapidly measuring cyanide levels in blood or body fluids are not currently available, however such field or laboratory devices would be highly useful. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a method to rapidly measure cyanide in biological samples, which can be carried out in field settings.This method is based on measuring cyanide based on spectral changes that occur when cyanide binds to the reagent.Advantages of this method are its ease of use, stability, and applicability across a wide range of cyanide concentrations and may be used with ease in the field or on laboratory devices.

The process developed involves the generation of human choroid plexus epithelial cells from human embryonic stem cells to enable novel clinical applications.

The Overman laboratory at the University of California, Irvine has generated a library of ~1,200 unusually diverse small drug-like molecules.

In the pharmaceutical industry, synthetic chemists often alkylate starting compounds to generate compounds that have more desirable properties. However, the current reagents used in this modification process can be expensive or harmful to the chemist.

Her2/neu is over-expressed in various types of tumor cells, including 20-30% of breast cancers, adenocarcinomas of the ovary, salivary gland, stomach and kidney, colon cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. Passive immunotherapeutics like Herceptin control and prevent further tumor cell growth. Unlike active immunotherapeutics, Herceptin does not mediate the immunological cellular destruction. Active immunotherapeutics such as vaccines elicit T helper-1 (Th1) and Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) biased immune responses and are generally observed for proteins expressed in the intracellular compartment, and less prominently with extracellular or secreted proteins. Rapid degradation of a protein containing polyepitopes can contribute to establishing a bias in the immune response, facilitate antigen presentation and, perhaps assist in establishing specificity of the immune response. This type of immunological response should result in immunological cellular destruction.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) belong to the superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels and are distributed widely in the human and nonhuman brain. Several nAChRs have been identified and characterized pharmacologically and have distinct patterns of distribution in the brain. The nicotine alpha 4 beta 2 receptor subtypes are thought to play a role in various diseases, including various brain disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease), behavioral disorders (e.g., schizophrenia or substance abuse), various neoplasms (e.g., lung cancer), and other diseases, and may also be involved in the addiction to nicotine in chronic tobacco users (tobacco use may increase the number of the alpha 4 beta 2 receptor sites). The development of noninvasive imaging methods using PET and SPECT of the alpha 4 beta 2 receptor system has gained significant interest. Therefore, and not surprisingly, the development of noninvasive imaging methods using PET and SPECT of the alpha 4 beta 2 receptor system has gained significant interest. However, current radiotracers suffer from several drawbacks, including rapid clearance, toxicity, and undesirable kinetic parameters. Consequently, there is still a need to provide improved compositions and methods for radioligands for receptors of the alpha 4 beta 2 receptor type.

Preservation of posttranslational modifications during purification is crucial for successful mass spectrometric analyses of protein modifications. Current tandem-affinity purification strategies require native conditions and are therefore susceptible to loss of posttranslational modifications during cell lysis and purification because modifying as well as de-modifying enzymes remain active under these conditions.