Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} The medical costs of managing an aging world poses significant economic and social challenges and will ultimately require a long-term solution. One reason for waning capabilities in people with advancing age is a progressive decline in organ function.  One way to increase healthy longevity would be to rejuvenate the regenerative and repair capacity of aged tissues. Heterochronic parabiosis is an experimental model where the vasculature of two animals of different ages are surgically joined together to create a shared circulatory system and has been used in stem cell and aging research in the last few decades. Heterochronic parabiosis has been shown to rejuvenate the performance of stem cells from old tissues at some expense to the young subject, but whether this occurs as a result of shared circulatory factors or shared organ systems is unclear.   UC Berkeley researchers have discovered, and constructed, a blood exchange system that permits computer controlled isochronic and heterochronic blood exchange transfers for animals. The blood exchange apparatus is an in vivo tool to replace heterochronic parabiosis. Compared to parabiosis, the in vivo animal study apparatus is faster, better controlled and is more flexible in the range of available and potential assays that can be performed.  The Blood exchange system enables less invasive and better-controlled studies with more immediate translation to therapies for humans.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} The CRISPR-Cas system is now understood to confer bacteria and archaea with acquired immunity against phage and viruses. CRISPR-Cas systems consist of Cas proteins, which are involved in acquisition, targeting and cleavage of foreign DNA or RNA, and a CRISPR array, which includes direct repeats flanking short spacer sequences that guide Cas proteins to their targets.  Class 2 CRISPR-Cas systems are streamlined versions in which a single Cas protein bound to RNA is responsible for binding to and cleavage of a targeted sequence. The programmable nature of these minimal systems has facilitated their use as a versatile technology that is revolutionizing the field of genome manipulation, so there is a need in the art for additional Class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems (e.g., Cas protein plus guide RNA combinations).   UC Berkeley researchers discovered a new type of Cas protein, CasZ.  (CasZ) is short compared to previously identified CRISPR-Cas endonucleases, and thus use of this protein as an alternative provides the advantage that the nucleotide sequence encoding the protein is relatively short.  The researchers have shown that the CRISPR CasZ protein and its variants can be used in a complex for specific binding and cleavage of DNA. The CRISPR CasZ complex utilizes a novel RNA and a guide RNA to perform double stranded cleavage of DNA and the complex is expected to have a wide variety of applications in genome editing and nucleic acid manipulation. 

96 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The CRISPR-Cas system is now understood to confer bacteria and archaea with acquired immunity against phage and viruses. CRISPR-Cas systems consist of Cas proteins, which are involved in acquisition, targeting and cleavage of foreign DNA or RNA, and a CRISPR array, which includes direct repeats flanking short spacer sequences that guide Cas proteins to their targets.  Class 2 CRISPR-Cas systems are streamlined versions in which a single Cas protein bound to RNA is responsible for binding to and cleavage of a targeted sequence. The programmable nature of these minimal systems has facilitated their use as a versatile technology that is revolutionizing the field of genome manipulation, so there is a need in the art for additional Class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems (e.g., Cas protein plus guide RNA combinations).   Researchers have shown that a Cas12c protein (also referred to as a Cas12c polypeptide or a C2c3 polypeptide) complex as well as Cas12c variants can be used for specific binding and cleavage of DNA. The Cas12c complex utilizes a novel RNA and a guide RNA to perform double stranded cleavage of DNA. Similar to CRISPR Cas9, Cas12c enzymes are expected to have a wide variety of applications in genome editing and nucleic acid manipulation.   

96 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The CRISPR-Cas system is now understood to confer bacteria and archaea with acquired immunity against phage and viruses. CRISPR-Cas systems consist of Cas proteins, which are involved in acquisition, targeting and cleavage of foreign DNA or RNA, and a CRISPR array, which includes direct repeats flanking short spacer sequences that guide Cas proteins to their targets. The programmable nature of these systems has facilitated their use as a versatile technology that is revolutionizing the field of genome manipulation. There is a need in the art for additional CRISPR-Cas systems with improved cleavage and manipulation under a variety of conditions and ones that are particularly thermostable under those conditions.     UC researchers discovered a new type of RNA-guided endonuclease (GeoCas9) and variants of GeoCas9.  GeoCas9 was found to be stable and enzymatically active in a temperature range of from 15°C to 75°C and has extended lifetime in human plasma.  With evidence that GeoCas9 maintains cleavage activity at mesophilic temperatures, the ability of GeoCas9 to edit mammalian genomes was then assessed.  The researchers found that when comparing the editing efficiency for both GeoCas9 and SpyCas9, similar editing efficiencies by both proteins were observed, demonstrating that GeoCas9 is an effective alternative to SpyCas9 for genome editing in mammalian cells.  Similar to CRISPR-Cas9, GeoCas9 enzymes are expected to have a wide variety of applications in genome editing and nucleic acid manipulation.   

There is a growing interest in point-of-care testing (POCT) where testing is done at or near the site of patient care, since POCT has a short therapeutic turnaround time, decreased process steps where errors can occur and only a small sample volume is required to perform a test.    UC Berkeley researchers have developed a mobile molecular diagnostics system that leverages efficient and dependable blood sampling, automated sample preparation, rapid optical detection of multi-analyte nucleic acids and proteins, and user-friendly systems integration with wireless communication.  The system includes a hand-held automated device with an adaptive sample control module, an optical signal transduction module, and an interface to a smartphone making this a reliable and field-applicable system for point-of-care and on-demand diagnostics. 

Respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma afflict millions of people each year.  COPD is characterized by peribronchial and perivascular inflammation and largely irreversible airflow obstruction. Asthma is characterized by infiltration of leukocytes subsets including eosinophils, macrophages and lymphocytes including natural killer (NK) cells that contribute to the sustained inflammation.  There is no cure for these conditions and individuals experience varied success with current treatment modalities. Investigators at UC Berkeley have revealed important roles for NK cells in the development and progression of COPD and asthma, which indicates that these mechanisms are controlled by the presence and function of NKG2D.  A therapeutic effect is achieved by administering agents that inhibit NKG2D-mediated activation of leukocytes, such as antibodies or soluble ligands or receptors that block NKG2D or its ligands. 

Lymphatic research is an explosive field of new discovery in recent years. Lymphatic dysfunction has been found in a wide array of disorders which include but are not limited to cancers and tumors, inflammation, infection, autoimmune diseases, dry eye, chemical burn, and tissue or organ transplant rejection, etc. The cornea provides an optimal site for lymphatic research due to its accessible location, transparent nature, and lymphatic-free but inducible features. Because there are no pre-existing vessels to consider in this unique tissue, it is exceptionally straightforward and accurate to assess lymphatic events (from formation to maturation and regression) in the cornea. Since lymphatic vessels are not easily visible as blood vessels, previous studies using the cornea have relied on traditional immunohistochemistry assays with dead tissues. Currently, there are no means of direct and harmless visualization of lymphatic vessels within live cornea. Investigators at University of California at Berkeley have addressed this challenge by developing the first live imaging of corneal lymphatic vessels. Lymphatic specific dye is injected into the subconjunctival space to visualize lymphatic vessels at various stages in the cornea under a fluorescence stereo, confocal, or two-photon microscope. Moreover, lymphatic vessels can be visualized in different colors to produce two, three, and four-dimensional images or live videos at a molecular level. The investigators have demonstrated a proof of principle in live mouse cornea. The technique allows time course tracking of dynamic lymphatic processes within the same tissue or subject over a short or long period of time, and can be ideally used to assess the progression of disease development and the effect of drug treatment. Live imaging of corneal lymphatic vessels allows visualization of lymphatic vessels in their natural morphology, state, and interactions with the local environment. This noninvasive method of live imaging of corneal lymphatic vessels is readily applicable to patient examination and the lymphatic dye of dextran is bio-degradable and harmless to human health.

Treatment of disease and trauma to the coronary arteries and the peripheral vessels often includes the use of bypass grafting. Autologous grafts are most often used and are typically taken from the saphenous vein, internal mammary artery, or the radial artery; however, this method is not an option in patients without a vein that is suitable to use. Also, the costs for harvesting autologous vessels are considerable, and there is a significant level of morbidity associated with the procedure.  Also, the use of synthetic grafts in small diameter vessels tends to lead to poor compliance and low patency, often resulting in thrombogenicity.  Furthermore, although recent tissue engineering methods have focused on a variety of tissue decellularization methods, these methods risk damage to the extracellular membrane (ECM), which acts as a scaffold for tissue repair and regeneration, compromising the scaffold's further development and integration into the recipient's body. UC Scientists have developed an alternative technology that does not have the disadvantages and shortcomings seen in both autologous and synthetic grafts.  Such technology includes a method of treatment comprising subjecting a target area of tissue in a mammal to non-thermal irreversible electroporation (NTIRE) in order to kill cells at the target site without the use of any chemical agents, toxins, enzymes or use of physical devices beyond the NTIRE devices. After the immune system has removed cells killed with the NTIRE, and before there is substantial growth of new cells the tissue is removed from the mammal and transplanted to a repair site, all of which is carried out in the absence of any immunosuppressant drugs.