A novel class of bioinspired photo-initiators enabling visible light-driven polymer gelation that improves cell-biomaterial compatibility across thicker tissues.

This technology improves enzymatic activity and biomanufacturing cost by engineering a conserved motif into enzymes and utilizing low-cost non-canonical redox cofactors.

A novel transparent contact lens device enabling real-time monitoring of corneal curvature during electrochemical vision therapy.

An innovative PEG hydrogel system covalently bound with insulin to safely and effectively prime mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and enhance their therapeutic potential in wound healing.

Professor Iman Noshadi and colleagues from the University of California, Riverside have developed an innovative, transparent, and highly effective material called BioPEG hydrogel for corneal repair. This technology is a next-generation anti-microbial bioadhesive that leverages a flexible polymer (PEGDA) to provide a scaffold that is supple enough to conform to the delicate surface of the eye and facilitate corneal repair and regeneration. This technology is advantageous because the antimicrobial hydrogel is applied as a liquid and rapidly cures using visible light to form a strong, watertight, and highly adhesive transparent patch.    Fig 1: A schematic of the UCR BioPEG synthesis: visible light crosslinks the hydrogel structure from polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and bio-ionic liquid. 

A mechanically adaptive hydrogel that changes color in response to force exerted by living cells, enabling force sensing through optical signals.

A novel 3D bioprintable hydrogel platform enables precise spatial delivery of biochemical gradients to engineer in vitro tissue models with area-specific identities.

Engineered phosphite dehydrogenases enable efficient recycling of noncanonical redox cofactors for sustainable biomanufacturing.

An innovative, nature-inspired system that efficiently captures, transports, and stores fluids while providing passive cooling through controlled fluid dynamics.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed an aluminum catalyst that enables fast, base-free transfer hydrogenation of aldehydes and ketones using isopropanol as a hydrogen source.

Combinatorial encoded library technologies can provide a set of tools for discovering protein-targeting ligands (molecules) and for drug discovery. These techniques can accelerate ligand discovery by leveraging chemical diversity achievable through genetically encoded combinatorial libraries, for example, by combinatorial permutation of chemical building blocks. Although display technologies such as mRNA and phage display use biological translation machinery to produce peptide-based libraries, hits from these libraries often lack key drug-like properties, for example, cell permeability. This limitation can arise from the peptide backbone's inherent polarity and the tendency to select compounds with polar/charged side chains. Backbone N-methylation can increase scaffold lipophilicity in mRNA display; however, codon table constraints can necessitate longer sequences to fully utilize the available space.DNA-encoded libraries (DELs) offer an alternative approach towards discovering hits against drug targets. However, like other encoded library techniques, DELs face significant obstacles in affinity selections, which tend to enrich library members bearing polar and/or charged moieties, which can have low (poor) passive cell membrane permeability, especially in larger molecular weight libraries, resulting in hits with poor drug-like properties. This selection bias is especially problematic for larger constructs beyond the rule of 5, where fine-tuning lipophilicity can be critical. Furthermore, DNA-encoded libraries can be of low quality. Although algorithmic predictions of lipophilicity exist, these two-dimensional (2D) atomistic calculations cannot capture conformational effects exhibited by larger molecules like peptide macrocycles. Despite over a decade of DEL technology development, no method exists to measure physical properties of encoded molecules across an entire DNA-encoded library. That is, successful translation of hits from encoded library selections can be impeded by low quality libraries and enrichment of highly polar members which tend to have poor passive cell permeability, especially for larger molecular weight libraries.DELs are produced through split-pool synthesis with DNA barcoding to encode the building block of each chemical step. Although this approach can draw on a large number of building blocks and allow for the formation of non-peptidic libraries with a large number of members, synthetic challenges persist. The formation of DELs can be synthetically inefficient. Truncations multiply ( are compounded) throughout synthesis, reducing the representation of properly synthesized constructs. Although strategies to improve library purity, to enable reaction monitoring for macrocycle formation, and to identify problematic chemistry affecting DNA tag amplification may be applied, a direct method for assessing DEL quality on a library-wide basis has yet to be developed.   

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have expanded the knowledge on the rippled β-sheet, a protein structural motif formed by certain racemic peptides. Rippled β-sheets already show potential for Alzheimer’s research and drug delivery and leads to formation of hydrogels with enhanced properties. Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have further added to the structural foundation of rippled β-sheets, better understanding how rippled β-sheet formation can be controlled at the molecular level.

To address the persistence of "forever chemicals" in global water supplies, UC Berkeley researchers have engineered a sophisticated class of reticular materials designed for the high-affinity capture of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This technology utilizes Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) that are post-synthetically modified to feature a dual-action defense. By creating a porous framework that mimics the chemical signature of the contaminants themselves, these materials provide a far more efficient and regenerable alternative to traditional activated carbon filters.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed an advancement in the field of healthcare technology, specifically in the development and application of silyl lipids for RNA vaccines.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a potential therapeutic strategy aiming at disrupting intercellular communication of pathogens using quorum sensing molecules and silicon-based pharmacophores.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a therapeutic use of cannabinoids for the treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders (NDDs).

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Amyloid-β (Aβ) is a protein that is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. Aβ oligomers aggregate to form amyloid plaques, which are found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. These plaques have high polydispersity; they vary in shape and size. Previously, researchers at UC Santa Cruz demonstrated that using a racemic mixture of Aβ promoted fibril formation, an aggregation that is less neurotoxic than plaques of high polydispersity. Furthermore, these racemic counterparts form rippled β-sheets.

A novel polymer-based fluorescent sensor that enables real-time local sensing of water activity at all pH levels with high spatial resolution for use in carbon removal technologies.

An innovative advanced material coating with superior cooling performance across all wavelengths that is crucial for energy consumption and heat management applications.

Something that is chiral cannot be superposed over its mirror image, no matter how it is shifted (ex. our hands). These two mirror images, called enantiomers, rotate plane-polarized light in opposite directions.Chiral nanostructures have unique materials properties that can be used in many applications. In pharmaceutical research and development, chiral analysis is critical, as one enantiomer may be more effective than the other. Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed new ways of performing enantiomeric analyses using the plasmonic circular dichroism absorption qualities of nanostructures. 

Nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA find many different applications in research. They can act as research reagents, diagnostic agents, therapeutic agents, and more. Nucleic acids are made by enzymes, which are macromolecules that catalyze reactions. Since nucleic acids are so frequently used in research, there is continued interest in finding new and improved ways to synthesize them. Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed ways to continuously synthesize nucleic acids without the use of enzymes.

The critical challenge of providing clean, potable water in arid and semi-arid regions can be addressed by technologies that efficiently harvest atmospheric water, particularly under low-humidity conditions. UC Berkeley researchers have developed novel thiazole-based Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) that serve as highly efficient sorbents for this purpose. These COFs are crystalline, porous materials characterized by high porosity, permanent pore structures, and a chemically tunable nature. The disclosed COFs demonstrate a significant advantage over alternatives by exhibiting a low-humidity water uptake onset, coupled with fast adsorption kinetics, a high water working capacity, and excellent cycling stability. Furthermore, the development includes scalable synthetic methods, such as microwave-assisted and reflux routes, which enable gram-level, practical production.

Kainate receptors, also known as kainic acid receptors are ionotropic receptors that bind to and are responsive to glutamate in neurons. These were originally identified as being activated by the compund kainic acid, orignally isolated from algae. Postsynaptic kainate receptors are involved in excitatory neurotransmission while presynaptic kainate receptors are involved in inhibitory neurotransmission. Kainic acid is a potentially very useful compound but very difficult to synthesize. As a result, there are very few pharmacological tool compounds to study kainate receptors and none that are readily tunable to install labeling compounds. 

This invention introduces a novel approach to cardiac tissue stimulation and maturation through the use of photoactive organic and biological material blends.