UCLA researchers in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering have developed an Anamorphic Spectrum Transformation (AST) scheme for compressing the time-bandwidth product of analog signals, making it easier to digitize wideband signals and to reduce the volume of the digital data generated.

UCSF researchers have discovered a method for the isolation and expansion ex vivo of an endogenous population of bladder tumor-reactive cytotoxic CD4+ T cells that can be used to specifically and potently treat bladder cancer.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have proposed a one-step radical mechanism for disulfide bioconjugation that overcomes many concerns associated with the free cysteine residues that result from current bioconjugation techniques.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering have developed a novel a novel α3/α5β1 integrin binding site integrated endothelial growth factor (VEGF) delivery hydrogel that directs therapeutic vessel regeneration and reduces VEGF induced vascular permeability.

  Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 nucleases, when complexed with a guide RNA, effect genome editing in a sequence-specific manner. RNA-guided Cas9 has proven to be a versatile tool for genome engineering in multiple cell types and organisms.  There is a need in the art for additional compositions and methods for controlling genome editing activity of CRISPR/Cas9.   UC Berkeley researchers have discovered a new protein that is able to inhibit the Cas9 protein from Staphyloccocus aureus (SauCas9). SauCas9 is smaller than the frequently used Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes, which has a number of benefits for delivery. The inhibitor is a small protein from a phage and is capable of strongly inhibiting gene editing in human cells.

Due to the year-to-year increase in skin cancer incidences and dramatic decrease in survival, once the melanoma has metastasized, a preventative treatment for skin cancer would be significant. Currently, the only defenses against melanoma are applying sun protection factor (SPF) regularly and protecting oneself from direct sun exposure. In a 2015 national survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 34% of adults reported using SPF 15 or higher and 35% of adults reported having a sunburn in the past year.    UC Berkeley researchers have discovered active antiproliferative compounds that can be applied post-sunburn to prevent the growth and metastases of melanoma and therefore, could reduce the number of melanoma incidences per year. Based on preliminary data, they are developing a compound cocktail composed of active lead compounds to develop an anti-proliferative and cytostatic topical treatment of melanoma to slow down tumor development. 

Class 2 CRISPR-Cas systems are streamlined versions in which a single Cas protein (an effector protein, e.g., a type V Cas effector protein such as Cpf1) 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 continues to revolutionize the field of genome manipulation.    Cas12 is an RNA-guided protein that binds and cuts any matching DNA sequence. Binding of the Cas12-CRISPR RNA (crRNA) complex to a matching single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) or double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) molecule activates the protein to non-specifically degrade any ssDNA in trans. Cas12a-dependent target binding can be coupled to a reporter molecule to provide a direct readout for DNA detection within a sample.  UC Berkeley researchers have developed compositions, systems, and kits having labeled single stranded reporter DNA molecules that provide a sensitive readout for detection of a target DNA. 

Metagenomic analysis of microbial DNA from groundwater samples revealed a new protein, CasX, that prevented bacterial transformation by plasmid DNA when expressed with cognate crRNAs targeting the plasmid8. Sequence analysis of CasXrevealed no similarity to other CRISPR-Cas enzymes, except for the presence of a RuvC nuclease domain similar to that found in both Cas9 and Cas12a enzyme families as well as transposases and recombinases. The evolutionary ambiguity of CasX hinted at a distinct structure and mechanism for DNA targeting, but without reconstitution of a functional CasX enzyme it was not possible to determine its mechanism of plasmid interference.   UC Berkeley inventors found variant CasX polypeptides that induce programmable, site-specific genome repression in E. coli and genome editing in human cells, distinct from Cas9 and Cas12a, which establishes this enzyme family as a third CRISPR-Cas system for genetic manipulation.