Patents Assigned to Institute of Technology
  • Patent number: 9322007
    Abstract: The disclosure provides variant Cel6a enzymes having increased thermostability, methods of making and using such polypeptides.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: The California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Frances H. Arnold, Indira Wu
  • Patent number: 9320751
    Abstract: Methods of treating a fungal infection in a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a modified saponin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignees: The General Hospital Corporation, The Broad Institute, Inc., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Eleftherios Mylonakis, Edward Holson, Frederick M. Ausubel
  • Patent number: 9321030
    Abstract: A film for the retention and controlled release of organic or inorganic molecules consists essentially of a phyllosilicate clay and a organic polyanion. The film may be a built-up layered film of alternating layers of the clay and the polyanion. Organic or inorganic molecules are absorbed into the film from solution, and released in response to changes in the film's environment. The film may be built up using layer-by-layer (LbL) methods, or deposited on a substrate from a mixture of the clay and polyanion. Articles may be coated with the film by the same methods. The film is useful for the controlled release of antibiotics in response to infections, and also retains antibiotics such that bacteria may be killed by direct contact with the film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: The Trustees of the Stevens Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Svetlana Sukhishvili, Svetlana Pavlukhina
  • Patent number: 9320750
    Abstract: Time-staggered inhibition of EGFR, in combination with DNA damaging agents, is a useful therapeutic strategy for treating cancers, particularly drug resistant cancers such as a subset of triple-negative tumors, particularly those with high basal levels of phosphorylated EGFR. The staggered therapy was also demonstrated to be applicable to other types of tumors, especially lung cancers, which contain either high levels of phosphorylated wild-type EGFR or mutations within EGFR itself. EGFR inhibition dramatically sensitizes cancer cells to DNA damage if the drugs are given sequentially, but not simultaneously. The first drug must be administered in a dosage and for a period of time sufficient for the dynamic network rewiring of an oncogenic signature maintained by active EGFR signaling to unmask an apoptotic process that involves activation of caspase-8.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Michael B. Yaffe, Michael Jungho Lee, Paula T. Hammond, Stephen W. Morton
  • Patent number: 9324486
    Abstract: The present invention is a superconducting partial insulation magnet and a method for providing the same. The magnet includes a coil with a non-insulated superconducting wire winding wound around a bobbin. The coil has a first wire layer, a second wire layer substantially surrounding the first layer, and a first layer of insulating material disposed between the first wire layer and the second wire layer. Each wire layer comprises a plurality of turns, and the first layer of insulating material substantially insulates the second wire layer from the first wire layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Seungyong Hahn, YoungJae Kim, John Peter Voccio, Juan Bascunan, Yukikazu Iwasa
  • Publication number: 20160106867
    Abstract: The present invention provides compounds useful as novel near-infrared labels, compositions containing these compounds, and methods of using the near-infrared labels to identify targets in vitro, in situ and in vivo. The invention also provides small or large molecule conjugates between targeting agents and NIR labels, as well as methods and kits thereof, that can be used in diagnostics and treatment of diseases related to microbes in mammalian animals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2014
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Applicants: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Arkady Mustaev, David S. Perlin, Laura Wirpsza
  • Publication number: 20160106821
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods of protecting against elevated ghrelin levels in a fetus by antagonizing ghrelin or ghrelin receptor. The invention also encompasses methods of treating postpartum depression by administering ghrelin antagonists.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Applicant: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventor: Ki Ann Goosens
  • Publication number: 20160111242
    Abstract: An ionic liquid ion source can include a microfabricated body including a base and a tip. The body can be formed of a porous material compatible with at least one of an ionic liquid or room-temperature molten salt. The body can have a pore size gradient that decreases from the base of the body to the tip of the body, such that the at least one of an ionic liquid or room-temperature molten salt is capable of being transported through capillarity from the base to the tip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2015
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Applicant: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Paulo C. Lozano, Steven Mark Arestie
  • Publication number: 20160107178
    Abstract: Electrospraying systems and associated methods are generally described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2014
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Applicant: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, Frances Ann Hill, Philip James
  • Publication number: 20160109726
    Abstract: A contact lens fluid delivery device having a liquid reservoir connected to a channel with a flow regulator is described. Other eye hydration and variable dioptric power contact lenses are described herein. Also described are implantable liquid delivery apparatuses having a liquid storage reservoir connected to a channel with a flow regulator. These devices and apparatuses are useful for specific, targeted delivery of therapeutic liquids within a subject. In some embodiments, the devices incorporate actuation chambers which provide a driving force releasing the fluid into the targeted area e.g., the eye. The actuation chambers described herein can contain phase change materials or osmotic chambers or a combination thereof to drive the release of fluid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2015
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Applicants: California Institute of Technology, University of Southern California
    Inventors: Yu-Chong Tai, Nicholas E. Scianmarello, Charles M. T. DeBoer, Mark S. Humayun
  • Patent number: 9315862
    Abstract: The invention relates to trans-acting ligand-responsive nucleic acids and uses thereof. In particular, a ligand responsive nucleic acid comprises an effector domain and an aptamer domain that is responsive to a ligand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Christina D. Smolke, Travis S. Bayer
  • Patent number: 9315604
    Abstract: The present application provides, among other things, novel compounds for metathesis reactions, and methods for preparing and using provided compounds. In some embodiments, the present invention provides compounds having the structure of formula I or II. In some embodiments, the present invention provides methods for preparing a compound of formula I or II. In some embodiments, the present invention provides methods for using a provided compound. In some embodiments, a provided compound is useful for stereoselective ring-opening metathesis polymerization. In some embodiments, a provided metathesis method provides cis and/or isotactic polymers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Richard Royce Schrock, Jian Yuan
  • Patent number: 9315806
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods and compositions that enable the rapid generation of high-order combinations of genetic elements, and that provide a barcoded basis for rapid characterization of the specific combination of genetic elements encoded within a single cell or in a pooled population.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Timothy Kuan-Ta Lu, Allen Cheng
  • Patent number: 9319877
    Abstract: The technology includes a method for generating a secret key. The method includes receiving initialization data, the initialization data includes an initialization packet and a transmission path channel response; generating sample data based on the transmission path channel response; and generating a secret key based on the sample data utilizing a chaotic map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventor: Megumi Ando
  • Patent number: 9316545
    Abstract: A novel scanning Seebeck coefficient measurement technique is disclosed utilizing a cold scanning thermocouple probe tip on heated bulk and thin film samples. The system measures variations in the Seebeck coefficient within the samples. The apparatus may be used for two dimensional mapping of the Seebeck coefficient on the bulk and thin film samples. This technique can be utilized for detection of defective regions, as well as phase separations in the sub-mm range of various thermoelectric materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: G. Jeffrey Snyder, Shiho Iwanaga
  • Patent number: 9316586
    Abstract: This invention provides a system for performing PCR, and real time PCR in particular, with great speed and specificity. The system employs a heat block containing a liquid composition to rapidly transfer heat to and from reaction vessels. The system makes use of the reflective properties of the liquid metal to reflect signal from the PCR into the vessel and out the top. In this way, the signal can be measured by an optical assembly in real time without removing the vessels from the heat block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: George Maltezos, Matthew Johnston, David Goodwin, Axel Scherer, Christopher I. Walker
  • Patent number: 9315472
    Abstract: The present invention provides novel 1,3,5-triazinane-2,4,6-trione derivatives, such as compounds of any one of Formulae (I) and (II), and salts thereof, and methods of preparing the compounds. Also provided are compositions including a compound of the invention and an agent (e.g., an siRNA, mRNA, or plasmid DNA). The present invention also provides methods and kits using the compositions for delivering an agent to a subject (e.g., to the liver, spleen, or lung of the subject) or cell and for treating and/or preventing a range of diseases, such as genetic diseases, proliferative diseases, hematological diseases, neurological diseases, liver diseases, and lung diseases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Yizhou Dong, Akinleye C. Alabi, Hao Yin, Joseph R. Dorkin, Delai Chen, Robert S. Langer, Daniel Griffith Anderson, Ahmed A. Eltoukhy
  • Patent number: 9316593
    Abstract: A detection system includes a retroreflector and a layer of material over the retroreflector, the material being subject to change in transmission with respect to an optical property of radiation, e.g. wavelength or polarization, with exposure to a phenomenon. The retroreflector and layer are illuminated from a radiation source of multiple aspects of the optical property. A sensor senses radiation retroreflected back through the layer. The retroreflector may, for example, be an array of or individual prisms or an array of or individual cat's eye microspheres. The layer of material above the retroreflector can include a colorimetric dye. In an embodiment, the retroreflector and layer are on the surface of a carrier that moves through a medium, e.g. a projectile or vehicle moving through the air. In a method of detecting a phenomenon, retroreflective elements are distributed in an array, as in the atmosphere or across a region of ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institutes of Technology
    Inventors: Michael Switkes, Mordechai Rothschild
  • Patent number: 9315562
    Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide a collagen fiber membrane, which has sufficient strength and can be used as a cell culture substrate, a scaffold material for regenerative medicine (for example, material for tissue engineering of cartilage, bone, ligament, corneal stroma, skin, or liver), an implantation material (for example, wound dressing material, bone grafting material, hemostatic material, anti-adhesive material) or a carrier for drug delivery. The object of the present invention can be solved by a fish-derived collagen fiber membrane, characterized in that (1) a tensile strength is 30 MPa or more, (2) a density determined by the gravimetric method, is 0.4 g/cm3 or more, and (3) an average membrane thickness is 1 ?m to 2 mm, and a variation in membrane thickness is plus or minus 30%, relative to the average membrane thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Tokyo Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Junzo Tanaka, Toshiyuki Ikoma, Tomohiko Yoshioka
  • Publication number: 20160102118
    Abstract: Systems and processes for performing solid phase peptide synthesis are generally described. Solid phase peptide synthesis is a known process in which amino acid residues are added to peptides that have been immobilized on a solid support. In certain embodiments, the inventive systems and methods can be used to perform solid phase peptide synthesis quickly while maintaining high yields. Certain embodiments relate to processes and systems that may be used to heat, transport, and/or mix reagents in ways that reduce the amount of time required to perform solid phase peptide synthesis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2015
    Publication date: April 14, 2016
    Applicant: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Mark David Simon, Bradley L. Pentelute, Andrea Adamo, Patrick Louis Heider, Klavs F. Jensen