Patents Assigned to President and Fellows of the Harvard College
  • Publication number: 20250090687
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides zinc finger domain-containing proteins comprising optimized ?-, ?-, and linker motifs, and fusion proteins comprising said zinc finger domain-containing proteins fused to an effector domain. The present disclosure also provides double-stranded DNA deaminase A (DddA) variants and fusion proteins comprising said DddA variants fused to a programmable DNA binding protein (e.g., any of the zinc finger domain-containing proteins disclosed herein, a TALE protein, or a CRISPR/Cas9 protein). Methods for editing DNA (including genomic DNA and mitochondrial DNA) using the fusion proteins described herein are also provided by the present disclosure. The present disclosure further provides polynucleotides, vectors, cells, kits, and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the zinc finger domain-containing proteins, DddA variants, and fusion proteins described herein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: March 20, 2025
    Applicants: The Broad Institute, Inc., President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David R. Liu, Julian Wills
  • Publication number: 20250092382
    Abstract: The disclosure provides adenosine deaminases that are capable of deaminating adenosine in DNA. The disclosure also provides fusion proteins comprising a Cas9 (e.g., a Cas9 nickase) domain and adenosine deaminases that deaminate adenosine in DNA. In some embodiments, the fusion proteins further comprise a nuclear localization sequence (NLS), and/or an inhibitor of base repair, such as, a nuclease dead inosine specific nuclease (dISN).
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2024
    Publication date: March 20, 2025
    Applicant: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David R. Liu, Nicole Gaudelli
  • Publication number: 20250092374
    Abstract: Some aspects of this disclosure provide strategies, systems, reagents, methods, and kits that are useful for engineering Cas9 and Cas9 variants that have increased activity on target sequences that do not contain the canonical PAM sequence. In some embodiments, fusion proteins comprising such Cas9 variants and nucleic acid editing domains, e.g., deaminase domains, are provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2024
    Publication date: March 20, 2025
    Applicant: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David R. Liu, Johnny Hao Hu
  • Patent number: 12252784
    Abstract: Articles are described including a substrate and a copper halide layer on the substrate, where the interfacial free energy between the substrate and the copper halide layer allows the copper halide layer to form continuously, wherein the copper halide layer conforms to the shape of the substrate. The articles may further include an adhesion layer disposed in-between the substrate and the copper halide layer, where the surface free energy between the adhesion layer and the copper halide layer allows the copper halide layer to form continuously, wherein the copper halide layer or the adhesion layer conform to the shape of the substrate. Also described are methods of forming an article using chemical vapor deposition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Christina M. Chang, Luke M. Davis, Roy Gerald Gordon
  • Patent number: 12252457
    Abstract: The present invention features novel peripherally-restricted isoguvacine analogs with reduced blood brain barrier permeability and methods of use thereof for reducing tactile dysfunction, social impairment, and anxiety in a subject diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rett syndrome, Phelan McDermid syndrome, or Fragile X syndrome.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David D. Ginty, Lauren L. Orefice, Jinbo Lee
  • Patent number: 12252505
    Abstract: Provided herein are methods and compositions for preventing or treating aging, or an aging-related disorder, a disorder associated with inflammation, or for modulating an immune response in a subject in need thereof. In some embodiments, the methods comprise administering to the subject an effective amount of a compound of Formulas I-XIII.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David A. Sinclair, Conrad Rinaldi
  • Patent number: 12252507
    Abstract: This disclosure provides methods for generating functionalized nanoswitches, as well as the functionalized nanoswitches themselves, and methods of use thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignees: Children's Medical Center Corporation, President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Darren Yang, Eric M. Mulhall, Hongyu Zhao, Andrew Ward, Clinton H. Hansen, Wesley Philip Wong
  • Publication number: 20250084400
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are compositions, methods, kits, and systems relating to efficient delivery of cargos (e.g., therapeutic cargos) into cells, for instance, for in vivo delivery. The present disclosure provides lipid-containing particles (e.g., virus-like particles) for delivering therapeutic cargos. The present disclosure also provides polynucleotides encoding the lipid-containing particles provided herein, which may be useful for producing said lipid-containing particles. Also provided are methods for editing nucleic acid molecules in cells using the lipid-containing particles provided herein, as well as cells and kits comprising the lipid-containing particles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: March 13, 2025
    Applicants: The Broad Institute, Inc., President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David R. Liu, Thomas J. Cahill, III, Philip DeSouza, Aditya Raguram, Samagya Banskota, Meirui An
  • Publication number: 20250084399
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are compositions, methods, kits, and systems relating to efficient delivery of cargos (e.g., therapeutic cargos) into cells, for instance, for in vivo delivery. The present disclosure provides lipid-containing particles (e.g., virus-like particles) for delivering therapeutic cargos. The present disclosure also provides polynucleotides encoding the lipid-containing particles provided herein, which may be useful for producing said lipid-containing particles. Also provided are methods for editing nucleic acid molecules in cells using the lipid-containing particles provided herein, as well as cells and kits comprising the lipid-containing particles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2024
    Publication date: March 13, 2025
    Applicants: The Broad Institute, Inc., President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David R. Liu, Thomas J. Cahill, III, Philip DeSouza, Aditya Raguram, Samagya Banskota, Meirui An
  • Patent number: 12246321
    Abstract: The present invention generally relates, in some aspects, to articles and methods relating to nanosensors for determination of molecules and other features, e.g., via surface plasmonic resonance, electric resonance, magnetic resonance, color changes, or the like. These articles and methods may be used, for example, for sample detection. The articles described in some aspects of the invention include a microwell array and a nanosensor array. In some embodiments, The nanosensor arrays may utilize nanoparticles positioned on nanostructures that are able to interact with a sample suspected of containing an analyte, such as a single cell. The interaction between nanoparticles and a sample can be detected by a change in applied energy, such as altered electromagnetic radiation caused by surface plasmonic resonance of incident visible light, and/or other types of resonance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Qimin Quan, Feng Liang
  • Patent number: 12248118
    Abstract: An optical metasurface film includes a flexible polymeric film having a first major surface, a patterned polymer layer having a first surface proximate to the first major surface of the flexible polymeric film and having a second nanostructured surface opposite the first surface, and a refractive index contrast layer adjacent to the nanostructured surface of the patterned polymer layer forming a nanostructured bilayer with a nanostructured interface. The nanostructured bilayer acts locally on amplitude, phase, or polarization of light, or a combination thereof and imparts a light phase shift that varies as a function of position of the nano structured bilayer on the flexible polymeric film. The light phase shift of the nanostructured bilayer defines a predetermined operative phase profile of the optical metasurface film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignees: 3M Innovative Properties Company, President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Martin B. Wolk, Robert L. Brott, Karl K. Stensvad, James M. Nelson, Federico Capasso, Xinghui Yin, Joon-Suh Park
  • Patent number: 12247227
    Abstract: Described herein are methods for providing an in vitro intestinal model system, e.g., using primary cells instead of cell lines and/or cancerous cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
    Inventors: Donald E. Ingber, Magdalena Kasendra, Alexandra Sontheimer-Phelps, Alessio Tovaglieri
  • Publication number: 20250074957
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to therapeutic methods and clinically useful molecular switches, for which activity or degradation of a switch-presenting polypeptide can be precisely induced via administration or withdrawal of an FDA-approved drug. Certain aspects of the disclosure relate to an engineered drug-inducible heterodimeric system including a first polypeptide presenting a CRBN polypeptide disrupted for or lacking a DDB1-interacting domain and a second polypeptide presenting a CRBN polypeptide substrate, where binding between the CRBN polypeptide and the CRBN polypeptide substrate are inducible via administration of an FDA-approved thalidomide analog immunomodulatory drug (IMiD). Another aspect of the disclosure relates to a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that presents a minimal fragment of the CRBN polypeptide substrate IKZF3 capable of triggering proteasomal degradation of CAR upon administration of an FDA-approved IMiD.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2024
    Publication date: March 6, 2025
    Applicants: THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION, THE BRIGHAM & WOMEN'S HOSPITAL, INC., PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
    Inventors: Max Jan, Quinlan L. Sievers, Benjamin Ebert, Marcela Maus
  • Patent number: 12242023
    Abstract: Polarization-insensitive metasurfaces using anisotropic nanostructures are disclosed. These anisotropic structures allow for an accurate implementation of phase, group delay, and group delay dispersion, while simultaneously making it possible to realize a polarizationinsensitive, diffraction-limited and achromatic metalens for wavelength, e.g., ?=from about 460 nm to about 700 nm. The approach of polarization-insensitivity can be also applied for other metasurface devices with applications in, e.g., imaging and virtual or augmented reality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
    Inventors: Wei-Ting Chen, Alexander Yutong Zhu, Federico Capasso
  • Publication number: 20250064979
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides virus-like particles (VLPs) for delivering prime editors, and systems comprising such prime editor (PE) VLPs. The present disclosure also provides polynucleotides encoding the PE-VLPs described herein, which may be useful for producing said PE-VLPs. Also provided herein are methods for editing the genome of a target cell by introducing the presently described PE-VLPs into the target cell. The present disclosure also provides fusion proteins that make up a component of the PE-VLPs described herein, as well as polynucleotides, vectors, cells, and kits.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2022
    Publication date: February 27, 2025
    Applicants: The Broad Institute, Inc., President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David R. Liu, Aditya Raguram, Samagya Banskota, Meirui An
  • Publication number: 20250064981
    Abstract: Nucleic acid molecules, compositions, recombinant AAV (rAAV) particles, kits, and methods are described herein for delivering a base editor (or “nucleobase editor”) to cells, e.g., via AAV vectors. In particular, the disclosure provides compositions, methods, and uses for delivery of adenine base editors and cytosine base editors in a single AAV vector (or genome). Further described herein are improved AAV vectors containing size-minimized regulatory components that enable, e.g., the packaging of base editors. Provided herein are methods and compositions for delivering base editor proteins to a cell or tissue in a single recombinant AAV (rAAV) vector. Contemplated herein are improved methods and compositions for delivering these base editors in vivo, in a single rAAV particle. Further provided herein are base editors and compositions and cells comprising these base editors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2024
    Publication date: February 27, 2025
    Applicants: The Broad Institute, Inc., President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: David R. Liu, Jonathan Ma Levy, Jessie Rose Davis, Tony P. Huang, Isaac Witte
  • Publication number: 20250066764
    Abstract: The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for imaging or determining nucleic acids, for instance, within cells. In some embodiments, the transcriptome of a cell may be determined. Certain embodiments are directed to determining nucleic acids, such as mRNA, within cells at relatively high resolutions. In some embodiments, a plurality of nucleic acid probes may be applied to a sample, and their binding within the sample determined, e.g., using fluorescence, to determine locations of the nucleic acid probes within the sample. In some embodiments, codewords may be based on the binding of the plurality of nucleic acid probes, and in some cases, the codewords may define an error-correcting code to reduce or prevent misidentification of the nucleic acids. In certain cases, a relatively large number of different targets may be identified using a relatively small number of labels, e.g., by using various combinatorial approaches.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2024
    Publication date: February 27, 2025
    Applicant: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Xiaowei Zhuang, Kok-Hao Chen, Alistair Boettiger, Jeffrey R. Moffitt, Siyuan Wang
  • Publication number: 20250066765
    Abstract: The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for imaging or determining nucleic acids, for instance, within cells. In some embodiments, the transcriptome of a cell may be determined. Certain embodiments are directed to determining nucleic acids, such as mRNA, within cells at relatively high resolutions. In some embodiments, a plurality of nucleic acid probes may be applied to a sample, and their binding within the sample determined, e.g., using fluorescence, to determine locations of the nucleic acid probes within the sample. In some embodiments, codewords may be based on the binding of the plurality of nucleic acid probes, and in some cases, the codewords may define an error-correcting code to reduce or prevent misidentification of the nucleic acids. In certain cases, a relatively large number of different targets may be identified using a relatively small number of labels, e.g., by using various combinatorial approaches.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2024
    Publication date: February 27, 2025
    Applicant: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Xiaowei Zhuang, Kok-Hao Chen, Alistair Boettiger, Jeffrey R. Moffitt, Siyuan Wang
  • Publication number: 20250067705
    Abstract: An electrochemical apparatus includes an array of pixels disposed on a chip, stimulator circuitry disposed on the chip and configured to provide electrical input signals to cause stimulation of the pixels of the array, and sensor circuitry disposed on the chip and configured to read electrical output signals from the pixels of the array. The stimulator circuitry is configured to provide the input signals to cause stimulation of the pixels individually, and the sensor circuitry is configured to selectively read the output signals from the pixels while the pixels are being stimulated. The sensor circuitry is configured to measure an open-circuit voltage at each of the pixels and a current flow at each of the pixels while the pixels are being stimulated by the stimulator circuitry. The open-circuit voltage may be measured while the current flow is being measured.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2022
    Publication date: February 27, 2025
    Applicant: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Donhee Ham, Young-Ha Hwang, Henry Julian Hinton, Han Sae Jung, Woo-Bin Jung
  • Publication number: 20250066766
    Abstract: The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for imaging or determining nucleic acids, for instance, within cells. In some embodiments, the transcriptome of a cell may be determined. Certain embodiments are directed to determining nucleic acids, such as mRNA, within cells at relatively high resolutions. In some embodiments, a plurality of nucleic acid probes may be applied to a sample, and their binding within the sample determined, e.g., using fluorescence, to determine locations of the nucleic acid probes within the sample. In some embodiments, codewords may be based on the binding of the plurality of nucleic acid probes, and in some cases, the codewords may define an error-correcting code to reduce or prevent misidentification of the nucleic acids. In certain cases, a relatively large number of different targets may be identified using a relatively small number of labels, e.g., by using various combinatorial approaches.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2024
    Publication date: February 27, 2025
    Applicant: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Xiaowei Zhuang, Kok-Hao Chen, Alistair Boettiger, Jeffrey R. Moffitt, Siyuan Wang