Patents Assigned to University of British Columbia (UBC)
  • Publication number: 20160070023
    Abstract: The invention is directed to a computer-implemented method for obtaining a physical model having physical model parameters wherein solutions to one or more partial-differential-equations (PDE's) are calculated and wherein (i) an appropriate initial model is selected, (ii) setup a system of equations referred to as the data-augmented PDE for the field, comprising of the discretized PDE, the sampling operator, the source function and the observed data, and solve the data-augmented PDE in a suitable manner to obtain a field that both satisfies the PDE and fits the data to some degree, (iii) setup a system of equations by using the PDE, the source function and the field obtained in step (ii) and solve this system of equations in a suitable manner to obtain an update of the physical model parameters and repeat steps (ii)-(iii) until a predetermined stopping criterion is met.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2014
    Publication date: March 10, 2016
    Applicant: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Felix J. Herrmann, Tristan Van Leeuwen
  • Patent number: 9260728
    Abstract: An isolated nucleic acid molecule that encodes a terpene synthase and is selected from among: a) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the sequence of nucleotides set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 5; b) a nucleic acid molecule that is a fragment of (a); c) a nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides that is complementary to (a) or (b); and d) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a terpene synthase having at least or at least about 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% identity to any one of (a)-(c); wherein the nucleic acid molecule encodes a terpene synthase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignees: University of British Columbia, University of Western Australia, Forest Products Commission
    Inventors: Katherine Zulak, Christopher Jones, Jessie Moniodis, Joerg Bohlmann
  • Publication number: 20160032342
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a novel endoglycoceramidase whose hydrolytic activity has been substantially reduced or eliminated, such that the enzyme is useful for synthesis of glycolipids from a monosaccharide or oligosaccharide and a ceramide. More specifically, the endoglycoceramidase is a mutant version of a naturally occurring endoglycoceramidase, preferably comprising a mutation within the active site or the nucleophilic site of the enzyme and more preferably comprising a substitution mutation of the Glu residue within the active site or the nucleophilic site. Also disclosed are a method for generating the mutant endoglycoceramidase and a method for enzymatically synthesizing glycolipids using this mutant enzyme.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2015
    Publication date: February 4, 2016
    Applicants: Seneb Biosciences, Inc., The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Karl F. JOHNSON, Shawn DEFREES, Stephen WITHERS, Mark VAUGHAN
  • Publication number: 20160002457
    Abstract: Composite hydrogels with a chiral organization with tunable responsive photonic properties are conceived. A polymerizable hydrophilic monomer such as acrylamide is reacted in the presence of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) to give a composite hydrogel with cellulose nanocrystals embedded in a chiral nematic organization. Through control of the reaction conditions, the hydrogel can exhibit photonic colour that can be varied throughout the visible and near-infrared regions. The colour shifts substantially and reversibly upon swelling and shrinking of the hydrogel through solvation in aqueous and nonaqueous media. The responsive properties can be tailored both through choice of monomer and/or through chemical modification of the NCC surface. Examples of possible applications of the materials are: tunable reflective filters, chemical sensors, stationary phases for electrophoresis of chiral or achiral substances, and as a template to generate new materials with chiral nematic structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2014
    Publication date: January 7, 2016
    Applicants: Celluforce Inc., University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Wadood Yasser HAMAD, Mark John MACLACHLAN, Joel Alexander KELLY, Kevin Eric SHOPSOWITZ
  • Patent number: 9221859
    Abstract: Compounds having a structure of Formula I and compositions comprising these compounds are provided. Uses of such compounds and compositions are provided for treatment or prophylaxis of viral infection. In particular, compounds and compositions may be for use in the treatment or prophylaxis of viral influenza.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Stephen Withers, Andrew Graham Watts, Jin Hyo Kim, Tom Wennekes
  • Patent number: 9216217
    Abstract: A novel constrained peptide epitope derived from A?, wherein the eptitope comprises the amino acid sequence SNK, related antibody compositions and methods of use. An isolated antibody that specifically binds to a cyclic peptide comprising the conformational epitope which comprises the amino acid sequence SNK and corresponding to a solvent-exposed, antibody accessible knuckle region of oligomeric A? is described. An antigenic peptide comprising an epitope having a constrained cyclic configuration, which comprises the amino acid sequence SNK and corresponding to a solvent-exposed, antibody accessible knuckle region of oligomeric A? is also described. Methods of treating, preventing and diagnosing Alzheimer's disease are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventor: Neil R. Cashman
  • Patent number: 9211537
    Abstract: A microfluidic device comprising a plurality of reaction chambers in fluid communication with a flow channel formed in an elastomeric substrate, a vapor barrier for preventing evaporation from the plurality of reaction chambers, and a continuous phase fluid for isolation of each of the plurality of reaction chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Carl Lars Genghis Hansen, Carolina Tropini
  • Patent number: 9205102
    Abstract: Castrate resistant prostate cancer cell lines exhibiting resistance to the androgen-receptor antagonist enzaluatamide overexpress one or both of IGFBP-2 or IGFBP-5 when compared to non-resistant cell lines. Oligonucleotides that target IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-5 can be used to overcome this resistance or as part of a treatment program when administered concurrently with the administration of androgen-receptor antagonist treatments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Martin E. Gleave, Joseph Ischia
  • Publication number: 20150348662
    Abstract: Systems and methods for separation or isolation of technetium radioisotopes from aqueous solutions of radioactive or non-radioactive molybdate salts using a polyalkyl glycol-based cross-linked polyether polymer. Some embodiments can be used for the effective purification of radio-active technetium-99m produced from low specific activity 99Mo.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Publication date: December 3, 2015
    Applicant: The Governors of the University of Alberta, The University of British Columbia, Carleton Unive
    Inventors: Francois BENARD, Kuo-Shyan LIN, Stefan ZEISLER, Milan VUCKOVIC, Paul SCHAFFER
  • Patent number: 9200285
    Abstract: A method for providing antisense therapy which reduces the expression of clusterin to provide therapeutic benefits in the treatment of cancer comprising administering from 40 to 640 mg anti-clusterin antisense oligonucleotide to a patient in need of treatment for a cancer expressing clusterin is provided. The method may include administering chemotherapeutic agent or agents, radiotherapy, and/or hormone ablation therapy. The invention also encompasses pharmaceutical compositions formulated to provide a dosage of 40 to 640 mg, and use of antisense in formulating a medicament.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Martin E. Gleave, Scott D. Cormack
  • Patent number: 9202719
    Abstract: Displacement devices comprise a stator and a moveable stage. The stator comprises a plurality of coils shaped to provide pluralities of generally linearly elongated coil traces in one or more layers. Layers of coils may overlap in the Z-direction. The moveable stage comprises a plurality of magnet arrays. Each magnet array may comprise a plurality of magnetization segments generally linearly elongated in a corresponding direction. Each magnetization segment has a magnetization direction generally orthogonal to the direction in which it is elongated and at least two of the magnetization directions are different from one another. One or more amplifiers may be connected to selectively drive current in the coil traces and to thereby effect relative movement between the stator and the moveable stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Xiaodong Lu, Irfan-Ur-Rab Usman
  • Patent number: 9186685
    Abstract: The invention provides apparatus for separation of particles and methods for using the apparatus. In an embodiment, the apparatus includes three arms extending radially from a central reservoir, each arm being associated with a separation electrode. At least one on the arms includes a separation medium. Using a sequence of driving and mobility-changing voltages, target particles can be separated from closely related particles within a sample. For example, single point mutations can be resolved from a sample containing predominantly wild type nucleic acids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Andrea Marziali, Joel Pel
  • Patent number: 9186410
    Abstract: Herein are provided derivatized hyperbranched polyglycerols (“dHPGs”). The dHPG comprises a core comprising a hyperbranched polyglycerol derivatized with C1C20 alkyl chains and a shell comprising at least one hydrophilic substituent bound to hydroxyl groups of the core, wherein the hyperbranched polyglycerol comprises from about 1 to about 200 moles of the at least one hydrophilic substituent. The dHPGs are for use as agents for the delivery of a drug or other biologically active moiety to the urinary tract, the digestive tract, the airways, the vaginal cavity and cervix and the peritoneal cavity to treat indications such as cancer, which may be useful in the treatment of or the manufacture of a medicament, in the preparation, of a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of cancer, as a pre-treatment or co-treatment to improve drug uptake in a tissue. Furthermore, there are provided methods of making dHPGs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignees: The University of British Columbia, Centre for Drug Research and Development
    Inventors: Helen Burt, Donald Brooks, Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu, Richard Liggins, Dechi Guan, Lu Ye, Clement Mugabe, Alan So, Martin E. Gleave, John K. Jackson, Rajesh Kumar Kainthan
  • Patent number: 9176138
    Abstract: A method for identifying a subject being at risk for or having a chronic inflammatory disease, fibrillinopathy, atherosclerosis, or coronary artery disease is provided. The method may include determining the concentration of GrA and/or GrB in a blood or serum sample from said subject; and comparing the concentrations to the corresponding concentration in a control sample, wherein an elevated concentration of GrA and/or GrB may be indicative of a chronic inflammatory disease, fibrillinopathy, atherosclerosis, or coronary artery disease. The method may further include identifying concentrations of fibrinogen, elastin and/or fibrillin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: David Granville, Rani Cruz, Ciara Chamberlain, Wendy Boivin, Bruce McManus
  • Patent number: 9173939
    Abstract: Compounds having a structure of Structure I: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, tautomer, or stereoisomer thereof, wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, J1, J2, X, Z, n1 and n2 are as defined herein, and wherein at least one of R1, R2 or R3 is an alkyl, alkenyl, aryl or aralkyl ester, are provided. Uses of such compounds for treatment of various indications, including prostate cancer, as well as methods of treatment involving such compounds are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignees: The University of British Columbia, British Columbia Cancer Agency Branch
    Inventors: Raymond J. Andersen, Marianne D. Sadar, Javier Garcia Fernandez, Nasrin R. Mawji, Jun Wang, Carmen Adriana Banuelos
  • Patent number: 9157120
    Abstract: Methods and compositions for reducing expression of a mutant huntingtin (mHTT) protein in a cell are provided. Such methods include contacting the cell with an effective amount of a nucleic acid silencing agent targeting a differentiating polymorphism in RNA encoding the mHTT.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Michael Hayden, Jeffrey Carroll, Simon Warby
  • Publication number: 20150266935
    Abstract: In one aspect, the invention provides a peptide comprising a chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA)-targeting signal domain; a protein-binding domain that selectively binds to a target cytosolic protein; and a cell membrane penetrating domain (CMPD). In another aspect, the invention provides methods for reducing the intracellular expression level of an endogenous target protein in vitro and in an animal, wherein the method involves administration of the peptide. Methods are also provided for treating a pathological condition in an animal, the methods comprising administering the peptide to the animal. In one embodiment, the pathological condition is a neurodegenerative disease. In another embodiment of the invention, the target cytosolic protein is death associated protein kinase 1 and the CMPD is protein transduction domain of the HIV-1 Tat protein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2013
    Publication date: September 24, 2015
    Applicant: University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Yu Tian Wang, Shelly Xuelai Lan, Wuyang Jin Jin
  • Patent number: 9139554
    Abstract: The present invention provides superior compositions and methods for the delivery of therapeutic agents to cells. In particular, these include novel lipids and nucleic acid-lipid particles that provide efficient encapsulation of nucleic acids and efficient delivery of the encapsulated nucleic acid to cells in vivo. The compositions of the present invention are highly potent, thereby allowing effective knock-down of specific target proteins at relatively low doses. In addition, the compositions and methods of the present invention are less toxic and provide a greater therapeutic index compared to compositions and methods previously known in the art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignees: Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Michael J. Hope, Sean C. Semple, Jianxin Chen, Thomas D. Madden, Pieter R. Cullis, Marco A. Ciufolini, Barbara Low Shoud Mui
  • Publication number: 20150254810
    Abstract: There is provided a computer-implemented method for solving inverse imaging problems to compensate for distortions in an image. The method comprises: minimizing a cost objective function containing a data fitting term and one or more image prior terms to each of the plurality of channels, the one or more image prior terms comprising cross-channel information for a plurality of channels derived from the image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2014
    Publication date: September 10, 2015
    Applicant: The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Wolfgang Heidrich, Felix Heide, Mushfiqur Rouf, Matthias Hullin
  • Patent number: 9129783
    Abstract: A method of mass spectrometry is disclosed comprising providing a mixture of different analyte ions and supplying electrons or reagent ions to said mixture so as to transfer charge to the analyte ions. The transfer of charge causes at least some of the analyte ions to dissociate and others of the analyte ions not to dissociate, but to form intermediate ions of altered charge state. These intermediate ions are then isolated from other ions and excited so as to dissociate into daughter ions. The intermediate ions and their daughter ions are analyzed and associated with each other so that the intermediate can be identified from their daughter ions. The analyte ions can then be identified from the intermediate ions, since they differ only in charge state. The disclosed method enables analyte ions to be associated with their fragment ions, and therefore identified, without having to isolate individual analyte ions prior to their interactions with the electrons or reagent ions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignees: Micromass UK Limited, The University of British Columbia
    Inventors: Jeffery Mark Brown, Damon Robb