Patents Examined by Delia M. Ramirez
  • Patent number: 10308966
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides engineered polypeptides having imine reductase activity, polynucleotides encoding the engineered imine reductases, host cells capable of expressing the engineered imine reductases, and methods of using these engineered polypeptides with a range of ketone and amine substrate compounds to prepare secondary and tertiary amine product compounds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: Codexis, Inc.
    Inventors: Haibin Chen, Steven J. Collier, Jovana Nazor, Joly Sukumaran, Derek Smith, Jeffrey C. Moore, Gregory Hughes, Jacob Janey, Gjalt W. Huisman, Scott J. Novick, Nicholas J. Agard, Oscar Alvizo, Gregory A. Cope, Wan Lin Yeo, Stefanie Ng Minor
  • Patent number: 10308922
    Abstract: The present invention relates to polypeptides having endoglucanase activity, catalytic domains, and polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides or catalytic domains. The invention also relates to nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides as well as methods of producing and using the polypeptides or catalytic domains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: Novozymes A/S
    Inventors: Weijian Lai, Lan Tang, Marc Dominique Morant, Paul Harris
  • Patent number: 10301369
    Abstract: The present invention relates in general to therapeutic fusion proteins useful to treat lysosomal storage diseases and methods for treating such diseases. Exemplary therapeutic fusion proteins comprise a lysosomal enzyme, a lysosomal targeting moiety, e.g., an IGF-II peptide, and a spacer peptide. Also provided are compositions and methods for treating Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IIIB (Sanfilippo B Syndrome), comprising a targeted therapeutic fusion protein comprising alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Naglu), a lysosomal targeting moiety, e.g., an IGF-II peptide, and a spacer peptide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignee: BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
    Inventors: Mika Aoyagi-Scharber, Teresa Margaret Christianson, Melita Dvorak-Ewell, Daniel J. Wendt, Shinong Long, Jonathan LeBowitz, Daniel Solomon Gold
  • Patent number: 10287611
    Abstract: This invention relates to biocatalysts for the efficient production of succinic acid and/or other products from renewable biological feedstocks. The biocatalysts have a very high efficiency for the growth-coupled production of succinic acid and/or other products from carbohydrate feed stocks as a result of both genetic manipulation and metabolic evolution. More specifically, certain biocatalysts of the present invention produce succinic acid at high titers and yields in mineral salts media during simple pH-controlled batch fermentation without the addition of any exogenous genetic material. The genetic manipulations of the present invention are concerned with energy-conserving strategies coupled with the elimination of alternative routes for NADH oxidation other than the routes for succinic acid production. The biocatalysts contain glucose-repressed gluconeogenic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pck) derepressed by genetic modifications and a genetically-inactivated phosphotransferase system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2019
    Assignee: University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated
    Inventors: Xueli Zhang, Kaemwich Jantama, Jonathan C. Moore, Laura R. Jarboe, Keelnatham T. Shanmugam, Lonnie O'Neal Ingram
  • Patent number: 10273490
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for producing erythritol and to a cyanobacterial cell for the production of erythritol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: PHOTANOL B.V.
    Inventors: Klaas Jan Hellingwerf, Vinod Puthan Veetil, Aniek Doreen van der Woude
  • Patent number: 10273518
    Abstract: This document describes biochemical pathways that include the production of 3-oxopent-4-enoyl-CoA by condensation of acryloyl-CoA and acetyl-CoA using a ?-ketothiolase with a SER-HIS-HIS catalytic triad. These pathways described herein rely on enzymes such as, inter alia, dehydrogenases, dehydratases and ?-ketothiolases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: INVISTA NORTH AMERICA S.A.R.L.
    Inventors: Alex Van Eck Conradie, Adriana Leonora Botes
  • Patent number: 10273517
    Abstract: Testosteronan, a heparosan analog having the structure [-4-D-GlcUA-?1,4-D-GlcNAc-?1-]n, is produced by testosteronan synthase, a single protein that is a dual-action catalyst that utilizes UDP-GlcUA and UDP-GlcNAc to synthesize a polysaccharide having the structure [-4-D-GlcUA-?1,4-D-GlcNAc-?1-]n.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
    Inventors: Paul L. DeAngelis, Nigel J. Otto
  • Patent number: 10273487
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are expression vectors suitable for transfection in amoebas. The vectors may include a promoter from a protein-encoding gene from an amoeba, a selection marker, and a polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide of interest, operably linked to the promoter. The promoter may be from the ACT1 gene from Naegleria fowleri.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: University of South Florida
    Inventors: Andreas Seyfang, Christopher L. Massengill, Sara R. Sievers
  • Patent number: 10266854
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a microorganism capable of simultaneous co-fermentation of two or more sugars in a lignocellulosic hydrolysate and having tolerance against microorganism growth inhibitory substances in the lignocellulosic hydrolysate and further having butanol productivity. In addition, embodiments of the invention provide a recombinant microorganism in which a pathway converting butyryl-CoA into butanol or a pathway converting butyrate into butyryl-CoA is promoted, and butanol productivity is increased. Further, a method for producing butanol using the microorganisms is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: GS CALTEX CORPORATION
    Inventor: Sang-Hyun Lee
  • Patent number: 10253305
    Abstract: A variant polypeptide having chymosin activity, wherein the variant has an amino acid sequence which, when aligned with the chymosin comprising the sequence set out in SEQ ID NO: 2, comprises at least one substitution of an amino acid residue corresponding to any of amino acids 2, 22, 40, 48, 50, 51, 53, 61, 62, 76, 88, 98, 99, 109, 112, 117, 125, 126, 135, 144, 160, 161, 163, 187, 189, 194, 200, 201, 202, 203, 221, 223, 240, 242, 244, 254, 267, 271, 273, 278, 280, 284, 289, 292, 294 or 295 said positions being defined with reference to SEQ ID NO: 2 and wherein the variant has one or more altered properties as compared with a reference polypeptide having chymosin activity. Such a variant polypeptide may be used in the preparation of a cheese.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: DSM IP ASSETS B.V.
    Inventors: Petrus Jacobus Theodorus Dekker, Rene Marcel De Jong, Cornelis Marinus Muijlwijk
  • Patent number: 10246725
    Abstract: Microorganisms comprising modifications for producing pyruvate, ethanol, and other compounds. The microorganisms comprise modifications that reduce or ablate activity of one or more of pyruvate dehydrogenase, 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase, phosphate acetyltransferase, acetate kinase, pyruvate oxidase, lactate dehydrogenase, cytochrome terminal oxidase, succinate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase, pyruvate formate lyase, pyruvate formate lyase activating enzyme, and isocitrate lyase. The microorganisms optionally comprise modifications that enhance expression or activity of pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase. The microorganisms are optionally evolved in defined media to enhance specific production of one or more compounds. Methods of producing compounds with the microorganisms are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: WISCONSIN ALUMNI RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Jennifer L. Reed, Xiaolin Zhang
  • Patent number: 10246690
    Abstract: The invention provides a mutant hydrolase protein with enhanced kinetics and functional expression, as well as polynucleotides encoding the mutant proteins and methods of using the polynucleotides and mutant proteins.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: Promega Corporation
    Inventors: Aldis Darzins, Lance P. Encell, Rachel Friedman Ohana, Paul Otto, Michael R. Slater, Gediminas Vidugiris, Keith V. Wood, Monika G. Wood, Kate Qin Zhao, Kris Zimmerman
  • Patent number: 10244771
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for the construction of a bacteriophage-insensitive mutant of a Streptococcus thermophilus parent strain whereby the bacteriophage insensitivity is not based on the CRISPR resistance mechanism but based on another mechanism. The method provides a protocol by which this can be achieved by inactivating one or more of the CRISPR systems present in a given strain. The invention also provides the bacteriophage-insensitive mutants as well as their use in a process for making a dairy product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: DSM IP ASSETS B.V.
    Inventors: Roelof Hendrik Matthijs Kouwen, Laurens Leendert Hanemaaijer, Douwe Van Sinderen, Brian McDonnell, Jennifer Mahony
  • Patent number: 10233470
    Abstract: Recombinant photosynthetic microorganisms that convert inorganic carbon to secreted fatty acids are described. Methods to recover the secreted fatty acids from the culture medium without the need for cell harvesting are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: Synthetic Genomics, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul Gordon Roessler, You Chen, Bo Liu, Corey Neal Dodge
  • Patent number: 10227572
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides engineered ketoreductase enzymes having improved properties as compared to a naturally occurring wild-type ketoreductase enzyme. Also provided are polynucleotides encoding the engineered ketoreductase enzymes, host cells capable of expressing the engineered ketoreductase enzymes, and methods of using the engineered ketoreductase enzymes to synthesize a variety of chiral compounds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: Codexis, Inc.
    Inventors: Jack Liang, Stephane J. Jenne, Emily Mundorff, Charlene Ching, John M. Gruber, Anke Krebber, Gjalt W. Huisman
  • Patent number: 10221409
    Abstract: The mutant chorismate-pyruvate lyase (A) or (B) as described below is capable of producing 4-hydroxybenzoic acid or a salt thereof with sufficient practical efficiency. (A) A mutant chorismate-pyruvate lyase obtained by replacing the valine at position 80 in a chorismate-pyruvate lyase (ubiC) from Pantoea ananatis consisting of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 with one or more other amino acids. (B) A mutant chorismate-pyruvate lyase obtained by replacing an amino acid in another chorismate-pyruvate lyase, the amino acid being at a position enzymologically homologous with that of the above valine, with one or more other amino acids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: GREEN CHEMICALS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideaki Yukawa, Masayuki Inui, Kazumi Hiraga, Masako Suda, Ryoma Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 10214735
    Abstract: Isolated and prepared heparinases SDhep I and SDhep II obtained from a bacterium Sphingobacterium daejeonense are heparin enzymes that have not been reported. The isolated and prepared enzymes were obtained by steps of bacterium fermentation, crude enzyme extraction, multi-step column chromatography and so on. A study in properties showed that the two enzymes are specific for enzymolysis of heparin and are expected to be used in low molecular weight heparins preparation or heparin quality testing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jiake Bai
  • Patent number: 10202586
    Abstract: Provided are a dehalogenase variant, a polynucleotide encoding the dehalogenase variant, a recombinant microorganism including a genetic modification that increases dehalogenase activity, a composition including the recombinant microorganism, and a method of reducing a concentration of fluorinated methane using the recombinant microorganism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Joonsong Park, Taeyong Kim, Jinhwan Park
  • Patent number: 10196601
    Abstract: The present invention is related to a cell culture medium for reducing the C-terminal heterogeneity of a polypeptide expressed in cell-culture, wherein the medium comprises at least one essential trace element in an effective amount, and to a cell culture process for reducing C-terminal heterogeneity of a protein, in which process an essential trace element is used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: LEK PHARMACEUTICALS D.D.
    Inventor: Tanja Ficko Trcek
  • Patent number: 10196619
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides engineered cross-type-nucleic-acid targeting nucleic acids and compositions thereof. Nucleic acid sequences encoding the engineered cross-type-nucleic-acid targeting nucleic acids, as well as expression cassettes, vectors and cells comprising such nucleic acid sequences, are described. Also, methods are disclosed for making and using the engineered cross-type-nucleic-acid targeting nucleic acids and compositions thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Caribou Biosciences, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul Daniel Donohoue, Andrew Paul May