Patents by Inventor Fenfei LENG
Fenfei LENG has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 12371725Abstract: A method, which synthesizes closed circular single-stranded and double-stranded DNA molecules using in vitro enzymatic systems, is described. Circular single-stranded DNA molecules and double-stranded DNA molecules (e.g., relaxed, or supercoiled) with various sizes can be synthesized. Unwanted DNA molecules, e.g., unligated oligomers, can be removed by exonucleases, such as T5 exonuclease, T7 exonuclease, lambda exonuclease, E. coli exonuclease I and/or III. A method of converting the single-stranded circular DNA molecules into double-stranded circular DNA molecules is also described. The single-stranded and double-stranded circular DNA molecules can be used in a variety of applications.Type: GrantFiled: October 25, 2023Date of Patent: July 29, 2025Assignee: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventor: Fenfei Leng
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Publication number: 20250090566Abstract: The subject invention provides fluorophore-quencher nucleic acid molecules comprising relaxed or supercoiled DNA molecules, and their use in rapid and efficient high-throughput screening (HTS) assays to screen and identify compounds that inhibit DNA gyrases. These compounds can be used as antibiotics for treating bacterial infections, especially, multidrug resistant bacterial infections.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 21, 2024Publication date: March 20, 2025Applicant: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventors: FENFEI LENG, EDDY ALFONSO, ZIFANG DENG
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Patent number: 12234504Abstract: The subject invention provides a novel fluorescence-based, T5 exonuclease-amplified DNA cleavage assay for gyrase poisoning inhibitor discovery. According to the assay, multiple gyrase molecules can simultaneously bind to a plasmid DNA molecule to form multiple gyrase-DNA cleavage complexes on the same plasmid. These gyrase-DNA cleavage complexes, greatly stabilized by a gyrase poisoning inhibitor, and can be trapped by a detergent such as sarkosyl. Digestion of gyrase by proteinase K results in the production of small DNA fragments, which can be digested by T5 exonuclease. This fluorescence-based DNA cleavage HTS assay is also suitable for screening large compound libraries to identify inhibitors against DNA topoisomerases, including human DNA topoisomerase II?.Type: GrantFiled: October 1, 2024Date of Patent: February 25, 2025Assignee: The Florida International University Board of TrusteesInventors: Fenfei Leng, Matthew Dias
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Patent number: 12121528Abstract: The subject invention provides fluorophore-quencher nucleic acid molecules comprising relaxed or supercoiled DNA molecules, and their use in rapid and efficient high-throughput screening (HTS) assays to screen and identify compounds that inhibit DNA gyrases. These compounds can be used as antibiotics for treating bacterial infections, especially, multidrug resistant bacterial infections.Type: GrantFiled: September 13, 2022Date of Patent: October 22, 2024Assignee: The Florida International University Board of TrusteesInventors: Fenfei Leng, Eddy Alfonso, Zifang Deng
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Publication number: 20240141400Abstract: A method, which synthesizes closed circular single-stranded and double-stranded DNA molecules using in vitro enzymatic systems, is described. Circular single-stranded DNA molecules and double-stranded DNA molecules (e.g., relaxed, or supercoiled) with various sizes can be synthesized. Unwanted DNA molecules, e.g., unligated oligomers, can be removed by exonucleases, such as T5 exonuclease, T7 exonuclease, lambda exonuclease, E. coli exonuclease I and/or III. A method of converting the single-stranded circular DNA molecules into double-stranded circular DNA molecules is also described. The single-stranded and double-stranded circular DNA molecules can be used in a variety of applications.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 25, 2023Publication date: May 2, 2024Applicant: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventor: Fenfei LENG
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Publication number: 20230364057Abstract: The subject invention provides fluorophore-quencher nucleic acid molecules comprising relaxed or supercoiled DNA molecules, and their use in rapid and efficient high-throughput screening (HTS) assays to screen and identify compounds that inhibit DNA gyrases. These compounds can be used as antibiotics for treating bacterial infections, especially, multidrug resistant bacterial infections.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 26, 2023Publication date: November 16, 2023Inventors: Fenfei LENG, Eddy ALFONSO, Zifang DENG, Adel NEFZI, Kyle ROHDE
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Patent number: 11732286Abstract: The present invention provides assays and methods for studying DNA topology and topoisomerases. The assays and methods utilize a circular plasmid DNA comprising one or more hairpin structures and the ability of T5 exonuclease (T5E) to digest the circular plasmid DNA in a specific configuration. The assays and methods can be used as a high throughput screening for inhibitors of, for example, DNA gyrases and DNA topoisomerases I for anticancer drug and antibiotics discovery.Type: GrantFiled: February 14, 2022Date of Patent: August 22, 2023Assignee: The Florida International University Board of TrusteesInventors: Fenfei Leng, Zifang Deng
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Publication number: 20230136466Abstract: The subject invention provides fluorophore-quencher nucleic acid molecules comprising relaxed or supercoiled DNA molecules, and their use in rapid and efficient high-throughput screening (HTS) assays to screen and identify compounds that inhibit DNA gyrases. These compounds can be used as antibiotics for treating bacterial infections, especially, multidrug resistant bacterial infections.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 13, 2022Publication date: May 4, 2023Applicant: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventors: FENFEI LENG, EDDY ALFONSO, ZIFANG DENG
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Patent number: 11613780Abstract: The disclosure describes the effects of transcription mediated from a promoter on the transcription mediated by divergently coupled supercoiling-sensitive promoter. Transcription initiated from a promoter inhibits transcription mediated by a specific supercoiling-sensitive promoter that is divergently coupled to the promoter. A gyrase inhibitor relieves this inhibition and substantially increases the transcription mediated by the specific supercoiling-sensitive promoter that is divergently coupled to another promoter. Accordingly, the invention pertains to a method for identifying a compound as a gyrase inhibitor or not a gyrase inhibitor based on differential expression of genes under the control of divergently coupled promoters in the presence of the compound. Another embodiment of the invention provides an assay for identifying one or more compounds from a library of compounds as a gyrase inhibitor.Type: GrantFiled: June 15, 2018Date of Patent: March 28, 2023Assignee: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventors: Fenfei Leng, Xiaoduo Zhi, Samantha Dages, Kelley Dages
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Publication number: 20220170070Abstract: The present invention provides assays and methods for studying DNA topology and topoisomerases. The assays and methods utilize a circular plasmid DNA comprising one or more hairpin structures and the ability of T5 exonuclease (T5E) to digest the circular plasmid DNA in a specific configuration. The assays and methods can be used as a high throughput screening for inhibitors of, for example, DNA gyrases and DNA topoisomerases I for anticancer drug and antibiotics discovery.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 14, 2022Publication date: June 2, 2022Applicant: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventors: Fenfei LENG, Zifang DENG
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Publication number: 20220119858Abstract: The present invention provides assays and methods for studying DNA topology and topoisomerases. The assays and methods utilize a circular plasmid DNA comprising one or more hairpin structures and the ability of T5 exonuclease (T5E) to digest the circular plasmid DNA in a specific configuration. The assays and methods can be used as a high throughput screening for inhibitors of, for example, DNA gyrases and DNA topoisomerases I for anticancer drug and antibiotics discovery.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 16, 2020Publication date: April 21, 2022Applicant: The Florida International University Board of TrusteesInventors: Fenfei LENG, Zifang Deng
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Patent number: 11286514Abstract: The present invention provides assays and methods for studying DNA topology and topoisomerases. The assays and methods utilize a circular plasmid DNA comprising one or more hairpin structures and the ability of T5 exonuclease (T5E) to digest the circular plasmid DNA in a specific configuration. The assays and methods can be used as a high throughput screening for inhibitors of, for example, DNA gyrases and DNA topoisomerases I for anticancer drug and antibiotics discovery.Type: GrantFiled: October 16, 2020Date of Patent: March 29, 2022Assignee: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventors: Fenfei Leng, Zifang Deng
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Patent number: 11268129Abstract: The present invention provides assays and methods for studying DNA topology and topoisomerases. The assays and methods utilize a circular plasmid DNA comprising one or more hairpin structures and the ability of T5 exonuclease (T5E) to digest the circular plasmid DNA in a specific configuration. The assays and methods can be used as a high throughput screening for inhibitors of, for example, DNA gyrases and DNA topoisomerases I for anticancer drug and antibiotics discovery.Type: GrantFiled: June 10, 2021Date of Patent: March 8, 2022Assignee: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventors: Fenfei Leng, Zifang Deng
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Patent number: 10150987Abstract: The present invention provides labeled circular plasmid DNA molecules for studying DNA topology and topoisomerases. The molecules of the present invention also provide tools for high throughput drug screening for inhibitors of DNA gyrases and DNA topoisomerases for anticancer drug discovery and antibiotics discovery.Type: GrantFiled: December 28, 2017Date of Patent: December 11, 2018Assignee: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventor: Fenfei Leng
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Publication number: 20180305755Abstract: The disclosure describes the effects of transcription mediated from a promoter on the transcription mediated by divergently coupled supercoiling-sensitive promoter. Transcription initiated from a promoter inhibits transcription mediated by a specific supercoiling-sensitive promoter that is divergently coupled to the promoter. A gyrase inhibitor relieves this inhibition and substantially increases the transcription mediated by the specific supercoiling-sensitive promoter that is divergently coupled to another promoter. Accordingly, the invention pertains to a method for identifying a compound as a gyrase inhibitor or not a gyrase inhibitor based on differential expression of genes under the control of divergently coupled promoters in the presence of the compound. Another embodiment of the invention provides an assay for identifying one or more compounds from a library of compounds as a gyrase inhibitor.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 15, 2018Publication date: October 25, 2018Applicant: The Florida International University Board of TrusteesInventors: Fenfei LENG, Xiaoduo ZHI, Samantha DAGES, Kelley DAGES
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Patent number: 10000807Abstract: The disclosure describes the effects of transcription mediated from a promoter on the transcription mediated by divergently coupled supercoiling-sensitive promoter. Transcription initiated from a promoter inhibits transcription mediated by a specific supercoiling-sensitive promoter that is divergently coupled to the promoter. A gyrase inhibitor relieves this inhibition and substantially increases the transcription mediated by the specific supercoiling-sensitive promoter that is divergently coupled to another promoter. Accordingly, the invention pertains to a method for identifying a compound as a gyrase inhibitor or not a gyrase inhibitor based on differential expression of genes under the control of divergently coupled promoters in the presence of the compound. Another embodiment of the invention provides an assay for identifying one or more compounds from a library of compounds as a gyrase inhibitor.Type: GrantFiled: September 1, 2016Date of Patent: June 19, 2018Assignee: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventors: Fenfei Leng, Xiaoduo Zhi, Samantha Dages, Kelley Dages
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Publication number: 20180135112Abstract: The present invention provides labeled circular plasmid DNA molecules for studying DNA topology and topoisomerases. The molecules of the present invention also provide tools for high throughput drug screening for inhibitors of DNA gyrases and DNA topoisomerases for anticancer drug discovery and antibiotics discovery.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 28, 2017Publication date: May 17, 2018Applicant: The Florida International University Board of TrusteesInventor: Fenfei LENG
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Patent number: 9920014Abstract: The present invention provides novel bisbenzimidazole compounds and methods of using the compounds as antibacterial agents.Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 2014Date of Patent: March 20, 2018Assignees: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CLEMSON UNIVERSITYInventors: Nihar Ranjan, Dev P. Arya, Fenfei Leng
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Publication number: 20180057877Abstract: The disclosure describes the effects of transcription mediated from a promoter on the transcription mediated by divergently coupled supercoiling-sensitive promoter. Transcription initiated from a promoter inhibits transcription mediated by a specific supercoiling-sensitive promoter that is divergently coupled to the promoter. A gyrase inhibitor relieves this inhibition and substantially increases the transcription mediated by the specific supercoiling-sensitive promoter that is divergently coupled to another promoter. Accordingly, the invention pertains to a method for identifying a compound as a gyrase inhibitor or not a gyrase inhibitor based on differential expression of genes under the control of divergently coupled promoters in the presence of the compound. Another embodiment of the invention provides an assay for identifying one or more compounds from a library of compounds as a gyrase inhibitor.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 1, 2016Publication date: March 1, 2018Applicant: The Florida International University Board of TrusteesInventors: Fenfei LENG, Xia duo ZHI, Samantha DAGES, Kelley DAGES
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Patent number: 9890416Abstract: The present invention provides labeled circular plasmid DNA molecules for studying DNA topology and topoisomerases. The molecules of the present invention also provide tools for high throughput drug screening for inhibitors of DNA gyrases and DNA topoisomerases for anticancer drug discovery and antibiotics discovery.Type: GrantFiled: October 5, 2016Date of Patent: February 13, 2018Assignee: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEESInventor: Fenfei Leng