Biomedical / Therapeutics

Recent advances in therapeutics at UVM include a method for protecting tissues against ischemic injury, a neural approach to obesity prevention, and a simple assay for determining risk of heart attack.

Title	Inventors	Case #	Description	Podcasts
High-intensity ultrasound improves scar ablation	Wu Langevin	370	Highly localized acoustic energy provides rapid scar ablation without the high recurrence rates and side effects of traditional treatments. (Also in Devices)
Hybrid design knee joint prosthesis	Beynnon Incavo	174	Hybrid design for knee prostheses offers improved long-term stability through larger surface area for cement and undersurface area for bone ingrowth. (Also in Devices)
Knee joint prosthesis with a femoral component which links the tibiofermoral axis with the patellofemoral axis of rotation	Beynnon Incavo Coughlin	143	Kinematic studies of cadaver knee specimens can be used to develop an optimal femoral epicondylar axis for prostheses, providing a more normal range of motion. (Also in Devices)
Effective, low-risk approach to weight loss or gain	Galbraith	195	Intracranial administration of low-dose CoPP to inhibit NOS activity can promote weight loss while offering lower risk than gastric bypass surgery and circumventing the side effects of systemic NOS inhibition.
Depth sensor improves efficacy of cardiac ablation	Spector	302	Catheter-mounted sensor enables cardiologists to accurately determine lesion depth during cardiac ablation. (Also in Devices)
Embryonic stem cells protect & treat heart patients	Singla	253	Cell death and tissue scarring are major factors in the impairment of cardiac function associated with myocardial infarction. Now this damage can be reduced or prevented through implantation of embryonic stem cells in the heart tissue.
Antioxidant prevents organ damage from contrast agents	Meyer	258	Simultaneous administration of NAC with a contrast agent simplifies patient care while preventing or reducing organ damage. (Also in Diagnostics)
Toxoplasma gondii apical membrane antigen-1	Ward	74	High-throughput screening method identifies compounds that inhibit the ability of Toxoplasa to infect mammalian cells. This may lead to development of chemotherapies & vaccines for toxoplasmosis, a common parasitic disease in humans & animals.
Inhibitors of API	Ward	86
Identification of anti-protozoal agents	Ward	90	Library of non-toxic infection inhibitors may be effective against a broad specturm of protozoa. Additional inhibitors may be discovered through assay system that measures ability of parasites to invade cells.
Use of inhibitors of PACAP receptor activity for treatment of overactive bladder & pelvic floor pain syndrome	Vizzard Zvara	123	Inhibition of PACAP receptor activity may be the basis for the first effective treatment for pelvic floor pain & overactive bladder.
Anti-fungal agents & assay	Johnson	126	Development of effective treatment for fungal infections may be based on several small molecules that inhibit the budded-to-hyphal transition required for pathogenicity.
Small molecules inhibit yeast-to-hyphal transition	Johnson	176
Emergence of a R-Type Ca2+ channel contributes to cerebral artery constriction following subarachnoid hemorrhage	Wellman	188	Unique peptide may reverse subarachnoid hemorrhage-induced vasospasm.
Methods & compositions for treating toxoplasma	Matrajt	193	Heat shock protein of Toxoplasma prevents the conversion pathway of cysts from bradyzoite to tachyzoite. This may lead to an effective treatment for toxoplasmosis & enable screening for additional inhibitors.
Molecules offer potential therapy for advanced melanoma	Bosenberg	236	Malignant melanoma patients may realize a significant survival benefit from intravenous delivery or gene therapy with two newly identified small molecules. These yielded greater than four-fold reduction of tumor size in mouse xenograft studies.
Therapeutic treatment of oxidative stress	Janssen-Heininger	284	Method for monitoring oxidative stress levels in the clinical diagnosis & management of major diseases.
Drug combination acts synergistically on cancer cells	Littenberg	309	Combination therapy dramatically increases kill rate in cancer cell cultures compared to either drug alone. Potentially effective in a wide range of cancerous and precancerous conditions, including breast, ovarian, prostate, and lung cancer.
Preventing obesity through regulation of a neural chemical	May	311	Stress-related biochemical process in the sympathetic nervous system may be a significant factor in the development of obesity. In addition, compounds that block or regulate this process may offer a safe & effective treatment of the condition.
Regulation of GSK3ß activity may offer disease treatments	Rincon	335	Abnormal levels of GSK3ß activity have been associated with a wide range of diseases, including neurological conditions, diabetes, & cancer. Effective treatments for these diseases may be based on the newly-discovered ability of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) to phosphorylate GSK3ß activity.
PACAP expression & signaling mediates stress-induced anxiety-like behavior	May	344
MorC	Mintz	350
Secreted factors from stem cells protect against tissue injury	Spees	356	Treatment may protect cardiac & cerebral tissues from damage through oxygen or nutrient deprivation. Defined populations of multipotent stromal cells are expanded in culture. If injected within 24 hours, the cells release biologically active agents that can rescue almost 50 percent of ischemic tissue & prevent damage to surrounding tissues.
Factors for the protection of prolonged myocardial ischemia (MI)	Spees	369	Pending