38 innovations from Bar-Ilan University, available for licensing, co-investment, or spin-out through BIRAD.
Lellouche Jean-paul
"Effective Nanoscale Delivery System as an anti-Leishmania drug/technological platform for drug delivery"
Gerber Doron
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. Matching proper treatment and dosage is crucial for a positive outcome. Any given drug may affect patients with similar tumors differently. Personalized medicine aims to address this issue. Unfortunately, most cancer samples cannot be expanded in culture, limiting conventional cell-based testing. Herein, presented is a microfluidic device that combines a drug microarray with cell microscopy. The device can perform 512 experiments to test chemosensitivity and resistance to a drug array. MCF7 and 293T cells are cultured inside the device and their chemosensitivity and resistance to docetaxel, applied at various concentrations, are determined. Cell mortality is determined as a function of drug concentration and exposure time. It is found that both cell types form cluster morphology within the device, not evident in conventional tissue culture under similar conditions. Cells inside the clusters are less sensitive to drugs than dispersed cells. These findings support a heterogenous response of cancer cells to drugs. Then demonstrated is the principle of drug microarrays by testing cell response to four different drugs at four different concentrations. This approach may enable the personalization of treatment to the particular tumor and patient and may eventually improve final patient outcome.
Shai Rahimipour
β-Sheet aggregation between amyloid proteins is a key trait of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), having dire socioeconomic consequences. In the US alone, AD effects 5.7 million Americans and costs $277 billion/year, a burden due to increase over the next 10 years. Without a cure, FDA approved drugs for AD and PD treat only symptoms. The current invention describes novel Aza-cyclopeptides that are based on our previously discovered and patented cyclic D,L-
Albeck Amnon
Development of new synthetic compounds that prevent the autistic symptoms and improve some brain biochemical factors that are associated with autism
Byk Gerardo
The nanohydrogels (NHGs)are new in away that they are biodegraded slowly after administration. The NHGs can be loaded with drugs such as amphoterycin B or voriconazole for treating fungal infections. The nanohydrogels are monodispersed particles of 100 to 400 nm that have the specialty to be both cross-linked and biodegradable tanks to special cross-linkers used fo their generation. The NHGs are loaded with drugs and display a slow release of the drug both in vitro and in cell assays. The drugs are delivered via intraperitoneal administration and protects the infected animals form lethal doses of fungi strains
Shai Rahimipour
Drug delivery systems play a crucial role in optimizing drug therapy by improving drug efficacy, reducing side effects, enabling targeted delivery, and overcoming biological barriers. They also contribute to advancements in personalized medicine and have the potential to revolutionize healthcare by enhancing treatment outcomes and patient compliance. The advances in genome mapping, molecular diagnosis and production of highly selective humanized antibodies enable the development of precision medicine. Moreover, the emerging technologies in mRNA-based vaccines and treatments together with the breakthrough in gene manipulation using the CRISPR/Cas9 editing methodology have open new avenues in discovery of novel drugs. In general, the translation of these advances into successful therapies relies on the use of biologics, including peptides, proteins and oligonucleotides that exhibit high specificity and potency. However, delivery of drugs and biologics into the brain in different central nervous system conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease, glioblastoma and stroke, remains still a highly challenging endeavor, due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Therefore, there is a growing need for small, non-toxic, and affordable molecules that can increase the penetration of biologics and nanoparticles (NPs) carriers through the BBB. In this application, we demonstrate successful delivery of biocompatible liposomes and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) through BBB by systemic (i.p. and i.v.) injection for early diagnosis and therapy of AD. We show that conjugation of non-BBB permeable gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and liposomes with a cell permeable cyclic D,L-a-peptide (CP-2) dramatically increase the BBB permeation of the particles to generate theranostic probes for early diagnosis and therapy of AD. Targeting the oligomeric forms of Aβ in brain, Aβ oligomers and plaques were detected in the well-established 5xFAD mouse model of AD by CT and fluorescent imaging as early as 2-months. In transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans AD models overexpressing human Aβ, CP-2-conjugated NPs significantly outperformed free CP-2 by improving cognitive and behavioral functions, extending lifespan through reducing toxic Aβ oligomer levels.
Albeck Amnon
development of protein-protein interaction inhibitors, whose activity is calcium concentration dependent. Thus, at low calcium conc. the inhibitors will be active (preventing the interaction between the two proteins), but at high concentration they will not interfere with the biological activity.
Ayal Hendel
The invention is cellular based therapies for specifically targeting cells infected with viruses. In particular isolated T-cells and/or TCRs directed against various viruses, methods for their preparation and uses thereof for treating viral infections in subjects.
Nudelman Abraham
A novel use for the compounds 1-(butyryloxy)ethyl 5-amino-4-oxopentanoate hydrochloride and 1-(butyryloxy)butyl 5-amino-4-oxopentanoate hydrochloride, and their analogs, has been found as agents for the treatment of sickle cell anemia
Onn Itay
We developed a peptide regulator that modulates the protein-protein interaction between Smc2 and Smc4 heads and blocks condensin activity. Condensin organizes interphase chromatin into mitotic chromosomes. This ensures the structural stability and segregation fidelity of chromosomes. Inhibiting condensin leads to a mitotic catastrophe and will affect cell proliferation. This property may be used to treat yeast infections and/or treat cancer directly or indirectly.
Piran Ron
The progressive loss of insulin-producing β-cells is central to the pathogenesis of all diabetes types, yet strategies for their regeneration remain limited. Here, we describe the successful implementation of a mathematical prediction we developed: inhibition of somatostatin (Sst) expression enabled robust, glucose-responsive β-cell regeneration and restored insulin independence in diabetic models. Genetic Sst knock out (SstKO) mice spontaneously recovered from chemically induced diabetes. We then rediscovered Cysteamine (Cys), an FDA-approved drug, as a pharmacological inhibitor of Sst production in mouse and human primary islets. Mechanistically, Sst suppression released a brake on intrinsic regenerative pathways within the islet. In diabetic wild-type mice, Cys reproduced the regenerative phenotype of SstKO animals. Importantly, in autoimmune-prone NOD mice, Cys treatment restored β-cell function and insulin independence. Together, these findings identify Sst inhibition as both a regenerative and therapeutic axis for β-cell regeneration, and nominate Cys as a safe, clinically translatable candidate for diabetes therapy
Gerber Doron
We have a designed a new version of our cancer screening device. In this new version, we modified the device to work with a limited set panel of drugs (8-16). The idea is that we can take a panel of drugs the physician needs to choose from and test these drugs against cancer cells from a patient. We can then provide the physician with information on which drugs the patient's cancer cells are sensitive or resistant too. In turn the physician can now choose a more personalized therapy. The main difference from the former design is that it is not meant for hundreds of drug combinations and that it is designed with point of care diagnostics in mind.
