Other

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pittsburgh

Jonathan W Jarvik

Marcel Pierre Bruchez

Alan S Waggoner

O Burak Ozdoganlar

Geza Erdos

Phil G Campbell

Christopher S Szent-Gyorgyi

Brigitte F Schmidt

Peter B Berget

Louis D Falo, Jr

Louis Falo

Chris Szent-Gyorgi

Provided herein are devices and methods used to produce tattoo biosensors that are based on spatially controlled intracutaneous gene delivery of optical reporters driven by specific transcription factor pathways for a given cytokine or other analyte. The biosensors can be specific to a given analyte, or more generically represent the convergence of several cytokines into commonly shared intracellular transcription factor pathways. These biosensors can be delivered as an array in order to monitor multiple cytokines. Biosensor redeployment can enable chronic monitoring from months to years. The tattooed biosensor array of the present invention includes endogenous reporter cells, naturally tuned to each patient's own biology and can be used to reliably measure the state of a patient in real-time.

Biosensor tattoos and uses therefor for biomarker monitoring

Provided are biosensors, compositions comprising biosensors, and methods of using biosensors in living cells and organisms. The biosensors are able to be selectively targeted to certain regions or structures within a cell. The biosensors may provide a signal when the biosensor is targeted and/or in response to a property of the cell or organism such as membrane potential, ion concentration or enzyme activity.

Optical biosensors

The invention described here is a method whereby a molecular tag is put on a gene, transcript and protein in a single recombinational event. The protein tag takes the form of a unique peptide that can be recognized by an antibody or other specific reagent, the transcript tag takes the form of the sequence of nucleotides encoding the peptide that can be recognized by a specific polynucleotide probe, and the gene tag takes the form of a larger sequence of nucleotides that includes the peptide-encoding sequence and other associated nucleotide sequences. The central feature of the invention in its essential form is that the tag-creating DNA has a structure such that when it is inserted into an intron within a gene it creates two hybrid introns separated by a new exon encoding the protein tag. A major virtue of the method is that it allows one to identify new proteins or protein-containing structures, and, having done so, to readily identify and analyze the genes encoding those proteins.

Method for producing tagged genes, transcripts, and proteins

Oligonucleotide sequence comprising a repeating nucleotide sequence encoding circularly permuted epitope tag, and vectors comprising the oligonucleotide sequences. Methods for using the sequences to tag proteins. Antibodies specific for the epitopes. Methods for detecting and purifying proteins.

Reading frame independent epitope tagging

Method for producing tagged genes transcripts and proteins

A hand-held illuminated presentation pointer is described. In a lighted room, the pointer has all of the advantages of a conventional pointing rod. In a darkened room, the pointer can be illuminated so that it emits light from just one side of the shaft. When used in conjunction with a projected image such as from a 35 mm slide, the pointer is held so that illuminated side of the shaft faces the audience, with the result that the pointer is clearly visible as a glowing line in front of the projected image, and yet the appearance of the image is unaffected. Smaller illuminated pointers for use at close range are also described.

Hand held illuminated pointer

Growing community of inventors

Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Jonathan W Jarvik