Local Researchers Find Clues to How Regeneration Works
Irvine-based Hitachi Chemical Research Center Inc. announced the formation of RNAture Inc., a wholly owned commercial subsidiary that will develop and manufacture gene-expression enabling products for basic research and high-throughput pharmaceutical screening. RNAture, which opened Feb. 1, is based on research collaboration over the past 10 years between Hitachi Chemical Research and UCI in a shared facility on the university campus.
“While Hitachi often develops and commercializes technology in Japan and launches U.S. subsidiaries, RNAture is unique in that it aims at ‘made in the U.S.A.’ with independent management,” according to Masato Mitsuhashi, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of RNAture. “Our objective is to contribute to the local business environment in an intellectual and professional way, thereby increasing the value of the local economy.”
The connections between Hitachi and the university are extensive. For example, Mitsuhashi is also an associate professor in the UCI Department of Pathology. HCR owns the joint facility’s building, which is on land leased from UCI. HCR and RNAture share the building with UCI molecular diagnostics researchers.
“UCI has been a wonderful test bed for our products, and we have developed collaborations with the schools of engineering, biological sciences and physical sciences, as well as the College of Medicine,” Mitsuhashi said.
RNAture’s first product, the mRNA ExpressTM Kit, is scheduled for shipment this month. It will be the first of many products and capabilities for gene expression analysis, with initial emphasis on cancer research.
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Salamanders, those amphibians that can grow back lost limbs (the only vertebrate life form that can do so), may provide the key to new approaches for the treatment of spinal-cord injuries, deep wounds and burns.
UCI researchers have developed an effective method of studying the function of the specific genes necessary for limb regeneration in salamanders.
Susan V. Bryant, David M. Gardiner and Stephane Roy of UCI’s Department of Developmental and Cell Biology found that by using a laboratory-altered version of a cowpox virus,called a vaccina virus,as a carrier, they were able to introduce molecules into the cells where regeneration occurs and initiate specific gene functions, officials said. Their findings appear in the Feb. 15 issue of Developmental Biology.
By understanding the process of regeneration, researchers ultimately may find new approaches and therapies for replacing and repairing damaged or diseased parts of the human body.
“By understanding which genes do what in limb regeneration, it will allow us to look at why other animals can’t regenerate, and it puts us on the path to design ways to achieve regeneration where it never existed before,” Bryant said.
Bits and pieces:
VitalCom Inc. of Tustin announced the release of PatientBrowser, an application that allows secure Internet access to patients under acute care. Caregivers use a web browser and secure connection to get real-time information on the patient, including medical history. The new product is an addition to the company’s PatientNet suite Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Irvine announced that it has received notice of allowance from the Patent Office for use of AMPA receptor modulators to treat sexual dysfunction. The patent inventors are professors Gary Lynch, Ph.D., and Richard Granger, Ph.D., both of UCI. Cortex has exclusive license to the claims covered by the patent. The company’s class of pharmaceuticals based on the AMPA receptor modulators is called Ampakines The Alzheimer’s Association’s Millennium Calendar, produced in Orange County, will include the artwork of two Alzheimer’s patients from Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana. The calendar is produced through the association’s “Memories in the Making” program, which was founded by board member Selly Jenny St. Joseph Health System, Orange, recently granted $50,000 to Catholic Relief Services to help flood victims in Venezuela. SJHS also has helped hurricane victims on the East Coast and in the Caribbean, as well as earthquake survivors in Columbia and flood victims in Honduras and Nicaragua Cardiac Science Inc., Irvine, announced that it has received FDA clearance to market the commercial version of is Powerheart monitor and defibrillator in the U.S. The Powerheart continuously monitors patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest and can automatically deliver defibrillator pulses.
