Xiao Min Liu

US Patent:

20040180429, Sep 16, 2004

Filed:

Jun 5, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/456273

Inventors:

Lloyd Mitchell - Bethesda MD, US
John Englehardt - Iowa City IA, US
Xiao Liu - Iowa City IA, US

International Classification:

C12N005/08

US Classification:

435/366000, 435/320100

Abstract:

The present invention provides methods and compositions for generating novel nucleic acid molecules through targeted spliceosomal mediated trans-splicing in stem cells. The compositions of the invention include stem cells engineered to express pre-trans-splicing molecules (PTMs) designed to interact with a target precursor messenger RNA molecule (target pre-mRNA) and mediate a trans-splicing reaction resulting in the generation of novel chimeric RNA molecules (chimeric RNA). In particular, the stem cells of the present invention are genetically engineered to express a PTM that will interact with a specific target pre-mRNA expressed within a stem cell as it differentiates so as to result in correction of a genetic defect responsible for a genetic disorder. The methods of the invention encompass transferring a nucleic acid molecule capable of encoding a PTM of interest into a stem cell followed by transplantation of the PTM modified stem cell into a host. As the stem cell differentiates the target pre-mRNA is expressed thereby providing the substrate for a trans-splicing reaction. The present invention is based on the successful transfer and expression of a nucleic acid molecule encoding a PTM capable of interacting with a cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) pre-mRNA into primary human surface airway progenitor cells. The methods and compositions of the present invention can be used to correct genetic defects associated with a variety of different disorders such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, Tay-Sachs disease, thalassemias, polycystic kidney disease and muscular dystrophy, to name a few.

US Patent:

20140002203, Jan 2, 2014

Filed:

Jun 27, 2013

Appl. No.:

13/929243

Inventors:

Xiao Liu - Fairfax VA, US
Thomas H. Metcalf - Washington DC, US

Assignee:

US Gov't Represented by Secretary of the Navy Chief of Naval Research Office of Counsel ONR/NRL - Arlington VA

International Classification:

H03B 28/00

US Classification:

331156

Abstract:

This invention provides an extremely accurate way to characterize the Young's modulus of thin film materials with thicknesses in the nanometer range. It takes advantage of a recently developed high Q silicon Young's modulus resonator (YMR), which has a record high quality factor of about fifty million in operation at temperatures below 10 degrees Kelvin (10K). Because of the high Q of the YMR, the temperature stability of the YMR's resonance frequency below 1K, and the extremely high degree of vibration isolation inherent in the inventive design, the relative resolution of the resonant frequency is typically in 2×10. This is enough to resolve a resonant frequency shift after a deposition of a thin film onto the sensitive part of the resonator, and to compute the Young's modulus of thin film materials of even a few monolayers thickness.

US Patent:

20140043132, Feb 13, 2014

Filed:

Nov 9, 2011

Appl. No.:

13/884926

Inventors:

Marios D. Demetriou - Los Angeles CA, US
William L. Johnson - San Marino CA, US
Xiao Liu - Pasadena CA, US
Joseph P. Schramm - Albany CA, US
Georg KAltenboeck - Pasadena CA, US

Assignee:

California Institute of Technology - Pasadena CA

International Classification:

H01F 27/24
H01F 41/02

US Classification:

336233, 29607

Abstract:

Ferromagnetic cores made from amorphous glasses and methods of forming ferromagnetic cores from metallic glasses are provided. The method forms a magnetic core from a section of a series of concentrically nested ferromagnetic tubes formed of an amorphous metallic material having a Curie-point temperature above room temperature and demonstrating soft ferromagnetic properties, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and improving the electrical and mechanical performance of the core itself.