Niketa Patel

Competitive Advantages: Stabilize and increase Gas5 levels, Controls glucose metabolism and uptake, Multi-faceted and specific therapy, Promotes Apoptosis. Provided herein are compounds that can bind GASS long non-coding RNA, compositions thereof, and uses thereof.A technique has been developed to diagnose and predict type-2 diabetes mellitus via human GAS5; a long noncoding RNA(LncRNAs). LncRNAs are transcribed by all cell types however their expression levels are fixed to the cell type. This provides a high degree of specificity for its target and mode of action in the biological system. However, due to the presence of STOP codon, none of the transcripts are transcribed into protein and degrade when translation is initiated. The RNA levels of GAS5 are regulated by its degradation instead of regulation at its transcriptional level.  An RNA based small molecule will stabilize GAS5 lncRNA and increase its levels.Diabetic patients have extremely low lncRNA GAS5 levels. LncRNA is also detected in serum and plasma and shown to be a valuable marker for gastric cancer and prostate cancer. This therapeutic approach may be used to treat diabetes, gastric, breast and prostate cancer as well as leukemia, lymphoma and autoimmune diseases.

Provided herein are formulations that can contain an effec­tive amount of a PKCI\ inhibitor. Also provided herein are methods of inhibiting a PKCo in a subject in need thereof, that can include the step of administering an effective amount of a compound that is capable of inhibiting a PKCo. Endocrinology

Competitive Advantages: Potential diagnosis and treatment of sporadic, late onset Alzheimer’s disease (sAD), Allows for early detection of AD, Novel compound to increase lncRNA levels for in vivo sAD treatment. Described herein are assays, methods, and devices for diagnosing/prognosing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and/or a neurodegenerative disease in a subject. The assays, methods, and/or devices described herein can be configured to detect GASS long-coding RNAs and/or expression thereof in a sample from a subject.Using transcriptomics, scientists at USF have shown that GAS5 is significantly reduced in patients older than 65 years of age. They have further demonstrated that APP/PS1 mice, that exhibit AD pathology, showed decreased GAS5 levels in brain.  GAS5 affects multiple pathways promoting the onset of sAD pathology.  Thus, identifying a decrease in GAS5 may provide the opportunity to diagnose sAD at an earlier stage, potentially before other pathological symptoms occur. Furthermore, our researchers have utilized this finding to identify a small molecule that can significantly increase GAS5 levels.  Once deficient GAS5 levels are identified in a patient, this therapy has the potential to serve as an early intervention for sporadic, late-onset AD, and may slow or prevent Alzheimer’s pathology.