US Patent Issued to BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM on March 17 for "Contrast agents for detection of enzyme activities based on melanin synthesis" (Texas Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,576,166, issued on March 17, was assigned to BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM (Austin, Texas).

"Contrast agents for detection of enzyme activities based on melanin synthesis" was invented by Mark D. Pagel (Houston).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "We disclose a composition, comprising a compound, comprising a melanin precursor that spontaneously synthesizes a melanin when in free form in vivo, and a peptide directly covalently bonded to or indirectly linked to the melanin precursor, wherein the direct covalent bond or indirect link of the peptide to the melanin precursor blocks spontaneous synthesis of the melanin in vivo i...