The present disclosure generally relates to, inter alia, a new class of receptors engineered to modulate transcriptional regulation in a ligand-dependent manner. Particularly, the new receptors, even though derived from Notch, do not require the Notch negative regulatory regions previously believed to be essential for the functioning of the receptors. In addition, the new receptors described herein incorporate an extracellular oligomerization domain to promote oligomer formation of the chimeric receptors. The disclosure also provides compositions and methods useful for producing such receptors, nucleic acids encoding same, host cells genetically modified with the nucleic acids, as well as methods for modulating an activity of a cell and/or for the treatment of various health conditions such as cancers.

Methods to create chemically-induced dimerizing (CID) protein systems and uses thereof are described. The methods utilize antibody binding domain dimerizing proteins. The created systems can be used to regulate cellular events such as gene expression, receptor signaling and cell death to effectuate a variety of clinically relevant treatment outcomes.

The present disclosure is broadly concerned with the field of cancer immunotherapy. For example, the present invention generally relates to an immune cell comprising a genetically engineered antigen receptor that specifically binds to a target antigen and a genetic disruption agent that reduces or is capable of reducing the expression in the immune cell of a gene that weakens the function of the immune cell.

The technology described herein is directed to regulated synthetic gene expression systems. In one aspect described herein are synthetic transcription factors (synTFs) comprising a DNA binding domain, a transcriptional effector domain, and a regulator protein. In other aspects described herein are gene expression systems comprising said synTFs and methods of treating diseases and disorders using said synTFs.

Methods and compositions for improving the specificity of genome-editing nucleases (e.g., RNA-guided CRISPR-Cas nucleases or engineered zinc fmger nucleases) and customizable DNA-binding domain fusion proteins (e.g., RNA-guided dead-Cas9, RNA-guided dead-Cpf1, or engineered zinc finger arrays fused to transcriptional regulatory domains) for use as research reagents, in gene drives, or as therapeutic agents.

Disclosed are systems and methods for detecting extracellular ligands and/or inducing expression of an exogenous or endogenous gene. The disclosed systems and methods typically include and/or utilize (i) first and second exogenous extracellular sensors, and third and fourth exogenous extracellular sensors; and (ii) an expression vector comprising a target gene operably linked to a hybrid promoter sequence. The hybrid promoter sequence of the expression vector includes a minimal promoter for inducing transcription and the hybrid promoter sequence further includes interspaced transcription regulator binding sites upstream of the minimal promoter that bind two or more transcription regulators of the extracellular sensors that are released from the extracellular sensors when the extracellular sensor bind an extracellular ligand.

The present disclosure generally relates to, inter alia, a new class of receptors engineered to modulate transcriptional regulation in a ligand-dependent manner. Particularly, the new receptors, even though derived from Notch, do not require the Notch negative regulatory regions previously believed to be essential for the functioning of the receptors. In addition, the new receptors described herein incorporate an extracellular oligomerization domain to promote oligomer formation of the chimeric receptors. The disclosure also provides compositions and methods useful for producing such receptors, nucleic acids encoding same, host cells genetically modified with the nucleic acids, as well as methods for modulating an activity of a cell and/or for the treatment of various health conditions such as cancers.

Methods to create chemically-induced dimerizing (CID) protein systems and uses thereof are described. The methods utilize antibody binding domain dimerizing proteins. The created systems can be used to regulate cellular events such as gene expression, receptor signaling and cell death to effectuate a variety of clinically relevant treatment outcomes.

The present disclosure provides engineered immune cells and methods for their creation and use. The immune cells comprise activating and blocking receptors, that exhibit cross-talk between the receptors.

The instant disclosure provides chimeric polypeptides which modulate various cellular processes following a cleavage event induced upon binding of a specific binding member of the polypeptide with its binding partner. Methods of using chimeric polypeptides to modulate cellular functions, including e.g., induction of gene expression, are also provided. Nucleic acids encoding the subject chimeric polypeptides and associated expression cassettes and vectors as well as cells that contain such nucleic acids and/or expression cassettes and vectors are provided. Also provided, are methods of treating a subject using the described components and methods as well as kits for practicing the subject methods.