Disclosed herein are nucleic acid molecules comprising molecular barcodes having a variable sequence operably linked to a promoter and compositions comprising such nucleic acid molecules. Further disclosed herein are methods for simultaneously mapping the lineage and the transcriptional state of a cell.

Cancer immunotherapy using genetically engineered NK cells is enhanced by expression of recombinant co-stimulatory molecules to deliver co-stimulatory signals to a recipient host's immune cells to enhance an immune response.

The disclosure provides methods and compositions useful for obtaining induced stem cells, methods of making and use thereof.

Provided herein are genetically modified arenaviral vectors suitable as vaccines for prevention and treatment of cytomegalovirus infections and reactivation. Also provided herein are pharmaceutical compositions and methods for the treatment of cytomegalovirus infections and reactivation. Specifically, provided herein are pharmaceutical compositions, vaccines, and methods of treating cytomegalovirus infections and reactivation.

The disclosure provides methods and compositions useful for obtaining induced stem cells, methods of making and use thereof.

Recombinant poxvirus expressing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 structural proteins and virus-like particles are described, along with methods of making and using the same.

The present invention relates to vectors, such as DNA plasmids, comprising multiple nucleic acid sequences engineered to be co-expressed as separate molecules. Such separate molecules include a first polypeptide, wherein the first polypeptide comprises a targeting unit that targets antigen-presenting cells, a multimerization unit, such as dimerization unit, and an antigenic unit comprising one or more T cell epitopes of a self-antigen, an allergen, an alloantigen or a xenoantigen, and one or more immunoinhibitory compounds

The invention relates to an infectious arenavirus particle that is engineered to contain a genome with the ability to amplify and express its genetic information in infected cells but unable to produce further infectious progeny particles in normal, not genetically engineered cells. One or more of the four arenavirus open reading frames glycoprotein (GP), nucleoprotein (NP), matrix protein Z and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase L are removed or mutated to prevent replication in normal cells but still allowing gene expression in arenavirus vector-infected cells, and foreign genes coding for an antigen or other protein of interest or nucleic acids modulating host gene expression are expressed under control of the arenavirus promoters, internal ribosome entry sites or under control of regulatory elements that can be read by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, cellular RNA polymerase I, RNA polymerase II or RNA polymerase III. The modified arenaviruses are useful as vaccines and therapeutic agents for a variety of diseases.

Provided is a novel vector for immunostimulation and methods of using same in immunotherapy, in particular cancer immunotherapy. The novel vector comprises nucleic acid sequences encoding 4-1BB ligand (4-1BBL, CD137 ligand), single chain IL-12 (sc IL-12) and IL-2, wherein the vector provides for an increased expression of 4-1BBL as compared to the expression levels of sc IL-12 and IL-2. Specifically, the nucleic acid sequences encoding 4-1BBL, sc IL-12 and IL-2 are organized in the vector in 5 to 3 orientation in a sequential order 1, 2, 3, with the proviso that the gene encoding sc IL-12 is not at position 1. Embodiments of the present disclosure include virus particles comprising the novel vector as well as cancer or immune cells transduced or transfected with the novel vector.

Methods and composition of induction of pluripotent stem cells and other desired cell types are disclosed. For example, in certain aspects methods for generating essentially vector-free induced pluripotent stem cells are described. Furthermore, the invention provides induced pluripotent stem cells and desired cell types essentially free of exogenous vector elements with the episomal expression vectors to express differentiation programming factors.