Methods of preventing or treating autoimmune disease are disclosed. In some cases, subjects with having or at risk of developing autoimmune disease are identified as possessing one or more autoimmunity-susceptibility HLA alleles at one or more HLA loci. In many cases, the HLA loci are selected from Class I and Class II loci, for example Class I A, B, and C, and Class II DQ, DR, and DP. In many cases, subjects suffering from or at risk of developing an autoimmune disease may be administered a plurality engineered autologous HSCs modified to carry and express a variant susceptibility allele having at least one mutation in the antigen binding cleft that alters antigen binding and/or specificity of that variant HLA molecule. In many embodiments, the engineered HSCs are CD34+ immune cells that express one or more modified HLA proteins.

The present disclosure provides a CAR comprising a tumor antigen binding domain, a transmembrane domain, and an intracellular domain comprising an intracellular signaling domain of an interleukin-9 receptor alpha (IL9Ra), and modified cell(s), i.e., immune cell(s) or precursor cell(s) thereof, engineered to express the CAR. Also provided are methods and uses of the modified cells, e.g., for treating at least one sign and/or symptom of cancer. Related nucleic acids, vectors, and pharmaceutical compositions are also provided.

The present invention relates to a method for transducing a target cell, the method comprising the step of contacting a target cell with a retroviral vector and a poloxamer having a molecular weight of 12.8 kDa to about 15 kDa. Further, the invention relates to the use of a poloxamer as defined herein, optionally in combination with a polycationic substance as defined herein, for transducing a target cell with a retroviral vector and a kit comprising a retroviral vector, a poloxamer as defined herein and, optionally, instructions for use.

Disclosed herein are modified T cells comprising an IL12β p40 subunit. Also disclosed herein are methods of increasing T cell proliferation and/or methods of treating cancer by administering the modified T cells comprising an IL12β p40 subunit.

The present invention relates to a method for activating a cell and a cell activated thereby and a use thereof, more particularly, to an in vitro method of enhancing, recovering of immune response of CD8 T cells in exhaustion and proliferating the CD8 T cells comprising the step of inducing overexpression of Klf4 protein in CD8 T cells, a cell population containing the CD8 T cells or transduced CAR-CD8 T cells whose anticancer activity is enhanced by overexpressing Klf4 protein and use thereof.

The present disclosure describes the fusogenic activity of the Myomaker protein. This polypeptide, when expressed in non-muscle cells, is able to drive fusion of the cell with a muscle cell, but not with other non-muscle cells. The use of this protein and cell expressing it in the delivery of exogenous genetic material to muscle cells also is described.

A method for optogenetics experiments, based on wavefront shaping and including: calculating the transmission matrix between an input end and an output end of the multimode fiber under a fixed shape; implanting the output end into an intracranial space of an experimental subject; and performing wavefront compensation to a light to be input into the input end, according to the spatial position of the optical stimulation and the transmission matrix of the multimode fiber, to form a compensated expanded light, and inputting the compensated expanded light from the input end into the multimode fiber, such that the compensated expanded light, after being transmitted by the multimode fiber to the output end and output from the output end, is capable of focusing at the spatial position of the optical stimulation.

The present invention relates to a novel chimeric antigen receptor comprising a CD99 region which participates in immune synapse stabilization as a backbone of the chimeric antigen receptor, an immune cell comprising the same, and the uses thereof. CD99-based CAR-T cells are capable of forming very stable immune synapses with tumor cells compared to conventional backbone-based CAR-T cells and can exhibit improved tumor therapeutic efficiency, so they can be useful for immune cell therapy for the treatment of cancer.

The present invention is based on the discovery that cells enriched with mitochondria are useful for treating diseases and disorders. Disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions of mitochondrially-enriched genetically engineered T cells and methods of treatment using mitochondrially-enriched genetically engineered T cells.

Methods of preventing or treating autoimmune disease are disclosed. In some cases, subjects with having or at risk of developing autoimmune disease are identified as possessing one or more autoimmunity-susceptibility HLA alleles at one or more HLA loci. In many cases, the HLA loci are selected from Class I and Class II loci, for example Class I A, B, and C, and Class II DQ, DR, and DP. In many cases, subjects suffering from or at risk of developing an autoimmune disease may be administered a plurality engineered autologous HSCs modified to carry and express a variant susceptibility allele having at least one mutation in the antigen binding cleft that alters antigen binding and/or specificity of that variant HLA molecule. In many embodiments, the engineered HSCs are CD34+ immune cells that express one or more modified HLA proteins.