Provided are methods of diagnosing a viral disease such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma in a patient by identifying one or more virus-specific elements such as a nucleic acid or a viral protein or a patient antibody to a virus-specific element, as well as to kits for diagnosing the viral disease in a patient. Further provided are methods of monitoring disease progression and/or the efficacy of therapy by measuring the levels of a virus-specific element in a sample from a patient, and methods of identifying therapeutic agents that show efficacy in reducing levels of virus-specific agents in vitro. Still further provided are methods of treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lymphoproliferative disease and cancer, as well as methods of preventing viral infection, including Herpesvirus saimiri infection.

The present invention related to miR145, miR132, miR212, and the genes or gene products regulated by these miRNAs. miR145 is downregulated in cells infected with HCMV. This downregulation modulates expression of miR145 target genes, including IRS-1. Transfection of cells with a miR145 agent, such as a miR145 mimetic, reduces HCMV replication and protein expression. miR132 and miR212 are upregulated in cells infected with HCMV. This upregulation modulates expression of miR132 and miR212 target genes, including MeCP2 and RICS. Transfection of cells with a miR132 and/or a miR212 antagonist reduces HCMV replication and protein expression. Accordingly, the invention provides methods of attenuating HCMV replication by modulating, for example, miR145, miR132, and/or miR212, and targets thereof. Also provided are methods of detecting an HCMV infection, and compositions and kits useful for attenuating HCMV replication.

The present disclosure is directed to novel biomarkers useful for staging EHV-1 infections and immunity status of horses. This disclosure is further directed to methods of determining EHV-1 infection stage and immunity status of horses using the novel biomarkers.

The present invention provides binding molecules having one or more of (preferably all of) highly specific binding to the US28 protein of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), very low levels of non-specific binding to healthy (non-infected) cells, and/or a strain-agnostic binding ability, as well as nucleic acid molecules encoding the said binding molecules. The binding molecules are designed to bind to a newly-identified epitopic region within extracellular domain 1 (ECD1) of a US28 protein of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), the first of the four extracellular domains presented by US28, corresponding to positions 1 to 37 of the US28 protein sequence as defined by SEQ ID NO:5. The binding molecules of the present invention have been demonstrated to have excellent binding properties, including particular binding specificity for aggressive and/or metastasizing HCMV-infected cancers, including breast cancers. In certain preferred embodiments, the binding molecule is selected from an antibody (including, for example, a BiTE antibody) and a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), or functional variants, fragments, fusion proteins, and/or conjugates thereof. Also provided are cells expressing said binding molecules, such as CAR-expressing cells, including CAR-T cells, CAR-NK cells, and CAR-M cells.

Disclosed herein are methods of selecting an allogeneic T cell line for therapeutic administration to a patient having or suspected of having a pathogen or cancer. Also disclosed are methods of selecting a donor from whom to derive an allogeneic T cell line for therapeutic administration to a patient having or suspected of having a pathogen or cancer.