The present invention belongs to the fields of tumor therapy and molecular immunology, and provides an anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibody or antigen binding fragment thereof, a pharmaceutical composition thereof and use thereof. The monoclonal antibody of the present invention can block the binding of CTLA4 to B7, relieve the immunosuppression on the body by CTLA4, and activate T lymphocytes.

The present invention concerns the field of diagnostics and patient stratification for cancer therapy. In particular, it relates to a method for assessing a treatment response associated with immunotherapy in a subject in need thereof comprising the steps of determining hepatic auto-aggressive CD8 positive (+) PD-1 positive (+) T cells exhibiting traits of activation and exhaustion or CD8+ T cell precursors thereof in a sample of a subject in need of immunotherapy or in a data set comprising imaging data of a subject in need of immunotherapy, and assessing the treatment response associated with immunotherapy based on the presence, absence or abundance of said hepatic auto-aggressive CD8+ PD-1+ T-cells exhibiting traits of activation or exhaustion or CD8+ T cell precursors thereof. Further contemplated is a method for recommending immunotherapy for a subject or a method for treating a subject by immunotherapy. The present invention also provides a diagnostic device for carrying out the method of the present invention.

The present disclosure describes an IHC assay for detecting and quantifying spatially proximal pairs of PD-1-expressing cells (PD-1+ cells) and PD-Ligand-expressing cells (PD-L+ cells) in tumor tissue, and the use of the assay to generate proximity biomarkers that are predictive of which cancer patients are most likely to benefit from treatment with a PD-1 antagonist. The disclosure also provides methods for testing tumor samples for the proximity biomarkers, as well as methods for treating subjects with a PD-1 antagonist based on the test results.

An anti-CTLA4 (cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen 4) and anti-PD-1 (programmed cell death 1) bifunctional antibody. a pharmaceutical composition thereof and use thereof. Particularly, the anti-CLTA4 and anti-PD-1 bifunctional antibody comprises a first protein functional domain that targets PD-1 and a second protein functional domain that targets CTLA-4. The bifunctional antibody can bind to CTLA-4 and PD-1 specifically, relieve immunosuppression of CTLA4 and PD-1 on an organism specifically, activate T lymphocytes, and thus has good application prospects.

In various embodiments, provided are immune response signatures that can be used for the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of long-term diseases and inflammatory disorders caused by viral infections. In some embodiments, the viral infection is SARS-CoV-2 infection. In some embodiments, the long-term disease is post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC).

The present disclosure describes an IHC assay for detecting and quantifying spatially proximal pairs of PD-1-expressing cells (PD-1+ cells) and PD-Ligand-expressing cells (PD-L+ cells) in tumor tissue, and the use of the assay to generate proximity biomarkers that are predictive of which cancer patients are most likely to benefit from treatment with a PD-1 antagonist. The disclosure also provides methods for testing tumor samples for the proximity biomarkers, as well as methods for treating subjects with a PD-1 antagonist based on the test results.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a method of treating or preventing lupus (e.g., SLE) in a subject, comprising: (a) identifying the subject as having at least one differentially regulated biomarker selected from CD40, CD40L, CD86, CD80, and PD1; and (b) administering an agent that inhibits the CD40 or CD28 signaling pathway, thereby treating or preventing lupus in the subject. In other embodiments, the present invention provides a method of treating or preventing lupus (e.g., SLE) in a subject, comprising: (a) administering an agent that inhibits the CD40 or CD28 signaling pathway; (b) determining whether the agent neutralizes at least one differentially regulated biomarker selected from CD40, CD40L, CD86, CD80, and PD1; and (c) adjusting the dosing of the agent in the subject, thereby treating or preventing lupus in the subject.

The invention relates, in part, to methods of scoring a sample containing tumor tissue from a cancer patient. The score is representative of a spatial proximity between at least one pair of cells, a first member of the at least one pair of cells expressing a first biomarker and a second member of the at least one pair of cells expressing a second biomarker that is different from the first biomarker. The score obtained from these methods can be indicative of a likelihood that a patient may respond positively to immunotherapy.

The present invention relates to novel muteins derived from human tear lipocalin. The invention also refers to a corresponding nucleic acid molecule encoding such mutein and to a method for its generation. The invention further refers to a method for producing such a mutein. Finally, the invention is directed to a pharmaceutical composition comprising such a lipocalin mutein as well as to various uses of the mutein.

The invention relates to methods for determining the likelihood of the formation of a clinical response in an individual to therapy with an immunomodulatory agent for treatment of a disease or condition of the individual.