The present invention is directed to a pharmaceutical composition including (e.g. for use as an adjuvant) a polymeric carrier cargo complex, comprising as a carrier a polymeric carrier formed by disulfide-crosslinked cationic components; and as a cargo at least one nucleic acid molecule, and at least one antigen that is selected from an antigen from a pathogen associated with infectious disease; an antigen associated with allergy or allergic disease; an antigen associated with autoimmune disease; or an antigen associated with a cancer or tumour disease, or in each case a fragment, variant and/or derivative of said antigen. The pharmaceutical composition allows for efficient induction of an adaptive immune response directed against said antigen. The present invention furthermore provides kits, as well as the use of the pharmaceutical composition or the kit as a vaccine, particularly in the treatment of infectious diseases, allergies, autoimmune diseases and tumour or cancer diseases.

Some embodiments provided herein are chimeric costimulatory antigen receptor (CoStAR), useful in adoptive cell therapy (ACT), and cells comprising the CoStAR. In some embodiments, the CoStAR can act as a modulator of cellular activity enhancing responses to defined antigens. In some embodiments, CoStAR and/or fusion proteins, nucleic acids encoding the CoStAR and therapeutic uses thereof are also provided.

Embodiments of the disclosure include methods and compositions useful for treating cancer in an immunogenic manner so as to elicit local tumor regression, while priming systemic immunity. In one embodiment, there is expansion of tumor-specific immune cells through administration of fibroblasts, either natural or modified in an intratumoral and/or peritumoral manner. In other embodiments, manipulation of a local tumor microenvironment is achieved by injections of immune-modulating fibroblasts to facilitate expansion of immune effector cells, which are subsequently re-stimulated in the periphery by antigenic exposure. In another embodiment, agents are provided that allow for systemic derepression of immunity, while optionally augmenting ability of immune effector cells to expand and kill tumor cells.

The present invention relates to RNA, particularly an immunostimulatory RNA (isRNA), a coding RNA or a combination thereof, for use in the treatment or prophylaxis of a disease, in particular a tumor and/or cancer disease. The present invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions, and a kit comprising the RNA(s). Further, the invention also comprises medical uses of the RNA(s) and compositions comprising the RNA(s).

Provided is a modified immune cell, comprising a chimeric antigen receptor and/or a coding element therefor, or comprising a T cell receptor and/or a coding element therefor. The immune cell further comprises: leptin and/or a functional fragment thereof; and/or, a leptin receptor and/or a functional fragment thereof, and the expression quantity of the leptin receptor and/or the functional fragment thereof in the immune cell is increased compared with that in an immune cell without the corresponding modification. In addition, also provided is another modified immune cell, comprising leptin and/or a functional fragment thereof, and/or, a leptin receptor and/or a functional fragment thereof, and a low-density lipoprotein-receptor-related protein or a fragment thereof.

The disclosure provides immune cells comprising a first activator receptor specific to mesothelin and a second inhibitory receptor specific to a ligand that has been lost in a mesothelin-positive cancer cell, and methods of making and using same for the treatment of cancer.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a DNA vaccine for cancer immunotherapy comprising at least the steps of (a) transforming an attenuated strain of Salmonella with at least one DNA molecule comprising at least one expression cassette encoding at least one antigen or at least one fragment thereof; (b) characterizing at least one transformed cell clone obtained in step (a); and (c) selecting at least one of the transformed cell clone(s) characterized in step (b) and further characterizing said at least one selected transformed cell clone. The present invention further relates to a DNA vaccine obtainable by the method according to the present invention.

Presently disclosed are immune cells (i.e., the Baize Super Cells) that have been engineered to express and incorporate an immune cell activator polypeptide comprising an extracellular label domain into their cell surface membrane. Also disclosed are immune cells that have been engineered to secrete one or more polypeptide effector molecules, as well as immune cells engineered to express both molecules. Nucleic acid vectors for expressing these molecules in immune cells are disclosed. A bispecific polypeptide that can be used to specifically bind an immune cell expressing an immune cell activator polypeptide to another cell is also disclosed. A system including both the immune cells and various bispecific polypeptides that bind to different cell surface proteins on the same or different cell targets, which can be used to proliferate the immune cells in vivo and treat various kinds of tumors, for example, is also disclosed.

Some embodiments provided herein are chimeric costimulatory antigen receptor (CoStAR), useful in adoptive cell therapy (ACT), and cells comprising the CoStAR. In some embodiments, the CoStAR can act as a modulator of cellular activity enhancing responses to defined antigens. In some embodiments, CoStAR and/or fusion proteins, nucleic acids encoding the CoStAR and therapeutic uses thereof are also provided.

This document provides methods and materials relating to isolated polypeptides, polypeptide preparations, vaccine preparations (e.g., anti-cancer vaccine preparations), and methods for vaccinating mammals. For example, polypeptides (e.g., CMV, MUC1, HER2, Mesothelin (MESO), TRAG-3, or CALR polypeptides) having the ability to be processed into different polypeptides such that the processed polypeptides as a group are capable of being presented by different MHC molecules present in a particular mammalian population are provided.