In one aspect, a method of treating cancer in a mammal is provided. The method comprises administering to the mammal an oncolytic vector that expresses a tumour antigen to which the mammal has a pre-existing immunity. In another aspect, a method of boosting immune response in a mammal having a pre-existing immunity to an antigen is provided comprising intravenous administration to the mammal of a B-cell infecting vector that expresses the antigen.

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for boosting, augmenting or enhancing the efficacy of the adoptive cellular immunotherapy by using modified T cells expressing an antigen binding protein in conjunction with modified cells (such as hematopoietic progenitor cells, modified human immune system cells or a combination thereof) expressing the antigen specifically bound by the antigen binding protein of the modified T cells.

Provided are engineered cells for adoptive therapy, including NK cells and T cells. Also provided are compositions for engineering and producing the cells, compositions containing the cells, and methods for their administration to subjects. In some aspects, features of the cells and methods provide specificity and/or efficacy. In some embodiments, the cells contain genetically engineered antigen receptors that specifically bind to antigens, such as chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) and costimulatory receptors. In some embodiments, the cells include receptors targeting multiple antigens. In some embodiments, the cells include repression of one or more gene product, for example, by disruption of a gene encoding the gene product. In some embodiments, a gene encoding an antigen recognized by the engineered antigen receptor is disrupted, reducing the likelihood of targeting of the engineered cells.

Provided herein are methods for delaying or inhibiting T cell maturation or differentiation in vitro for a T cell therapy, comprising contacting one or more T cells from a subject in need of a T cell therapy with an AKT inhibitor and at least one of exogenous Interleukin-7 (IL-7) and exogenous Interleukin-15 (IL-15), wherein the resulting T cells exhibit delayed maturation or differentiation. In some embodiments, the method further comprises administering the one or more T cells to a subject in need of a T cell therapy.

The success of anti-tumor immune responses requires effector T cells to infiltrate solid tumors, a process guided by chemokines. Herein, we demonstrate that in vivo post-translational processing of chemokines by dipeptidylpeptidase 4 (DPP4, also known as CD26) limits lymphocyte migration to sites of inflammation and tumors. Inhibition of DPP4 enzymatic activity enhanced tumor rejection by preserving biologically active CXCL10, and increasing trafficking into the tumor by lymphocytes expressing the counter-receptor CXCR3. Furthermore, DPP4 inhibition improved adjuvant-based immunotherapy, adoptive T cell transfer and checkpoint blockade. These findings provide the first direct in vivo evidence for controlling lymphocyte trafficking through CXCL10 cleavage and support the use of DPP4 inhibitors for stabilizing the biologically active form of chemokines as a strategy to enhance tumor immunotherapy.

Provided are engineered cells for adoptive therapy, including NK cells and T cells. Also provided are compositions for engineering and producing the cells, compositions containing the cells, and methods for their administration to subjects. In some aspects, features of the cells and methods provide specificity and/or efficacy. In some embodiments, the cells contain genetically engineered antigen receptors that specifically bind to antigens, such as chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) and costimulatory receptors. In some embodiments, the cells include receptors targeting multiple antigens. In some embodiments, the cells include repression of one or more gene product, for example, by disruption of a gene encoding the gene product. In some embodiments, a gene encoding an antigen recognized by the engineered antigen receptor is disrupted, reducing the likelihood of targeting of the engineered cells.

Provided herein are methods for delaying or inhibiting T cell maturation or differentiation in vitro for a T cell therapy, comprising contacting one or more T cells from a subject in need of a T cell therapy with an AKT inhibitor and at least one of exogenous Interleukin-7 (IL-7) and exogenous Interleukin-15 (IL-15), wherein the resulting T cells exhibit delayed maturation or differentiation. In some embodiments, the method further comprises administering the one or more T cells to a subject in need of a T cell therapy.

A set of target peptides are presented by HLA A*0201, B*0301, B*0702 and B*2705 on the surface of disease cells. They are envisioned to, among other things, stimulate an immune response to the proliferative disease, e.g., colorectal cancer, to function as immunotherapeutics in adoptive T cell therapy or as a vaccine, facilitate antibody recognition of tumor boundaries in surgical pathology samples, act as biomarkers for early detection and/or diagnosis of the disease, and/or act as targets in the generation antibody-like molecules which recognize the target-peptide/MHC complex.

Provided herein are methods of treating cancer and/or augmenting a microbiome in a subject who has a tumor.

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) and CAR-expressing T cells are provided that can specifically target cells that express an elevated level of a target antigen. Likewise, methods for specifically targeting cells that express elevated levels of antigen (e.g., cancer cells) with CAR T-cell therapies are provided.