Many cell types in the body can remove apoptotic and cellular debris from tissues; however, the professional phagocyte, or antigen presenting cell (APC), has a high capacity to do so. The recognition of apoptotic cells (ACs) occurs via a series of evolutionarily-conserved, AC associated molecular-pattern receptors (ACAMPRs) on APCs that recognize and bind corresponding apoptotic-cell-associated molecular patterns (ACAMPs). These receptors recognize ligands such as phosphotidyl serine and oxidized lipids found on apoptotic cells. Savill et al. (2002); and Gregory et al. (2004).

This invention relates to a natural killer cell line termed NK-92 and to NK-92 cell lines that have been modified by transfection with a vector to confer advantageous properties. Additionally, the invention provides an NK-92 cell, an NK-92 cell modified by transfection with a vector conferring advantageous properties, which is unable to proliferate and which preserves the effective cytotoxic activity. The invention provides a modified NK-92 cell line that is transfected with a vector encoding a cytokine that promotes the growth of NK-92 cells. In a significant embodiment, the cytokine is interleukin 2. The invention additionally provides a modified NK-92 cell line that is transfected with a vector that expresses a thymidine kinase gene. The invention further provides a modified NK-92 cell line that is transfected with a vector that expresses a ?.sub.2 microglobulin that has lost the ability to bind to T-cell receptors.

Disclosed herein are methods of administering an agent targeting a lineage-specific cell-surface antigen and a population of hematopoietic cells that are deficient in the lineage-specific cell-surface antigen for immunotherapy of hematological malignancies.

This invention relates to the field of therapeutics. Most specifically invention provides methods of generating in vitro engineered immune cells conditionally expressing interleukin-12 (IL-12) and one or more immunomodulators under the control of a gene expression modulation system in the presence of activating ligand and uses for therapeutic purposes in animals.

The invention provides compositions and methods for treating diseases associated with expression of a tumor antigen as described herein. The invention also relates to the methods of preconditioning a subject, e.g., by depleting B cells in combination with the use of a cell comprising a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that targets a tumor antigen as described herein. The methods for preconditioning the subject described herein include using a cell comprising a CAR that targets a B cell antigen as described herein.

EphA2 T-cell epitope are provided herein. The epitopes include peptides corresponding to specific fragments of human EphA2 protein containing one or more T-cell epitopes, and conservative derivatives thereof. The EphA2 T-cell epitopes are useful in an assay, such as an ELISPOT assay, that may be used to determine and/or quantify a patient's immune responsiveness to EphA2. The epitopes also are useful in methods of modulating a patient's immune reactivity to EphA2, which has substantial utility as a treatment for cancers that overexpress EphA2, such as renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The EphA2 epitopes also can be used to vaccinate a patient against EphA2, by in vivo or ex vivo methods.

Compositions and methods are provided for the treatment and/or prevention of an inflammatory and/or autoimmune disease or disorder.

The invention described herein relates to methods and compositions for treating cancer in a patient by administering an effective amount of cytokine receptor modified immune cells.

The present invention relates to nanoparticles for the targeted delivery of antigen to liver cells, in particular, liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC) and/or Kupffer cells, and for the in vivo generation of regulatory T cells, notably CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg). The invention provides pharmaceutical compositions and methods for the prevention and treatment of autoimmune diseases, allergies or other chronic inflammatory conditions, and for generation of regulatory T cells. The nanoparticles used in the invention comprise a) a micelle comprising an amphiphilic polymer rendering the nanoparticle water-soluble, and b) a peptide comprising at least one T cell epitope associated with the outside of the micelle. The micelle may or may not comprise a solid hydrophobic core.

Materials and methods for producing genome-edited cells engineered to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) construct on the cell surface, and materials and methods for genome editing to modulate the expression, function, or activity of one or more immuno-oncology related genes in a cell, and materials and methods for treating a patient using the genome-edited engineered cells.