Antibody derivatives that have diminished effector function in the initial state owing to the presence of one or more disabling moieties that substantially prevent engagement of the antibody regions responsible for interaction with humoral and cellular immune system effector molecules, and methods of use thereof.

A method of inhibiting neutrophil activation in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells comprising administering an inhibitor of interferon (IFN) λ to a subject in need thereof, as well as a method of restoring lysosomal function of RPE cells comprising administering a polypeptide comprising βA1-crystallin or a nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide to a subject in need thereof, are provided. A method of rejuvenating Vacuolar-type H.sup.+-ATPase (V-ATPase) activity in RPE cells by modulating assembly and disassembly of the V-ATPase in a subject in need thereof also is provided. Additionally, a method of treating diabetic retinopathy in a subject comprising administering a polypeptide comprising βA1-crystallin or a nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide to the subject is provided.

The present invention relates to a novel polypeptide which can specifically bind to programmed cell death protein 1, a polynucleotide coding for the polypeptide, a vector comprising the polynucleotide, a recombinant microorganism in which the expression vector has been introduced, a method for preparing the polypeptide by means of the recombinant microorganism, a cancer preventing or treating composition comprising the polypeptide, and a cancer prevention or treatment method comprising administration of the cancer preventing or treating composition comprising the polypeptide. The polypeptide of the present invention can inhibit the activity of programmed cell death protein 1 by binding thereto and thus can be widely utilized for a formulation for preventing or treating various diseases associated with programmed cell death protein 1.

Disclosed herein are an anti-HER2 affibody and a switch molecule including a cotinine-conjugated anti-HER2 affibody. When applied in combination with Cot-sCART, the cotinine-conjugated anti-HER2 affibody reacts with HER2-positive cells to induce immune cell activity, thereby finding advantageous applications as switch molecules in sCART therapeutic agents.

A trifunctional molecule comprising a target-specific ligand, a ligand that binds a protein associated with the TCR complex and a T cell receptor signaling domain polypeptide is provided. The ligand that binds a protein associated with a TCR complex is UCHT1 with a Y182T mutation. Engineering T cells with this novel receptor engenders antigen specific activation of numerous T cell functions, including cytokine production, degranulation and cytolysis.

The present invention relates to novel, specific-binding therapeutic and/or diagnostic proteins directed against Hepcidin, which proteins preferably are muteins of a lipocalin protein. The invention also relates to nucleic acid molecules encoding such proteins and to methods for generation and use of such proteins and nucleic acid molecules. Accordingly, the invention also is directed to pharmaceutical and/or diagnostic compositions comprising such a lipocalin proteins, including uses of these proteins.

The present invention provides a method of treating cancer with an integrin-binding-Fc fusion protein alone or in combination with IL-2 and/or an immune checkpoint inhibitor. The invention also provides composition for use in such methods.

The present disclosure relates to a class of engineered polypeptides having a binding affinity for interleukin-17A (IL-17A), and provides an IL-17A binding polypeptide comprising the sequence EX.sub.2DX.sub.4AX.sub.6X.sub.7EIX.sub.10X.sub.11 LPNL X.sub.16X.sub.17X.sub.18QX.sub.20X.sub.21AFIX.sub.25 X.sub.26LX.sub.28X.sub.29. Also disclosed is the use of such an interleukin-17A binding polypeptide as a diagnostic, prognostic and/or therapeutic agent.

Cysteine engineered monospecific and bispecific EGFR and/or c-Met FN3 domain containing molecules comprising one or more free cysteine amino acids are prepared by mutagenizing a nucleic acid sequence of a parent molecule and replacing one or more amino acid residues by cysteine to encode the cysteine engineered FN3 domain containing monospecific or bispecific molecules; expressing the cysteine engineered FN3 domain containing molecules; and recovering the cysteine engineered FN3 domain containing molecule. Isolated cysteine engineered monospecific or bispecific FN3 domain containing molecules may be covalently attached to a detection label or a drug moiety and used therapeutically.

Provided herein are proteins comprising a fibronectin based scaffold (FBS) domain, e.g., .sup.10Fn3 molecules, that bind specifically to a target, and wherein the FBS domain is linked at its C-terminus to a region consisting of PmXn, wherein P is proline, X is any amino acid and wherein n is 0 or an integer that is at least 1 and m is an integer that is at least 1, and wherein the PmXn moiety provides an enhanced property to the FBS domain, e.g., enhanced stability, relative to the protein that is not linked to the PmXn moiety.