Materials and methods useful for generating highly mannosylated pseudotyped lentiviral vector particles comprising a Vpx protein are provided.

A CpG-modified recombinant adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector is described. The vector carries a nucleic acid molecule comprising AAV inverted terminal repeat (ITR) sequences and an exogenous gene sequence under the control of regulatory sequences which control expression of the gene product, in which the nucleic acid sequences carried by the vector are modified to significantly reduce CpG di-nucleotides such that an immune response to the vector is reduced as compared to the unmodified AAV vector. Also provided are methods and regimens for delivering transgenes using these AAV viral vectors, in which the innate immune response to the vector and/or transgene is significantly modulated.

Described herein is a method of preventing or treating a disease in a mammalian subject, comprising administering to the subject who is in need thereof an effective dosage of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a virus like particle (VLP) comprising: an alphavirus replicon comprising a recombinant polynucleotide, wherein the polynucleotide comprises a sequence encoding both subunits of a human class II major histocompatibility antigen, a retroviral gag protein, and a fusogenic envelope protein, wherein the VLP does not contain an alphavirus structural protein gene.

The present invention relates to the field of genetic engineering, in particular, to a transposon-based transfection kit suitable for transfection of primary cells, such as T cells, comprising mRNA encoding a transposase, or reagents for generating mRNA encoding said transposase, as well as minicircle DNA comprising the transposon. The invention also relates to a nucleic acid, preferably, a DNA minicircle, comprising a transposon, wherein the transposon encodes a protein and at least one miRNA, wherein the sequences encoding the miRNA are located in an intron and expression of the protein and the miRNA is regulated by the same promoter. The invention also provides a population of cells obtainable with the method of the invention. Methods of transfection are also provided, as well as medical use, e.g. in immunotherapy, in particular, in adoptive T cell therapy or T cell receptor (TCR) or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) gene therapy.

Provided are compositions related to HSD17B13 variants, including nucleic acid molecules and polypeptides related to variants of HSD17B13, and cells comprising those nucleic acid molecules and polypeptides. Also provided are methods related to HSD17B3 variants. Such methods include methods for detecting the presence of the HSD17B13 rs72613567 variant in a biological sample comprising genomic DNA, for detecting the presence or levels of any one of variant HSD17B13 Transcripts C, D, E, F, G, and H, and particularly D, in a biological sample comprising mRNA or cDNA, or for detecting the presence or levels of any one of variant HSD17B13 protein Isoforms C, D, E, F, G, or H, and particularly D, in a biological sample comprising protein. Also provided are methods for determining a subject's susceptibility to developing a liver disease or of diagnosing a subject with liver disease.

A eukaryotic replicative pUC-free minicircle expression vector is provided. The eukaryotic replicative pUC-free minicircle expression vector includes a pUC-free eukaryotic region sequence encoding a transgene of interest and comprising 5 and 3 ends and a ii) pUC-free spacer region of less than 500 basepairs in length linking the 5 and 3 ends of the eukaryotic region sequences and comprising a bacterial R6K replication origin having at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 11 and SEQ ID NO: 12 and a RNA selectable marker, the RNA selectable marker being an RNA-IN regulating RNA-OUT functional variant having at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 20 or SEQ ID NO: 22.

A conjugative recombinant vector is provided for displacing a target plasmid from a host cell. The vector is capable of replicating in the host cell, and is adapted to compete with and/or inhibit replication of the target plasmid. Also provided are systems, cells, compositions and kits comprising the vector. The invention finds use in the displacement of target plasmids such as those carrying antibiotic resistance genes, and in methods of treating bacterial infections.

Methods and compositions are provided for editing the genome of a cell without the use of an exogenously supplied nuclease. Aspects of the methods include contacting a cell with a targeting vector comprising nucleic acid sequence to be integrated into the target locus, where the cell is not also contacted with a nuclease. In addition, reagents, devices and kits thereof that find use in practicing the subject methods are provided.

This disclosure provides replication-incompetent adenoviral vectors useful in vaccine development and gene therapy. The disclosed vectors comprise a selective deletion of E3 and are particularly useful for preparation of vaccines development and for gene therapy using toxic transgene products that result in vector instability that occurs when the entire E3 domain is deleted.

A method for improving the replication of a covalently closed circular plasmid is provided. The method includes providing a covalently closed circular plasmid having a Pol I-dependent origin of replication, and an insert including a structured DNA sequence selected from the group consisting of inverted repeat sequence, direct repeat sequence, homopolymeric repeat sequence, eukaryotic origin of replication or eukaryotic promoter enhancer sequence, wherein the structured DNA sequence is located at a distance of less than 1000 by from the Pol I-dependent origin of replication in the direction of replication. The method also includes modifying the covalently closed circular recombinant molecule such that the Poi I-dependent origin of replication is replaced with a Pol III-dependent origin of replication, whereby the resultant Pol III-dependent origin of replication covalently closed circular plasmid has improved replication. An antibiotic marker free covalently closed circular recombinant DNA molecule is also provided.