The invention provides compositions and methods for treating diseases associated with expression of a tumor antigen as described herein. The invention also relates to nucleic acids comprising a truncated PGK promoter operably linked to a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) specific to a tumor antigen as described herein, vectors encoding the same, and recombinant T cells comprising the CARs of the present invention. The invention also includes methods of administering a genetically modified T cell expressing a CAR that comprises an antigen binding domain that binds to a tumor antigen as described herein.

Methods for modifying a genome are provided, wherein the modifications comprise null alleles, conditional alleles and null alleles comprising conditional by inversion elements. Methods are provided which afford the ability in a single targeting step to introduce an allele that can be used to generate a null allele, a conditional allele, or an allele that is a null allele and that further includes a conditional by inversion element. Introduced alleles comprise pairs of cognate recombinase recognition sites, an actuating sequence and/or a drug selection cassette, and a nucleotide sequence of interest, and a conditional by inversion element, wherein upon action of a recombinase a conditional allele with a conditional by inversion element is formed. In a further embodiment, action of a second recombinase forms an allele that contains only a conditional by inversion element in sense orientation. In a further embodiment, action by a third recombinase forms an allele that contains only the actuating sequence in sense orientation.

Provided herein, are compositions based on retroviruses (e.g., lentiviruses) comprising one or more nucleic acid molecules encoding retroviral Pol polyprotein components and a nucleic acid molecule comprising one or more transgene sequences flanked by long terminal repeat sequences, for delivery of the one or more transgenes to a target cell ex vivo or in vivo. The compositions are useful for delivering to a target cell (e.g., hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), liver cells, ocular cells, muscle cells, epithelial cells, T cells, etc.) and/or stably expressing any transgene (e.g., beta-globin, Factor VIII, RP GTPase regulator (RPGR), dystrophin, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chimeric antigen receptor, etc.) with a biological effect to treat and/or ameliorate the symptoms associated with any disorder related to gene expression (e.g., sickle cell disease, beta-thalassemia, haemophilia B, retinitis pigmentosa, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, cancer, etc.).

The present invention provides a genetically-modified T cell comprising in its genome a modified human T cell receptor alpha gene. The modified T cell receptor alpha gene comprises an exogenous sequence of interest inserted into an intron within the T cell receptor alpha gene that is positioned 5′ upstream of TRAC exon 1. The exogenous sequence of interest can comprise an exogenous splice acceptor site and/or a poly A signal, which disrupts expression of the T cell receptor alpha subunit. The sequence of interest can also include a coding sequence for a polypeptide, such as a chimeric antigen receptor. Additionally, the endogenous splice donor site and the endogenous splice acceptor site flanking the intron are unmodified and/or remain functional. The invention further provides compositions and methods for producing the genetically-modified cell, and populations of the cell, and methods for the treatment of a disease, such as cancer, using such cells.

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for treating, preventing, or inhibiting diseases of the eye. In one aspect, the disclosure provides recombinant CFH FHL-1 adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors comprising a complement system gene.

An improved promoter and a use thereof. An improvement is to mutate a nucleic acid sequence between 35 region and 10 region in a promoter region into recognition sites for an endonuclease. The improvement can overcome the problem that a strong promoter in a vector based on blue-white screening initiates the transcription or translation of foreign genes and a transcription or translation product might be toxic to a host and cannot be cloned, avoid the deficiency that frameshift mutation of a gene due to a lack of 1-2 bp of the vector at digestion sites results in false positive clones, and eliminate a false negative phenomenon that a plate is rich in blue spots due to a small fragment of foreign DNA and a reading frame of the gene which is unchanged by inserting the foreign DNA.

Isolated nucleic acids, expression methods, host cells, expression vectors, and DNA constructs for producing proteins, and proteins produced using the expression methods are disclosed. More specifically, nucleic acids isolated from Pichia pastons having promoter activity and expression methods, host cells, expression vectors, and DNA constructs of using the Pichia pastons promoters to produce different proteins and polypeptides are disclosed.

The invention provides cells and animals, as well as methods of producing cells and animals, that express at least one interfering RNA molecule to regulate the expression of a specific gene or family of genes. The invention further provides novel iRNA molecules, as well as DNA templates for producing iRNA molecules.

The present invention provides a triple-mode antibody display system that simultaneously matures, displays and secretes an antibody to a target of interest. An antibody in vivo-matured and complexed with membrane anchored bait can be expressed on the surface of the host cell, while complexed with a soluble bait the antibody is secreted from the host cell. Methods of using the system for identifying binders that bind specifically to an antigen of interest are also provided. Polypeptides, polynucleotides and host cells useful for making the protein binder display system are also provided along with methods of use thereof.

The present invention provides methods of reducing the levels of a titratable selectable pressure required, the number of amplification cycles, and the time taken to generate protein expressing cell lines by altering the codons of the desired open-reading-frames. Through the use of codon adaptation for this purpose the methods of the invention consistently provide sufficient yields in faster time frames saving many weeks in cell line development activities. Furthermore the methods of the invention also generate cell lines with lower concentrations of selection and amplification agent than previously achievable. Accordingly lower levels of selection and amplification marker in the final cells lines are observed.