Compositions and methods for the therapy and diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, are disclosed. Illustrative compositions comprise one or more bacterial polypeptides, immunogenic portions thereof, polynucleotides that encode such polypeptides, antigen presenting cell that expresses such polypeptides, and T cells that are specific for cells expressing such polypeptides. The disclosed compositions are useful, for example, in the diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment of IBD.

The present invention relates to immunogenic compositions and their use in the prevention or treatment of diseases or disorders caused by or associated with Helicobacter pylori, in particular H. pylori infection and gastroduodenal disorders caused by H. pylori. The present invention further relates to methods of detecting H. pylori infection in a subject.

The present invention relates to immunogenic compositions and their use in the prevention or treatment of diseases or disorders caused by or associated with Helicobacter pylori, in particular H. pylori infection and gastroduodenal disorders caused by H. pylori. The present invention further relates to methods of detecting H. pylori infection in a subject.

This disclosure relates to antigenic EBV polypeptides and their use in eliciting antibodies against EBV. Also disclosed are antigenic polypeptides comprising an EBV polypeptide and a ferritin protein.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for treating cancer in a subject by eliciting an immune response against an MIC alpha 3-domain polypeptide.

Novel vaccines are provided that elicit broadly neutralizing anti-influenza antibodies. Some vaccines comprise nanoparticles that display hemagglutinin trimers from influenza virus on their surface. The nanoparticles comprise fusion proteins comprising a monomeric subunit of ferritin joined to at least a portion of an influenza hemagglutinin protein. Some portions comprise the ectodomain while some portions are limited to the stem region. The fusion proteins self-assemble to form the hemagglutinin-displaying nanoparticles. Some vaccines comprise only the stem region of an influenza hemagglutinin protein joined to a trimerization domain. Such vaccines can be used to vaccinate an individual against infection by heterologous influenza viruses and influenza virus that are antigenically divergent from the virus from which the nanoparticle hemagglutinin protein was obtained. Also provided are fusion proteins and nucleic acid molecules encoding such proteins.

Novel vaccines are provided that elicit broadly neutralizing anti-influenza antibodies. Some vaccines comprise nanoparticles that display hemagglutinin trimers from influenza virus on their surface. The nanoparticles comprise fusion proteins comprising a monomeric subunit of ferritin joined to at least a portion of an influenza hemagglutinin protein. Some portions comprise the ectodomain while some portions are limited to the stem region. The fusion proteins self-assemble to form the hemagglutinin-displaying nanoparticles. Some vaccines comprise only the stem region of an influenza hemagglutinin protein joined to a trimerization domain. Such vaccines can be used to vaccinate an individual against infection by heterologous influenza viruses and influenza virus that are antigenically divergent from the virus from which the nanoparticle hemagglutinin protein was obtained. Also provided are fusion proteins and nucleic acid molecules encoding such proteins.

The present invention relates to an oral universal influenza vaccine comprising recombinant lactic acid bacteria which express proteins including but not limited to ferritin protein plus highly-conserved stem fragment of hemagglutinin (HA) proteins expressed in all known influenza viruses. The present invention also relates to the recombinant protein comprising the highly-conserved stem fragment of HA and ferritin proteins.

The present invention relates to an oral universal influenza vaccine comprising recombinant lactic acid bacteria which express proteins including but not limited to ferritin protein plus highly-conserved stem fragment of hemagglutinin (HA) proteins expressed in all known influenza viruses. The present invention also relates to the recombinant protein comprising the highly-conserved stem fragment of HA and ferritin proteins.

The present invention provides optimized nucleic acid molecules, methods for optimization of nucleic acid molecules and uses of optimized nucleic acid molecules. A modular design principle is provided that is suitable to generate a nucleic acid, particularly mRNA, which is tailored for a respective application. The nucleic acid molecules of the present invention can be obtained by the versatile combination of multiple modules on nucleic acid level. Such nucleic acid, e.g. mRNA, can be tailored by combining one or more modules, comprising (i) a nucleic acid moiety encoding a polypeptide of interest (e.g. a protein potentially producing a therapeutic outcome) and (ii) at least one further coding or non-coding nucleic acid moiety, e.g. selected among nucleic acid moieties encoding a polypeptide element, such as a secretory signal peptide (SSP), a multimerization element (dimerization, trimerization, tetramerization and oligomerization), a virus like particle (VLP) forming element, a transmembrane element, a dendritic cell targeting element, an immunological adjuvant element, an element promoting antigen presentation; a 2A peptide; a peptide linker element, elements that extend protein half-life, and/or any other polypeptide or protein. Non-coding nucleic acid moieties may be selected e.g. from the group comprising 3-UTR, 5-UTR, IRES element, miRNA moiety, histone stem loop, poly(C) sequence, polyadenylation signal, polyA-sequence. The optimized nucleic acid molecule can further be characterized by the presence of at least one modified nucleoside. The versatility of the present invention allows for rational design of a large variety of different nucleic acid molecules with desired properties.