Disclosed are compositions and methods related to the use of adipocytes for sustained release of anti-cancer therapeutics and treatment of cancer. In one aspect, disclosed herein are engineered adipocytes comprising an anti-cancer prodrug (such as, for example, doxorubicin prodrug) and a conjugated fatty acid (such as, for example, one or more isomers of conjugated linoleic acid including, but not limited, to 9cis, 11trans, 10trans, and/or 12cis).

The present disclosure provides methods for preparing a population of genetically-modified immune cells. The methods include contacting a population of immune cells with lipid nanoparticles in the presence of an apolipoprotein. The lipid nanoparticles include mRNA encoding an engineered nuclease having specificity for a recognition sequence in the genome of the immune cells. The mRNA is delivered into the immune cells and the engineered nuclease is expressed, generating a cleavage site at the recognition sequence. Further provided are populations of genetic ally-modified immune cells produced according to the disclosed methods, pharmaceutical compositions containing such cells, and methods of treating diseases with the genetically-modified immune cells.

A chemically defined medium for differentiation of muscle stem cells in vitro, namely a serum-free, more efficient and inexpensive chemically defined medium for inducing differentiation of muscle stem cells in vitro. Compared with an existing general muscle stem cell differentiation medium, using the chemically defined medium can increase the relative expression of myogenin genes by 4.48 times on the 2.sup.nd day of differentiation, increase the relative expression of myosin heavy chain genes by 55.28 times on the 6.sup.th day, and increase the percentage of cell differentiation from 34.94% to 57.93% in the terminal differentiation stage, and more, thicker and longer muscle fibers are formed through induced differentiation. The chemically defined differentiation medium further improves the differentiation efficiency of muscle stem cells, and provides a more efficient and inexpensive method for differentiation of muscle stem cells into myotubes, and for 3D culture of muscle stem cells to produce cell cultured meat.

A new cell line and an antibody for determining the activity of botulinum toxin are disclosed. Also disclosed is a method of determining the activity of botulinum toxin using the cell line and/or the antibody.

Compositions are provided that contain biologically active components of amniotic fluid including growth factors and other proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and metabolites. The compositions containing biologically active components of amniotic fluid can be useful for a range of therapeutic treatments including joint and soft tissue repair, regulation of skin condition, and for use in organ preservation, such as for use in organ transplant procedures. Advantages of the compositions include that they can be reproducibly produced, without the inherent variability of amniotic fluid from individual donors, and that they are free of fetal waste.

A proliferation promoting effect on lactic acid bacteria during production and a viability improving effect during storage are obtained by a method for producing a lactic acid bacterium fermentation food product characterized in that when a lactic acid bacterium fermentation food product is produced by inoculating and culturing lactic acid bacteria in a medium containing a milk or a milk product as a main component, a lipase degradation product of an oil or fat is added to the medium containing a milk or a milk product as a main component before culturing lactic acid bacteria, or to a fermented liquid during or after culturing.

There is provided a lipid mix composition comprising ionizable lipid, a structural lipid such as DSPC, a sterol, and a surfactant such as polysorbate 80, polyoxyethylene (10) stearyl ether, polyoxyethylene (20) stearyl ether, or D-α-Tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate. The lipid mix compositions find particular use in transfecting difficult to transfect cells and maintaining the viability of those cells. The lipid mix compositions are particularly well suited to T cell transfection ex vivo.

The present application pertains to a sialyloligosaccharide for augmenting the stemness of stem cells and a use thereof and provides a composition for augmenting stemness of stem cells, a method of culturing stem cells in a medium containing a sialyloligosaccharide, a method of augmenting stemness of stem cells, a stem cell with augmented stemness, obtained by the method, and a cell therapy composition including the stem cells as an active ingredient. The composition or the method according to one or more embodiments may suppress the aging of stem cells and may maintain and augment stemness.

The present invention is related to a novel process for production of retinyl acetate in a host cell, particularly oleaginous yeast such as e.g. Yarrowia, growing on triglyceride oils, such as e.g. vegetable oil, wherein the host cell exhibits modified lipase activity in such a way that conversion of retinol into fatty acid retinyl esters (FAREs) is reduced or abolished. Such process is especially useful in a biotechnological process for production of vitamin A.

A cell culture medium comprising adenosine triphosphate; a carrier protein; cholesterol, linoleic acid, and lipoic acid; glutathione; at least one nucleotide salvage pathway precursor base; phosphoethanolamine; selenium; transferrin; triiodothyronine; all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) and vitamin C; zinc, magnesium, and copper; an agent that increases intracellular cAMP; epidermal growth factor (EGF); hydrocortisone; insulin; and charcoal stripped fetal bovine serum, wherein said cell culture medium is substantially free, if not entirely free, of vitamin D, androgenic hormones, androgenic ligands, estrogenic hormones, estrogenic ligands, and/or androgenic receptors.