Methods of treating and preventing diseases associated with fibrosis are disclosed, as well as agents for use in such methods. The methods comprise inhibiting at least one of ITFG1, MFAP4, GRHPR, ABCC4, PAK3, TRNP1, APLN, KIF20A, and† or LTB. In one embodiment, the disease is a liver disease or condition. Also disclosed are methods of promoting regeneration of cells, such as hepatocytes.

Disclosed are methods of determining activity of mTOR variants upon exposure to mTOR inhibitors, such a rapamycin or rapalogs thereof, methods for determining kinase activity of a mTOR variant, and methods for determining tumor cell response to treatment with rapamycin or rapalogs thereof. A method for determining whether a compound inhibits mTOR activity in a cell is also disclosed.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to compositions and methods for regulation of transgene (e.g., miRNAs, shRNAs or coding sequences) expression from viral vectors. In some embodiments, the disclosure provides expression constructs comprising a viral vector encoding one or more transgenes, the expression of which is regulated by a rapamycin/rapalog-based system.

Compositions and methods for treating cancer are provided. In particular, the compositions comprise an anti-neoplastic agent and either an interferon type I agonist or an interferon type II agonist, or a combination of an interferon type I agonist and an interferon type II agonist.

The invention relates to methods of increasing grain size and/or weight in a plant, as well as plants with increased grain size and/or weight.

This invention relates to compositions and methods for modifying Brassinosteroid Insensitive-1 (BRI1) genes in plants, optionally to improve yield traits. The invention further relates to plants having increased improved yield traits produced using the methods and compositions of the invention.

Genetically modified cells that are compatible with multiple subjects, e.g., universal donor cells, and methods of generating said genetic modified cells are provided herein. The universal donor cells comprise at least one genetic modification within or near a gene that encodes one or more MHC-I or MHC-II human leukocyte antigens or a component or a transcriptional regulator of a MHC-I or MHC-II complex, wherein genetic modification comprises an insertion of a polynucleotide encoding a tolerogenic factor and/or survival factor. The universal donor cells may further comprise at least one genetic modification within or near a gene that encodes a survival factor, wherein said genetic modification comprises an insertion of a polynucleotide encoding a second tolerogenic factor and/or a different survival factor.

The technology relates in part to methods for controlling the activity or elimination of therapeutic cells using molecular switches that employ distinct heterodimerizer ligands, in conjunction with other multimeric ligands. The technology may be used, for example to activate or eliminate cells used to promote engraftment, to treat diseases or condition, or to control or modulate the activity of therapeutic cells that express chimeric antigen receptors or recombinant T cell receptors.

According to the present disclosure, a technology for efficiently introducing a desired foreign substance from the outside of eukaryotic cells into at least the cytoplasm (and the nucleolus) of the cells is provided. A method disclosed here includes a step of preparing a construct for introducing a foreign substance including a carrier peptide fragment composed of any of amino acid sequences: KKRTLRKKKRKKR (SEQ ID NO: 1), KKRTLRKRRRKKR (SEQ ID NO: 2), KKRTLRKRKRKKR (SEQ ID NO: 3) and KKRTLRKKRRKKR (SEQ ID NO: 4), and a foreign substance that is bound to an N-terminal side and/or C-terminal side of the carrier peptide fragment, a step of supplying the construct for introducing a foreign substance to a sample containing desired eukaryotic cells, and a step of incubating the sample to which the construct for introducing a foreign substance is supplied and introducing the construct into eukaryotic cells in the sample.

In one embodiment, an object of the present invention is to provide a biomarker for predicting the prognosis of a cancer patient such as a breast cancer patient. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to use of a CK2α protein or a fragment thereof in a nucleolus as a marker for predicting the prognosis of a cancer patient, a method for predicting the prognosis of a cancer patient using the marker, or a kit comprising a reagent for measuring the marker.