An engineered phage-derived particle (PDP) for expressing a transgene in a target cell transduced with a bacteriophage, the PDP includes (i) less than about 500 bp of DNA from the bacteriophage genome, (ii) an ITR-flanked therapeutic gene up to 20 kb, (iii) an endosomal escape sequence, (iv) a nuclear localization sequence, and (v) a cell-specific targeting moiety. The PDP may escape lysosomal degradation, traffic across the nuclear envelope and expressed a therapeutic gene in a mammalian cell.

The present invention is directed generally to eukaryotic cells comprising single-celled organisms that are introduced into the eukaryotic cell through human intervention and which transfer to daughter cells of the eukaryotic cell, and methods of introducing such single-celled organisms into eukaryotic cells. The invention provides single-celled organisms that introduce a phenotype to eukaryotic cells that is maintained in daughter cells. The invention additionally provides eukaryotic cells containing magnetic bacteria. The invention further provides eukaryotic cells engineered with single-celled organisms to allow for multimodal observation of the eukaryotic cells. Each imaging method (or modality) allows the visualization of different aspects of anatomy and physiology, and combining these allows the imager to learn more about the subject being imaged.

The present invention provides method for monitoring physiological status of an organ in a subject by monitoring morphological changes over time in transplanted tissue on an eye of the subject.

Disclosed is a method for culturing urine-derived kidney stem cells, which belongs to the field of cell biology. The method comprises the following steps: isolating cells from the urine, and then culturing the cells with a culture medium of urine-derived kidney stem cells on feeder cells to obtain the urine-derived kidney stem cells, wherein the feeder cells are fibroblasts, and the culture medium of urine-derived kidney stem cells contains 200-300 mL of DMEM medium, 200-300 mL of F12 medium, 20-70 mL of fetal bovine serum, 0.2-2 mM of L-glutamine, 1-14 ng/mL of insulin, 0.1-1 ng/mL of epidermal growth factor, 5-30 μg/mL of adenine, and 2-20 μg/mL of hydrocortisone. By using the method, kidney stem cells with high proliferation capacity and specificity can be obtained and applied, and thus the regenerative outcome of the kidney tissue after injury can be improved.

The present invention provides method for monitoring physiological status of an organ in a subject by monitoring morphological changes over time in transplanted tissue on an eye of the subject.

Sequences that enhance permeation of agents into cells and/or across the blood brain barrier, compositions comprising the sequences, and methods of use thereof.

The present invention relates generally to the field of endosymbiosis, eukaryotic cells engineered with artificial endosymbionts, and magnetotactic bacteria. In particular, the invention provides single-celled organisms such as artificial endosymbionts, including magnetotactic bacteria, eukaryotic cells to host those single-celled organisms, and methods of using eukaryotic cells containing single-celled organisms. The invention also provides eukaryotic cells engineered with intracellular single-celled organisms which eukaryotic cells can be tracked in an animal and monitored for viability. The invention also provides for multimodal detection of a eukaryotic cell in an animal to monitor the location and viability of the eukaryotic cell.

A conditionally replicating adenovirus were generated that can specifically replicate and express therapeutic genes in neuroendocrine tumors. The promoter-specific expression of the adenoviruses is regulated upstream by an INSM1 (insulinoma-associated-1) promoter that is silent in normal adult tissues but active in developing neuroendocrine cells and neuroendocrine tumors. By placing the I NSM 1-promoter with an insulator and two copies of neuronal restrictive silencer elements in an adenoviral vector, the construct can retain tumor specificity and drive expression of a mutated adenovirus E1A gene (Δ24E1A) and the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene. The I NSM1-promoter-driven viruses could replicate specifically in the I NSM1-positive cells and I NSM1-specific HSV-tk expression in combination with ganciclovir treatment displayed dose-dependent tumor cell-specific killing in insulinomas. When the INSM1-promoter driven HSV-tk was combined with Δ24E1A and I NSM 1 p-HSV-tk viruses, the co-infected insulinoma expressed higher levels of HSV-tk and more efficient tumor suppression as compared to the I NSM1 p-HSV-tk virus alone.

The present disclosure relates, in some aspects, to bile acid sensors.

A multi-chromophore virus particle is constructed by covalent binding of chromophores and provides super-radiant behavior. A virus-enabled targeted vector is provided for imaging with qualitatively different optical emission properties from state-of-the-art agents. Bright emission is obtained through quantum coherence, which in turn is facilitated by the symmetry of the virus shell. In an exemplary embodiment the targeted vector is used in laser-guided surgery, specifically for the treatment of in brain cancer.