The present disclosure provides improved compositions for adoptive T cell therapies for treating, preventing, or ameliorating at least one symptom of a cancer, infectious disease, autoimmune disease, inflammatory disease, and immunodeficiency, or condition associated therewith.

Relapse in adoptive cell transfer of CAR-T cells is often the result of CAR-T cells disappearance. Disclosed herein a method for enhancing CAR-T cell therapy in a subject, comprising administering to a subject undergoing adoptive cell transfer of therapeutic CAR-T cells an Akt inhibitor in an amount effective to increase the persistence of the CAR-T cells. As a consequence, a subject treated with a combination of CAR-T cells and an Akt inhibitor is less likely to relapse. Therefore, also disclosed herein is a method for treating a subject, comprising adoptively transferring to the subject an effective amount of a composition comprising a CAR-T cell, and administering to the subject an Akt inhibitor in an amount effective to increase the persistence of the CAR-T cells.

Provided is an antibody, which is capable of specifically binding to a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA). The provided BCMA antibody is capable of specifically binding to an extracellular fragment of the BCMA and has excellent affinity and specificity; and the antibody is a functional antibody and has the activity blocking binding of the BCMA with its ligand APRIL. Immune cells constructed based on the antibody has an excellent specific killing function for a BCMA-positive tumor cell.

Methods and systems to reduce neurotoxicity associated with the treatment of CD19.sup.+ B-cell hyperproliferative disorders are disclosed. Neurotoxicity is reduced by the use of agents that protect CD19.sup.+ neurovascular pericytes and/or CD19.sup.+ vSMCs from attack by CD19-targeted therapy, and by modification of CD19-targeted therapy to avoid CD19.sup.+ pericytes and/or CD19.sup.+ vSMCs.

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.

A multispecific nanobodies chimeric antigen receptor and T-cell engager includes an HLA-G nanobody chimeric antigen receptor and a bispecific T-cell engager. The HLA-G nanobody chimeric antigen receptor includes an HLA-G nanobodies unit, a transmembrane domain, and a CD3z signaling domain. The bispecific T-cell engager includes a PD-L1 nanobodies unit and a CD3e nanobody.

The present disclosure provides methods and compositions for genetically modifying lymphocytes, for example T cells and/or NK cells. In some embodiments, the methods include reaction mixtures, and resulting cell formulations, that are created using whole blood, or a component thereof that is not a PBMC, and additionally comprise T cells and recombinant retroviral particles having polynucleotides that encode a CAR. In some embodiments, modified lymphocytes are reintroduced into a subject subcutaneously. In some embodiments, polynucleotides that provide T cells the ability to regulate cell survival and proliferation in response to binding to a CAR, are provided.

Provided are antibodies, and fragments, derivatives, and nanoparticle conjugates thereof, particularly humanized derivatives thereof, which bind to tumor antigens. Also provided are nucleic acid molecules encoding chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that bind to tumor antigens, polypeptides and CARs encoded by the nucleic acid molecules, vectors and host cells that include the nucleic acid molecules, methods of making the same, and methods for using the same to generate a persisting population of genetically engineered T cells in a subject, expanding a population of genetically engineered T cells in a subject, modulating the amount of cytokine secreted by a T cell, reducing the amount of activation-induced calcium influx into a T cell, providing an anti-tumor immunity to a subject, treating a mammal having a MUC1-associated disease or disorder, stimulating a T cell-mediated immune response to a target cell population or tissue in a subject, and imaging a MUC1-associated tumor.

Provided are a bifunctional fusion protein and pharmaceutical use thereof. Specifically, provided are a bifunctional fusion protein comprising an SIRPγ peptide variant and an anti-human PD-L1 antibody, an SIRPγ peptide variant, and pharmaceutical use thereof. The bifunctional fusion protein can specifically bind PD-L1 and CD47 to block the binding of PD-L1 or CD47 to a receptor or ligand thereof. In addition, also provided are preparation and application of the bifunctional fusion protein, and treatment of cancers and immune-related diseases.

The invention provides compositions and methods for treating diseases associated with expression of CD123. The invention also relates to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) specific to CD123, vectors encoding the same, and recombinant cells comprising the CD123 CAR. The invention also includes methods of administering a genetically modified cell expressing a CAR that comprises a CD123 binding domain.