This disclosure provides methods and compositions for detecting Tph cells and/or reducing the number (or frequency) and/or activity of such cells in order to provide therapeutic benefit to a subject having or at risk of developing an autoantibody-associated condition such as an autoantibody-associated autoimmune disease.

The present invention is directed to a mammalian-avian chimeric model system comprising a fertilized avian egg comprising a chorioallantoic membrane (CAM); and multiple types of mammalian cells dispersed in a hydrogel. Further provided is a method for preparing the system and a method of using the same.

Embodiments of the disclosure concern methods and compositions for immunotherapy for human papillomavirus infection and diseases associated therewith. In specific embodiments, methods concern production of immune cells that target one or more antigens of HPV16 and/or HPV18, including methods with stimulation steps that employ IL-7 and IL-15, but not IL-6 and/or IL-12. Other specific embodiments utilize stimulations in the presence of certain cells, such as costimulatory cells and certain antigen presenting cells.

Methods and compositions for treating cancer are disclosed. The compositions comprise immune cells pretreated with ponatinib, or immune cells co-administered with ponatinib, where ponatinib promotes survival and anti-cancer cytotoxicity of the immune cells.

Methods of expanding tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), including peripheral blood lymphocytes and marrow infiltrating lymphocytes, from blood and/or bone marrow of patients with hematological malignancies, such as liquid tumors, including lymphomas and leukemias, and uses of such expanded TILs in the treatment of diseases such as cancers and hematological malignancies are disclosed herein.

The present invention provides an in-vitro method of reducing the efficiency of transducing malignant cells of the blood system of a subject that are not derived from T cells with lentiviral vector particles without reducing the efficiency of transducing T cells in a sample comprising T cells and said malignant cells. A combination of compositions comprising a first composition and a second composition is also disclosed, wherein said first composition comprises i) transduced T cells of a subject, wherein said transduced T cells express a CAR comprising an antigen binding domain, wherein the antigen binding domain of said CAR binds specifically to a tag of a tagged polypeptide, and ii) non-transduced malignant cells of the blood system of said subject, and wherein said second composition comprises said tagged polypeptide, wherein said tagged polypeptide binds specifically to an antigen expressed on the surface of said malignant cells. Alternatively, the transduced T cells of said first composition may comprise a nucleic acid encoding a CAR and an inducible gene expression system, and said second composition may comprise an induction agent inducing said gene system.

The present disclosure relates to compositions and methods for enhancing cell response and/or expanding chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) cells and/or maintenance in vivo and/or in vitro. In embodiments, the method comprises obtaining CAR T cells comprising a CAR comprising a binding domain that binds a solid tumor antigen, a transmembrane domain, and an intracellular domain; and contacting the CART cells with white blood cells and a bispecific antibody, such as a Bispecific T cell engager (BiTE®), thereby activating the CAR T cells, wherein the level of activation of the CAR T cells is higher than the level of activation of CAR T ells that are contacted with B cells without the bispecific antibody. The bispecific antibody comprises a first binding domain binding CD3 and a second binding domain binding CD19, CD20, CD22, or BCMA.

Described herein are agents and methods for targeting antigen-specific B cells using engineered T cells, such as regulatory T cells or cytotoxic T cells, or bi-specific antibodies. The agents and methods can be used to reduce undesirable immune responses.

The present disclosure relates generally to the manufacture of regulatory T cells (Tregs) for use in immunotherapy. In particular, the present disclosure relates to robust approaches for the expansion of alloantigen-reactive Tregs ex vivo. Alloantigen-reactive Tregs produced in this way are suitable for the induction and/or maintenance of immunologic tolerance in recipients of allogeneic transplants.

Disclosed is a rapid and efficient method for expanding a human mesenchymal stem cells in vitro. In the method, immune cells in human peripheral blood and human mesenchymal stem cells are co-cultured at a cell number ratio of 1:1 to 400:1, which can significantly enhance the expansion ability of human mesenchymal stem cells; the number of expansion in vitro is more than ten times that of commonly used methods, and the expanded cells still maintain the biological characteristics of stem cells while having stronger self-renewal ability and multidirectional differentiation potential. There is no statistical difference in the expansion-promoting effects of the human peripheral blood immune cells from people of different ages on the human mesenchymal stem cells, regardless of age. Subjects use immune cells in autologous peripheral blood to expand human mesenchymal stem cells, which can avoid the risk of immune rejection.