The present invention relates to the discovery of compositions and methods for altering Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) processing. Alerting APP processing is aids the treatment of neuropathological disorders such as those associated with HIV infection and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The invention includes fusion protein constructs that include an effector protein and an HSV US9 protein or functionally active fragment thereof that reduce the amount of amyloid -protein produced in a cell.

The present invention is directed to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) compositions and methods of their use in cancer and anti-viral immunotherapy. In particular, the CAR of the invention comprises a costimulatory signal (CSS) domain comprising herpes virus entry mediator protein (HVEM) or a functional fragment or variant thereof. CARs comprising such a HVEM CSS exhibit enhanced effector function.