Provided is a method for diagnosing a subject having or at risk of having mild cognitive impairment (MCI), including stimulating T cells in a biological sample obtained from the subject with an amyloid β peptide or a fragment thereof and evaluating a magnitude of a T cell response toward the amyloid β peptide or the fragment thereof. Also provided is a kit for diagnosing MCI by using the method.

Provided herein are methods and devices related to inducing a population of self-renewing or senescent stem cells, to produce one or more beneficial factors for the treatment of a disease or disorder in an individual. Also provided are compositions and methods for inducing senescence, useful for inducing senescence in a population of stem cells, in order to produce one or more beneficial factors for the treatment of a disease or disorder in an individual. Methods and devices to control and customize the production of the beneficial factors for the requirements of a disease or disorder being treated are described. Also provided are factor production units for the production of the beneficial factors, and devices for the delivery of the beneficial factors to an individual in need.

Methods and kits for screening, diagnosing, detecting or predicting a patient outcome/risk in a patient with a respiratory illness, the method comprising: a. obtaining a sample obtained from the patient; b. quantitatively measuring in the sample a polypeptide level of one or more biomarkers selected from: IL-6, CXCL8, IL-10, IL-IRA, IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-13, IL-17, IFN-g, IP-10, MCP-1, G-CSF, GM-CSF, FGF-basic, SCGF-β, GRO-α, MIP1-α, MIP1-β, CK-18, PDGF-bb, caspase 3, HMGB-1, TNF α, VEGF, sTNFR1 and sTREM1; and c. i) comparing the level of the one or more biomarkers in the sample with a control or cut-off level, wherein the differential level is indicative of patient outcome risk; or ii) using the polypeptide level of several of the biomarkers in combination, as inputs for an algebraic calculation or machine learning model of patient outcome risk.

Provided herein are methods and compositions related to the selection T cells and/or subjects for adoptive immunotherapy based on the expression of one or more biomarkers.

Disclosed are methods of isolating a TCR having antigenic specificity for a mutated amino acid sequence encoded by a cancer-specific mutation, the method comprising: identifying one or more genes in the nucleic acid of a cancer cell of a patient, each gene containing a cancer-specific mutation that encodes a mutated amino acid sequence; inducing autologous APCs of the patient to present the mutated amino acid sequence; co-culturing autologous T cells of the patient with the autologous APCs that present the mutated amino acid sequence; selecting the autologous T cells; and isolating a nucleotide sequence that encodes the TCR from the selected autologous T cells, wherein the TCR has antigenic specificity for the mutated amino acid sequence encoded by the cancer-specific mutation. Also disclosed are related methods of preparing a population of cells, populations of cells, TCRs, pharmaceutical compositions, and methods of treating or preventing cancer.

An in vitro or ex vivo method, based on the measurement of the expression of cytokine(s), from a patient's blood sample, incubated with a stimulus, for determining the risk of occurrence of a healthcare-associated infection in the patient, within seven days following the day on which the collection of the biological sample has been performed from the patient.

Antibodies which block binding of hPD-1 to hPD-L1 or hPD-L2 and their variable region sequences are disclosed. A method of increasing the activity (or reducing downmodulation) of an immune cell through the PD-1 pathway is also disclosed.

De novo designed polypeptides that bind to IL-2 receptor βγ.sub.c heterodimer (IL-2Rβγ.sub.c), IL-4 receptor αγ.sub.cheterodimer (IL-4Rαγ.sub.c), or IL-13 receptor α subunit (IL-13Rα) are disclosed, as are methods for using and designing the polypeptides.

The present invention relates to isolated protein sequences that correspond to cell binding peptides, fragments, neo-structures and/or neo-epitopes of a normally occurring serum protein present in human tissue, wherein the peptide, fragment, neo-structure and/or neo-epitope has an immunoregulatory activity and is the result of either an enhanced proteolytic activity and/or conformational changes in a tissue, or a malignant tumor. In the present patent application, a common structure of several of these peptides, fragments, neo-structures and/or neo-epitopes, having immunoregulatory activity by binding to receptors on immune cells, has been identified. The present invention further also relates to monoclonal and/or polyclonal antibodies directed to a cell binding fragment of a normally occurring serum protein present in human tissue, as described above.

The present invention provides a method for enhancing immune cell function by activating various immune cells ex vivo and provides immune cells with enhanced function. The invention further provides an immune-related cell multifunctionality evaluation method. A biguanide antidiabetic drug selected from metformin, phenformin, and buformin is capable of enhancing immune cell multifunctionality by increasing CD8+T cells having a high ability to produce IL-2, INFα, and IFNγ. The immune-related cell multifunctionality may be evaluated by comparing immune cells treated with a biguanide antidiabetic drug selected from metformin, phenformin, and buformin, with control immune cells untreated with the biguanide antidiabetic drug. When the multifunctionality of immune cells treated with the biguanide antidiabetic drug selected from metformin, phenformin, and buformin is determined to be significantly increased compared with the control, it can be evaluated that the sensitivity of the immune cells to the therapeutic agent is improved.