Protein Kinase C Theta Modulates PCMT1 through hnRNPL to Regulate FOXP3 Stability in Regulatory T Cells.

T cell receptor signaling, together with cytokine-induced signals, can differentially regulate RNA processing to influence T helper versus regulatory T cell fate. Protein kinase C family members have been shown to function in alternative splicing and RNA processing in various cell types. T cell-specific protein kinase C theta, a molecular regulator of T cell receptor downstream signaling, has been shown to phosphorylate splicing factors and affect post-transcriptional control of T cell gene expression.

Cell-Penetrating Anti-Protein Kinase C Theta Antibodies Act Intracellularly to Generate Stable, Highly Suppressive Regulatory T Cells.

Regulatory T cells maintain immunological tolerance and dampen inflammatory responses. Administering regulatory T cells can prevent the immune-mediated tissue destruction of graft-versus-host disease, which frequently accompanies hematopoietic stem cell transfer. Neutralizing the T cell-specific kinase, protein kinase C theta, which promotes T cell effector functions and represses regulatory T cell differentiation, augments regulatory T cell immunosuppression and stability.

CD28 Signaling Drives Notch Ligand Expression on CD4 T Cells.

Notch signaling provides an important cue in the mammalian developmental process. It is a key player in T cell development and function. Notch ligands such as Delta-like ligands (DLL) 1, 3, 4, and JAG1, 2 can impact Notch signaling positively or negatively, by -activation or -inhibition.

Cymerus™ iPSC-MSCs significantly prolong survival in a pre-clinical, humanized mouse model of Graft-vs-host disease.

The immune-mediated tissue destruction of graft-vs-host disease (GvHD) remains a major barrier to greater use of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have intrinsic immunosuppressive qualities and are being actively investigated as a therapeutic strategy for treating GvHD. We characterized Cymerus™ MSCs, which are derived from adult, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and show they display surface markers and tri-lineage differentiation consistent with MSCs isolated from bone marrow (BM).

Intracellular Delivery of Anti-pPKCθ (Thr538) via Protein Transduction Domain Mimics for Immunomodulation.

Targeting cellular proteins with antibodies, to better understand cellular signaling pathways in the context of disease modulation, is a fast-growing area of investigation. Humanized antibodies are increasingly gaining attention for their therapeutic potential, but the collection of cellular targets is limited to those secreted from cells or expressed on the cell surface. This approach leaves a wealth of intracellular proteins unexplored as putative targets for antibody binding.

Development of Guanidinium-Rich Protein Mimics for Efficient siRNA Delivery into Human T Cells.

RNA interference is gaining attention as a means to explore new molecular pathways and for its potential as a therapeutic; however, its application in immortal and primary T cells is limited due to challenges with efficient delivery in these cell types. Herein, we report the development of guanidinium-rich protein transduction domain mimics (PTDMs) based on a ring-opening metathesis polymerization scaffold that delivers siRNA into Jurkat T cells and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs). Homopolymer and block copolymer PTDMs with varying numbers of guanidinium moieties were designed and tested to assess the effect cationic charge content and the addition of a segregated, hydrophobic block had on siRNA internalization and delivery.