Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of human viruses known to cause various malignancies. Of the group, HPV-16 is the most prevalent strain – an estimated 90% of adults have been exposed. HPV-16 is also the strain most commonly associated with malignancy, causing the vast majority of cervical, anal, vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers. Currently, HPV-positive malignancies non-responsive to surgery or radiation are incurable and poorly palliated by existing systemic therapies. Thus, an alternative therapeutic approach for HPV-positive malignancies is needed. 

Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1), a member of the Polo-like kinase family, plays a critical role in regulating mitosis and cell cycle progression. Aberrant expression of Plk1 has been observed in a variety of human cancers, and it is known to be associated with tumorigenesis as well as poor prognosis in cancer patients. Unlike normal cells, some cancer cells are dependent on augmented Plk1 levels to remain viable and are killed when Plk1 function is attenuated.

There are no effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a progressive brain disease that slowly destroys a person’s memory, cognitive skills and ability to carry out the simplest tasks. AD affects more than 5 million individuals in the United States and ranks as the sixth leading cause of death. The ε4 allele of the apolipoprotein-E (APOE) gene is the strongest genetic risk factor for sporadic or late-onset AD. Heterozygous carriers of the ε4 allele are at three-to-four times greater risk; homozygous carriers are at ten times greater risk.

The treatment of cancer using immunotherapies has garnered substantial attention and excitement considering the clinical benefits observed in patient populations previously refractory to treatment. Tumor infiltrating T cells can significantly impact cancer progression and immunotherapy response; however, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments can impede antitumor T cell induction, trafficking, and local activity. Thus, personalized immunotherapy approaches have shown limited efficacy against most solid tumors.

The Corona virus disease, 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a worldwide public health crisis with over 153 million confirmed cases and 3.2 million deaths as of April 2021. COVID-19 is caused by a novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. SARS-COV-2 infects hosts via its spike (S) protein, which has two portions, S1 that binds the cell and S2 that is involved in viral entry via fusion with the cell membrane. There are several vaccines available for COVID-19 patients that directly target SARS-CoV-2 by systemic immunization.

Bioluminescence imaging with luciferin-luciferase pairs is a well-established technique for tracking cells and other biological features in animal models. Bioluminescent is a chemical process which does not require an external input for excitation. Bioluminescent imaging is often limited to monitoring single processes in vivo due to the lack of distinguishable probes. Additionally, existing probes typically operate with light in the visible range, which is highly scattered and exhibits poor tissue penetration. 

Cancer immunotherapy approaches, such as adoptive cell transfer (ACT), proved effective against many cancer types. Yet, post-treatment analyses of ACT have suggested that efficacy may be enhanced by increasing the percentage of neoantigen-reactive T cells in the infused product. Neoantigens are new proteins that form on cancer cells when certain mutations occur in tumor DNA. Current techniques for identifying neoantigen-specific TCRs in T cell expression are labor-intensive, time-consuming and technically challenging.

Proviral Integration for the Moloney murine leukemia virus (PIM) kinases are overexpressed in many solid cancers – including prostate, breast, colon, endometrial, gastric and pancreatic. High of PIM1 expression is predictive of poor survival in multiple cancer types. While several selective pan-PIM inhibitors were developed and tested in clinical trials, all ultimately increased PIM1-3 protein levels and developed intrinsic resistance.