Selectively altering microbiota for immune modulation

• US 10,596,255 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2019
• Issued: 03/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snipr Technologies Limited
• Original Assignee: Snipr Technologies Limited
• Inventors: Clube, Jasper
• Primary Examiner(s): Nickol, Gary B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jackson-Tongue, Lakia J
• Application Number:
  US16/389,376
• Publication Number:
  US 20190240326A1
• Time in Patent Office: 340 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 2039/505 comprising antibodies
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 31/7105 Natural ribonucleic acids, i.e. containing only riboses attached to adenine, guanine, cytosine or uracil and having 3'-5' phosphodiester links
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/15 Cells of the myeloid line, e.g. granulocytes, basophils, eosinophils, neutrophils, leucocytes, monocytes, macrophages or mast cells; Myeloid precursor cells; Antigen-presenting cells, e.g. dendritic cells presenting a specific antigen A61K39/00; therapeutic combinations of antibodies, or fragments thereof, and blood-derived cells A61K39/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/17 Lymphocytes; B-cells; T-cells; Natural killer cells; Interferon-activated or cytokine-activated lymphocytes when activated by a specific antigen A61K39/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/74 Bacteria therapeutic use of a bacterial protein A61K38/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 39/0011 Cancer antigens
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 39/3955 against proteinaceous materials, e.g. enzymes, hormones, lymphokines
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 35/00 Antineoplastic agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 37/00 Drugs for immunological or allergic disorders
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 2320/30 Special therapeutic applications
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 2320/50 Methods for regulating/modulating their activity

Abstract

The invention relates to methods of modulating immune cells in a patient by altering microbiota of the patient. The invention also relates to methods of modulating treatments or therapies in a subject organism by altering microbiota of the subject. The invention also relates to cell populations, systems, arrays, cells, RNA, kits and other means for effecting this. In an example, advantageously selective targeting of a particular species in a human gut microbiota using guided nucleic acid modification is carried out to effect the alteration.

Claims

1. A method of treating or reducing the symptoms of a lung disease or lung condition associated with pathogenic host cells in a human or animal subject, the method comprising selective targeting of the pathogenic host cells, wherein the host cells are Escherichia coli, Actinobacillus, Diplococcus, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Mycobacterium, Chlamydia, Klebsiella, Legionella, Haemophilus, Ruminococcus, Veillonella, Acinetobacter, Prevotella, Yersinia, Achromobacter, Burkholderia, Bordetella, Carnobacterium, Alloiococcus, Enterococcus, Bavariicoccus, Vagococcus, or Pseudomonas cells, wherein the host cells are comprised by a microbiota in the subject, wherein the method comprising:

a. contacting the microbiota with an engineered nucleic acid sequence for producing a host modifying (HM) crRNA, and

b. producing the HM-crRNA in a host cell, wherein the HM-crRNA is operable with a Cas nuclease in the host cell to form a HM-CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas system, and wherein the HM-crRNA comprises a sequence that is capable of hybridizing to a target sequence of the host cell to guide the Cas nuclease to the target sequence in the host cell, whereby the target sequence is modified by the HM/CRISPR/Cas system and the host cell is killed or growth of the host cell is reduced, thereby reducing the proportion of host cells in the microbiota; and

wherein the microbiota is a lung microbiota.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the lung disease or condition is pneumonia or pulmonary embolism.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the lung disease or condition is cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the Cas is a Cas3, Cas9 or Cpf1.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the engineered nucleic acid is administered by inhalation to the subject.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the HM-crRNA is comprised by a single guide RNA (sgRNA).

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the nucleic acid sequence encoding the sgRNA is under a constitutive promoter.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid sequence encoding the HM-crRNA is under a constitutive promoter.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the Cas is a wild-type host cell endogenous Cas3 and/or CASCADE Cas.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the engineered nucleic acid sequence is comprised by a vector, wherein the vector is a virus, phage, prophage or conjugative plasmid.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Staphylococcus aureus cells.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are treptococcus pneumoniae and/or Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae cells.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Chlamydia pneumoniae cells.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Haemophilus influenzae and/or Haemophilus parainfluenzae cells.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Klebsiella pneumoniae cells.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Legionella pneumophilia cells.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Actinobacillis pleuropneumoniae cells.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the host cells are Diplococcus pneumoniae cells.

21. The method of claim 1, comprising administering to the subject an agent selected from the group consisting of a an adrenergic bronchodilator, an agent for pulmonary hypertension, an aminopenicillin, a cephalosporin, an immunosuppressant, a glucocorticoid, a glycopeptide antibiotic, a nasal steroid, tetracycline, a diuretic, an antifungal, an antihistamine, a lung surfactant, an otic steroid, an antiviral agent, a beta-lactamase inhibitor and a calcineurin inhibitor.

22. The method of claim 1, comprising administering to the subject a bronchodilator, a steroid, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent and/or an antibiotic.