ANTIGEN PRESENTING POLYPEPTIDE COMPLEXES BEARING TGF-BETA AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF

The present disclosure provides Multimeric Antigen Presenting Polypeptides (MAPPs) that comprise a peptide epitope and a reversibly masked TGF-β peptide capable of acting as an agonist of cellular TGF-β receptors. The MAPPs are capable of presenting the peptide epitope in the context of a Class II MHC receptor to T cells. The present disclosure provides nucleic acids comprising nucleotide sequences encoding those MAPPs, as well as cells genetically modified with the nucleic acids encoding the MAPPs. The MAPPs are useful for selectively modulating activity of a T cells having T cell receptors that recognize the epitope presented by the MAPP. Thus, the present disclosure provides compositions and methods for modulating the activity of T cells, as well as compositions and methods for treating persons who have diseases and/or disorders including autoimmune diseases, graft vs. host disease, host vs. graft disease, and/or allergies.