CELLULAR BASED THERAPIES TARGETING DISEASE-ASSOCIATED MOLECULAR MEDIATORS OF FIBROTIC, INFLAMMATORY AND AUTOIMMUNE CONDITIONS

The invention provides chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), nucleic acid sequences encoding a CAR, vectors comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a CAR, cells expressing a CAR, pharmaceutical compositions comprising a cell expressing a CAR, wherein the CAR binds to a target molecule expressed on disease-associated macrophages or over- or aberrantly-expressed in fibrosis. The invention further provides vectors encoding a CAR and a fibrotic disease-modulatory molecule (FDMM), and cells expressing both a CAR and an FDMM. The invention also provides methods of treating a subject using a CAR, a nucleic acid sequence, a vector or vectors, or a CAR-expressing cell, a cell expressing both a CAR and an FDMM, or a pharmaceutical composition, and to methods of generating a CAR-expressing cell or a cell expressing both a CAR and an FDMM. The invention also provides methods of treating diseases, fibrotic conditions, inflammatory conditions, autoimmune conditions, and conditions associated with disease-associated macrophages (DAMs).