Genetic Engineering Publications - GEG Tech top picks

Engineering T cells to destroy cancer cells has proved effective in treating certain types of cancer. However, it has not worked as well for solid tumors. One of the reasons for this lack of success is that T cells only target a single antigen. If some of the tumor cells don't express this antigen, they can evade T cell attack. In 2019, researchers found a way to overcome this obstacle, using a vaccine that enhances CAR-T cell efficacy. In a recent study, researchers wanted to investigate how this additional T-cell response is activated. The researchers discovered that in these vaccinated mice, metabolic changes occur in CAR-T cells that increase their production of interferon gamma, a cytokine that helps stimulate a strong immune response. This helps T cells overcome the tumor's immunosuppressive environment, which normally shuts down all T cells in the vicinity. As CAR-T cells killed tumor cells expressing the target antigen, host T cells encountered other antigens from these tumor cells, stimulating these host T cells to target these antigens and help destroy the tumor cells. Without this host T-cell response, the researchers found that tumors would regrow even if CAR-T cells destroyed most of them.