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Controlling CAR-T cells

Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP, Curator

LPBI

New discovery – Remote control of CAR-T cells

CAR-T cells have been emerging as an effective approach to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. A problem with CAR-T cells is that once they are infused, they are on their own exerting autonomous activities, which can lead to severe side effects due to the extensive lysis of tumor cells. Researchers have been seeking ways to control CAR-T cells after they are infused to balance the desired therapeutic effect and the side effect. Recently, a group of researchers at UCSF found a way to control CAR-T cells after they are put into patients, through a rapamycine analogue gated chimeric receptor.

CAR-T cell system has two components: one is the recognition domain that binds to CD19 to target B cells; the other is the functional domain to activate cellular pathways to killing the targeted cells. Those two domains are typically preassembled. What this group of researchers did is to separate those two domains and make them come together only in the presence of the activating molecule, a rapamycine analogue. They showed that in the absence of the activating molecule, CAR-T cells still bound to CD19. But, they didn’t kill the targeted cells unless the activating molecule was present. In addition, by adjusting the dose of the activating molecule, the strength of CAR-T cells activities can be titrated as well.

Chia-Yung Wu, etc. (October 2015) Remote control of therapeutic T cells through a small molecule–gated chimeric receptor.Science

Remote control of therapeutic T cells through a small molecule–gated chimeric receptor

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/02/06/reengineering-therapeutics/

Reengineering Therapeutics

Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP, Curator

LPBI

The synNotch solution: UCSF scientists engineer a next-gen T-cell immunotherapy

Sunday, January 31, 2016 | By John Carroll

CAR-T has been all the rage in cancer R&D for several years now as a slate of biotech upstarts pursue highly promising work reengineering T cells into attack weapons by adding a chimeric antigen receptor that can zero in on particular cancer cells. The approach has been highly effective in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, triggering an attack on B cells by homing in on the CD19 antigen, a breakthrough that has inspired a race to the regulatory finish line with the first CAR-Ts.

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/02/11/regulatory-dna-engineered/

Regulatory DNA engineered

Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP, Curator

LPBI

New Type of CRISPR Screen Probes the Regulatory Genome

Aaron Krol    http://www.bio-itworld.com/2016/2/8/new-type-crispr-screen-probes-regulatory-genome.html

February 8, 2016 | When a geneticist stares down the 3 billion DNA base pairs of the human genome, searching for a clue to what’s gone awry in a single patient, it helps to narrow the field. One of the most popular places to look is the exome, the tiny fraction of our DNA―less than 2%―that actually codes for proteins. For patients with rare genetic diseases, which might be fully explained by one key mutation, many studies sequence the whole exome and leave all the noncoding DNA out. Similarly, personalized cancer tests, which can help bring to light unexpected treatment options, often sequence the tumor exome, or a smaller panel of protein-coding genes.

sjwilliamspa commented on Controlling CAR-T cells

Controlling CAR-T cells Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP, Curator LPBI New discovery – Remote control of CAR-T cells CAR-T …

Interesting method to use a chimeric heterodimer receptor to control CD19 activity however it would be ineresting to see if cancer replapses occur more frequently. Originally it was thought the CART would act, after initial treatment, eventually to patrol the body for any recurring tumor cells. Using rapamycin would be interesting although there had been some immunotoxic concerns with chronic use (although long term use of rapamycin and other mtor inhibitors seemed to prolong lifespan in immunodeficient animals)

Temsirolimus, an Inhibitor of Mammalian Target of Rapamycin athttp://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/14/5/1286.short