CELL INTELLIGENCE · 肿瘤细胞治疗研究

T cells have the unique ability to detect a wide range of tumors with low mutation burdens, making them attractive candidates for CAR-T-cell therapy. Unlike T cells and other immune cells, T cells are superior in MHC non-restriction, selective cell recruitment, and rapid activation. However, clinical trials have shown limited clinical benefits, and the adoptive transplantation of T cells has often fallen short of expectations. We hypothesized that the limited effectiveness of T cells in eradicating tumor cells may be attributed to the inhibitory tumor microenvironment induced by the suppressive PD-1/PD-L1 axis. Herein, we constructed novel armored T cells capable of secreting humanized anti-PD-1 antibodies, referred to as "Lv-PD1- T cells. Lv-PD1- T cells showed improved proliferation and enhanced cytotoxicity against tumor cells, resulting in augmented therapeutic effects and survival benefits in ovarian tumor-bearing mice. These engineered cells demonstrated a prolonged in vivo survival of more than 29 days, without any potential for tumorigenicity in immunodeficient NOD/SCID/ null mice. We also found that Lv-PD1- T cells exhibited excellent tolerance and safety in humanized NOD/SCID/ null mice. With attenuated or eliminated immunosuppression and maximized cytotoxicity efficacy by the local secretion of anti-PD1 antibodies in tumors, Lv-PD1- T cells can serve as a promising "off-the-shelf" cell therapy against cancers.