CELL INTELLIGENCE · 肿瘤细胞治疗研究

BACKGROUND: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies targeting glioblastoma (GBM)-associated antigens such as interleukin-13 receptor subunit alpha-2 (IL-13R 2) have achieved limited clinical efficacy to date, in part due to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) characterized by inhibitory molecules such as transforming growth factor-beta (TGF- ). The aim of this study was to engineer more potent GBM-targeting CAR-T cells by countering TGF- -mediated immune suppression in the TME. METHODS: We engineered a single-chain, bispecific CAR targeting IL-13R 2 and TGF- , which programs tumor-specific T cells to convert TGF- from an immunosuppressant to an immunostimulant. Bispecific IL-13R 2/TGF- CAR-T cells were evaluated for efficacy and safety against both patient-derived GBM xenografts and syngeneic models of murine glioma. RESULTS: Treatment with IL-13R 2/TGF- CAR-T cells leads to greater T-cell infiltration and reduced suppressive myeloid cell presence in the tumor-bearing brain compared to treatment with conventional IL-13R 2 CAR-T cells, resulting in improved survival in both patient-derived GBM xenografts and syngeneic models of murine glioma. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that by reprogramming tumor-specific T-cell responses to TGF- , bispecific IL-13R 2/TGF- CAR-T cells resist and remodel the immunosuppressive TME to drive potent anti-tumor responses in GBM.