Engraftment of a surrogate antigen onto tumor cell surface via pHLIP peptide to universally target CAR-T cell therapy to solid tumors.

ABSTRACT: CAR-T cells and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are immunotherapeutics that have shown efficacies against certain malignancies. However, their broad application is hindered by the scarcity of tumor-associated antigens on tumor cell surfaces. Previous investigations unveiled the unique capacity of pH-low insertion peptide (pHLIP) to anchor to plasma membranes under acidic conditions. Considering that an acidic tumor microenvironment is a hallmark of solid tumors, we engineered a novel peptide, Myc-pHLIP, by tethering a surrogate epitope tag, the c-Myc-tag, to pHLIP. We evaluated the efficiency of Myc-pHLIP in inserting the artificial c-Myc-tag onto the plasma membrane of malignant cells and determined if this engraftment could convert it into a therapeutic target for CAR-T cells or mAbs. Our i

SUBMITTER: Zhang YT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11972592 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature