Engineered immune cells as highly sensitive cancer diagnostics.

ABSTRACT: Endogenous biomarkers remain at the forefront of early disease detection efforts, but many lack the sensitivities and specificities necessary to influence disease management. Here, we describe a cell-based in vivo sensor for highly sensitive early cancer detection. We engineer macrophages to produce a synthetic reporter on adopting an M2 tumor-associated metabolic profile by coupling luciferase expression to activation of the arginase-1 promoter. After adoptive transfer in colorectal and breast mouse tumor models, the engineered macrophages migrated to the tumors and activated arginase-1 so that they could be detected by bioluminescence imaging and luciferase measured in the blood. The macrophage sensor detected tumors as small as 25-50 mm³ by blood luciferase measurements, even

SUBMITTER: Aalipour A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7295609 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature