Therapeutic Targeting of Follicular T Cells with Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Expressing Natural Killer Cells.

ABSTRACT: Follicular helper T cells (T_FH) are critical for vaccine and infection elicitation of long-lived humoral immunity, but exaggerated T_FH responses can promote autoimmunity and other pathologies. It is unfortunate that no clinical interventions exist for the selective depletion of follicular T cells to alleviate these diseases. We engineered a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) facilitating the specific targeting of cells with high expression levels of human programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), a cardinal feature of follicular T cells. CAR-expressing human natural killer (NK) cells robustly and discriminately eliminated PD-1^high follicular human T cells in vitro and in a humanized mouse model of lupus-like disease while sparing B cells and other PD-1

SUBMITTER: Reighard SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7455007 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature