Fatemeh Hajari Taheri
Pasteur Institute of Iran, Iran
Title: A chimeric T cell antigen receptor (CAR) that targets VEGFR-2 expressing cells
Biography
Biography: Fatemeh Hajari Taheri
Abstract
Objective: Designer T cells are T lymphocytes engineered toward specific antibody-type membrane antigens through chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and are mainly used for adoptive cellular immunotherapy. The designer CAR T cell could be used as a valuable approach for inhibition of tumors by redirecting the T cells against markers of tumor angiogenesis. In this study, we describe the development and characterization of a novel specific designer CAR T cell against vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) as a tumor angiogenic marker.
Methods and Results: T-cell line was electroporated with the chimeric anti-VEGFR2 construct and was analyzed for CAR expression. The specific activation was analysed by coculturing of CAR T cell with VEGFR2-expressing cells(KDR) in vitro. T cells expressing this CAR can effectively target VEGFR2-positive cells. We show that VEGFR2-specific T cells produce the large amount of immunostimulatory cytokines such as IFN-γ(308pg/ml) and IL-2(1900pg/ml) when co-cultured with VEGFR2-positive targets and proliferate more vigorously on VEGFR2-expressing cells.
Conclusion: The anti-VEGFR2 designer T cells exhibited an antibody-type specificity that could recognize VEGFR2-expressing cells in a MHC-independent manner, resulting in T-cell activation and proliferation. This redirected T cell provides a potential method for the gene therapy of a variety of solid tumors.