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Although CAR T cells have made their claim to fame in treating leukemia and lymphoma, scientists have now shown they can be directed toward other conditions. Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease in which autoantibodies produced by B cells—those same cells targeted by approved CAR T therapies—lead other immune cells to attack various tissues. Researchers and clinicians have tried to treat lupus by depleting B cells, but without success.
In a study published today (March 6) in Science Translational Medicine, researchers report killing off B cells in two mouse models of lupus using T cells modified with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) against CD19, the very B-cell surface protein the cancer therapies go after. The treatment eradicated autoantibodies and extended the animals’ lives.
“It’s a groundbreaking paper for new avenues of treating lupus,” says Anna-Marie Fairhurst, an immunologist at the Singapore Immunology Network who did not ...
