New study suggests that CAR-T cells are promising for the treatment of fungal infections

In a new study, researchers from research institutions such as the University of Würzburg and the University of Munich in Germany have developed a way to improve the process of engineering CAR-T cells, from which they can build CAR-T cells
that can help fight fungal infections in the lungs.

In a new study, researchers from research institutions such as the University of Würzburg and the University of Munich in Germany have developed a way to improve the process of engineering CAR-T cells, from which they can build CAR-T cells
that can help fight fungal infections in the lungs 。 The findings were published in the September 28, 2022 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine in a paper titled "CAR T cells targeting Aspergillus fumigatus are effective at treating invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in preclinical models"
。 In the paper, they describe improvements to the CAR-T cell engineering process
.

Genetically modified CAR-T cells can attach to cancer cell antigens to help the body eliminate tumors
.
CAR-T cells are designed by taking T cells from patients and genetically modifying them to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that recognizes cancer cells
.
Subsequently, CAR-T cells were re-infused into
the same patients.
Traditionally, CAR T cells were designed to fight cancer, but in the new study, the authors improved the process by creating CAR-T cells
that can fight Aspergillus -----fumigatus, a fungal --- that can lead to infections in immunocompromised patients or those undergoing chemotherapy leading to aggressive pulmonary aspergillosis.
Recently, it has been found that people with COVID-19 infection are also more susceptible to this lung infection
.

The new study closely mimics the process used
to build CAR-T cells to fight cancer.
However, instead of adding a CAR receptor that targets cancer cell antigens, they added a CAR receptor
that targets the cell wall of Aspergillus fumigatus.

Immune synapses (pink)
formed when CAR-T cells are co-cultured with Aspergillus fumigatus hyphae.
Image from Science Translational Medicine, 2022, doi:10.
1126/scitranslmed.
abh1209
.

The authors first tested their newly designed CAR-T cells in a dish and found that they were able to recognize multiple strains of Aspergillus
fumigatus.
They also found that their CAR-T cells were able to kill the fungi by releasing perforin and granzyme B to hinder the growth of this
fungus.
They then tested their CAR-T cells
on lab mice.
They found that CAR-T cells moved directly to the site of infection and, when attached to the fungus, reduced the number of fungi, which in turn helped the immune system eliminate the fungal infection
.

The authors suggest that T cell engineering methods similar to those used to treat cancer cells could also be used for other applications, such as fighting fungal infections
.
(Bio Valley Bioon.
com)

Resources:

Michelle Seif et al.
CAR T cells targeting Aspergillus fumigatus are effective at treating invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in preclinical models.
Science Translational Medicine, 2022, doi:10.
1126/scitranslmed.
abh1209.