Science Spotlight: Increasing penetration of CAR T cells into solid tumors

A team led by Xuanming Yang at Shanghai Jiao Tong University highlighted a way to increase CAR T cell penetration into solid tumors by adding OX40 to the surface.

The Science Translational Medicine article authors found that OX40 binds to heparan sulfate, a long, linear polysaccharide that is highly expressed on solid tumors. The interaction of heparan sulfate and OX40 activated the AKT, MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways. Adding OX40 to CAR T cells enhanced cell adhesion and CAR T cell functional binding avidity to tumor cells – features shown to drive CAR T cell efficacy. ...