Engineering antigen-driven co-stimulation and T helper cell activity into TCR-T cells with CD8-41BB fusion receptors enhances anti-tumor activity

Ivy Dutta Justin Oh Liz Cam Allie Luther Palak Sharma Ishina Balwani James Peter Dai Liu Ian C. Miller James R. Bowen Lekshmi Maya Jingyu Peng Eleni Stampouloglou Qing-Zhan Zhang Yoko Kosaka J. Coy Jessica S. Mulkey Evan F. Lind Eliana Ruggiero C. Bonini Laura Sepp-Lorenzino B. Schultes A. Prodeus

Jul 2026 · bioRxiv · 0 citations · 2 references

Biology

TL;DR

WT1-TCR-T cells co-expressing CD8-41BB receptors were able to completely regress established cell line-derived ovarian tumors, showed robust in vivo expansion and persistence, and provided long-term protection from tumor rechallenge, suggesting this platform can be a universal approach for enhancing the therapeutic potential of TCR-based cell therapies.

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