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246 AI-designed immune sensor-enhanced CAR-T cells for potent solid tumor immunotherapy

jitc · 2025-11-04 · canonical JSON source

6 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Background Immune-based therapies have transformed cancer treatment; however, their effectiveness remains limited in solid tumors, with durable responses observed in only a small fraction of patients. To address this limitation, Edity Therapeutics has developed a novel platform designed to enhance CAR-T cell efficacy by inducing a robust antiviral-like immune response upon antigen engagement.Methods CAR-T cells were engineered to express optimized constitutively-active derivatives of innate immune sensor proteins, fused to a navigator protein that ensures activation of the sensor exclusively upon CAR-T cell activation. These immune sensors were selected from key components of the STING and MAVS pathways, which are responsible for sensing cytosolic DNA and RNA, respectively. Using AI-based rational design strategies, hundreds of sensor variants were generated and screened for functional activity, with emphasis on type I interferon induction following CAR-T activation.Results Lead candidates demonstrating strong immunostimulatory potential were selected for in vivo evaluation. In both NSG and SCID-Beige xenograft mouse models, CAR-T cells expressing the engineered immune sensors exhibited superior tumor control compared to conventional CAR-T cells.Conclusions To enable clinical translation, a structured process for cancer indication and target antigen selection was implemented. Two clinical development programs targeting solid tumors are currently underway. These CAR constructs will be integrated with the immune sensor platform to generate next-generation CAR-T cell products with enhanced efficacy for the treatment of solid malignancies.