Gene Therapy Advances in Cancer Treatment

Strategic Insights -

Researchers at Cancer Research Division in Thiruvananthapuram, India have developed a safer and more efficient approach to gene therapy in cancer treatment. The study has generated high-titer lentiviral vectors that can be used to create CAR-T cells. CAR-T cells are a type of immunotherapy that can be used to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The researchers used self-inactivating (SIN) lentiviral vectors to transduce cells with a CAR construct that contains a hinge domain from CD8a, a transmembrane domain from CD28, and a signaling domain from CD3z. The cells were pre-stimulated with CD3/CD28 beads before transduction. The results showed that the CAR-T cells expanded up to 21.7-fold and had a viability of 82.7%. The cells also produced IFNg and CD107a in an antigen-specific manner. The sequences of WPRE, GFP, and P2A were removed from the CAR construct to enhance safety.

Key Takeaways:

  • Researchers at Cancer Research Division have developed a safer and more efficient approach to gene therapy in cancer treatment.
  • The approach uses self-inactivating (SIN) lentiviral vectors to transduce T cells with a CAR construct.
  • The CAR construct contains a hinge domain from CD8a, a transmembrane domain from CD28, and a signaling domain from CD3z.
  • The cells were pre-stimulated with CD3/CD28 beads before transduction.
  • The CAR-T cells expanded up to 21.7-fold in serum-free media.
  • The cells had a viability of 82.7% on day 12.
  • The CAR-T cells produced IFNg and CD107a in an antigen-specific manner.
  • The sequences of WPRE, GFP, and P2A were removed from the CAR construct to enhance safety.

Statistics:

  • The researchers generated high-titer lentiviral vectors with a titer of 9.85 ± 2.2 x 10^7 TU/ml.
  • The transduction efficiency of the CAR-T cells was 27.57 ± 2.4%.
  • The CAR-T cells produced IFNg at a level of 11.23 ± 1.5%.
  • The CAR-T cells produced CD107a at a level of 34.82 ± 2.08%.

##Sources:

  • Cancer Research Division. Can Research Division Researchers Detail Research in Gene Therapy (Engineering safe anti-CD19-CD28z CAR T cells with CD8a hinge domain in serum-free media for adoptive immunotherapy). Immunotherapy Weekly. May 28, 2025.
  • Frontiers in Immunology. Engineering safe anti-CD19-CD28z CAR T cells with CD8a hinge domain in serum-free media for adoptive immunotherapy. 2025, 16. (https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1545549)
  • NewsRx. Cancer Research Division Researchers Detail Research in Gene Therapy (Engineering safe anti-CD19-CD28z CAR T cells with CD8a hinge domain in serum-free media for adoptive immunotherapy). Immunotherapy Weekly. May 28, 2025; p 7.