Chan Alvin Man Lung, Sakthiswary Rajalingham, Lokanathan Yogeswaran
My CytoHealth Sdn. Bhd, 5th Floor, Plaza Hamodal, Lot No. 15, Jalan 13/2, Section 13, Petaling Jaya 46200, Selangor, Malaysia.
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia.
Biomedicines. 2025 Jul 18;13(7):1757. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13071757.
: Organ transplantation is a life-saving intervention for patients with terminal organ failure, but long-term success is hindered by graft rejection and dependence on lifelong immunosuppressants. These drugs pose risks such as opportunistic infections and malignancies. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology, originally developed for cancer immunotherapy, has been adapted to regulatory T cells (Tregs) to enhance their antigen-specific immunosuppressive function. This systematic review evaluates the preclinical development of CAR-Tregs in promoting graft tolerance and suppressing graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). A systematic review following PROSPERO guidelines (CRD420251073207) was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies published from 2015 to 2024. After screening 105 articles, 17 studies involving CAR-Tregs in preclinical or in vivo transplant or GvHD models were included. CAR-Tregs exhibited superior graft-protective properties compared to unmodified or polyclonal Tregs. HLA-A2-specific CAR-Tregs consistently improved graft survival, reduced inflammatory cytokines, and suppressed immune cell infiltration across skin, heart, and pancreatic islet transplant models. The inclusion of CD28 as a co-stimulatory domain enhanced Treg function and FOXP3 expression. However, challenges such as Treg exhaustion, tonic signaling, and reduced in vivo persistence were noted. Some studies reported synergistic effects when CAR-Tregs were combined with immunosuppressants like rapamycin or tacrolimus. CAR-Tregs offer a promising strategy for inducing targeted immunosuppression in allogeneic transplantation. While preclinical findings are encouraging, further work is needed to optimize CAR design, ensure in vivo stability, and establish clinical-scale manufacturing before translation to human trials.
器官移植是终末期器官衰竭患者的一种挽救生命的干预措施,但长期成功受到移植物排斥和对终身免疫抑制剂依赖的阻碍。这些药物存在机会性感染和恶性肿瘤等风险。嵌合抗原受体(CAR)技术最初是为癌症免疫治疗而开发的,已被应用于调节性T细胞(Tregs)以增强其抗原特异性免疫抑制功能。本系统评价评估了CAR-Tregs在促进移植物耐受和抑制移植物抗宿主病(GvHD)方面的临床前研究进展。按照PROSPERO指南(CRD420251073207)进行了一项系统评价,检索了2015年至2024年期间发表在PubMed、Scopus和Web of Science上的研究。在筛选了105篇文章后,纳入了17项涉及CAR-Tregs在临床前或体内移植或GvHD模型中的研究。与未修饰的或多克隆Tregs相比,CAR-Tregs表现出更强的移植物保护特性。HLA-A2特异性CAR-Tregs在皮肤、心脏和胰岛移植模型中持续改善移植物存活、减少炎性细胞因子并抑制免疫细胞浸润。将CD28作为共刺激域可增强Treg功能和FOXP3表达。然而,也注意到了Treg耗竭、持续性信号传导和体内持久性降低等挑战。一些研究报告称,当CAR-Tregs与雷帕霉素或他克莫司等免疫抑制剂联合使用时具有协同作用。CAR-Tregs为同种异体移植中诱导靶向免疫抑制提供了一种有前景的策略。虽然临床前研究结果令人鼓舞,但在转化为人体试验之前,还需要进一步开展工作来优化CAR设计、确保体内稳定性并建立临床规模的生产。
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