TALEN-edited allogeneic inducible dual CAR T cells enable effective targeting of solid tumors while mitigating off-tumor toxicity

Abstract

Adoptive cell therapy using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells has proven to be lifesaving for many cancer patients. However, its therapeutic efficacy has been limited in solid tumors. One key factor for this is cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) that modulate the tumor microenvironment (TME) to inhibit T cell infiltration and induce "T cell dysfunction." Additionally, the sparsity of tumor-specific antigens (TSA) and expression of CAR-directed tumor-associated antigens (TAA) on normal tissues often results in "on-target off-tumor" cytotoxicity, raising safety concerns. Using TALEN-mediated gene editing, we present here an innovative CAR T cell engineering strategy to overcome these challenges. Our allogeneic "Smart CAR T cells" are designed to express a constitutive CAR, targeting FAP⁺ CAFs in solid tumors. Additionally, a second CAR targeting a TAA such as mesothelin is specifically integrated at a TCR signaling-inducible locus like PDCD1. FAPCAR-mediated CAF targeting induces expression of the mesothelin CAR, establishing an IF/THEN-gated circuit sensitive to dual antigen sensing. Using this approach, we observe enhanced anti-tumor cytotoxicity, while limiting "on-target off-tumor" toxicity. Our study thus demonstrates TALEN-mediated gene editing capabilities for design of allogeneic IF/THEN-gated dual CAR T cells that efficiently target immunotherapy-recalcitrant solid tumors while mitigating potential safety risks, encouraging clinical development of this strategy.

Keywords: CAR T cell; CAR logic gate; TALEN; allogeneic; cell therapy; gene editing; immunotherapy; on-target off-tumor toxicity; solid tumors.