Tissue-resident memory CAR T cells with stem-like characteristics display enhanced efficacy against solid and liquid tumors

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) Tcells demonstrate remarkable success in treating hematological malignancies, but their effectiveness in non-hematopoietic cancers remains limited. This study proposes enhancing CAR Tcell function and localization in solid tumors by modifying the epigenome governing tissue-residency adaptation and early memory differentiation. We identify that a key factor in human tissue-resident memory CAR Tcell (CAR-TRM) formation is activation in the presence of the pleotropic cytokine, transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), which enforces a core program of both "stemness" and sustained tissue residency by mediating chromatin remodeling and concurrent transcriptional changes. This approach leads to a practical and clinically actionable invitro production method for engineering peripheral blood Tcells into a large number of "stem-like" CAR-TRM cells resistant to tumor-associated dysfunction, possessing an enhanced ability to accumulate in situ and rapidly eliminate cancer cells for more effective immunotherapy.