This protein construct combines DNA from several genes to create a new T cell receptor that binds to antigens found on tumor cells and activates the T cell in response to that binding.
CAR T cell therapy is provided by removing or harvesting T cells from a patient with cancer, transfecting the cells with CAR genes that are directed against the patient’s tumor type, expanding the modified T cell population, and reinfusing the cells back into the patient.
(CAR) T cell immunotherapies may include an antibody-derived target binding domain, a co-stimulatory domain, and an essential activating domain. The first domain aims to make the T cell highly selective for cancer cells. The latter domains are responsible for activating the T cell upon binding to the target cell, resulting in the proliferation of the CAR T cells and the direct killing of the cancer cell. (Illustration adapted from Kite Pharma.)
