Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domains

Abstract Despite the success of chimeric antigen receptor T (CART) cell therapy in hematological malignancies, durable remissions remain low. Here, we report CART senescence as a potential resistance mechanism in 41BB-costimulated CART cell therapy. To mimic cancer relapse, we utilized an in vitro m...

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Main Authors: Ismail Can, Elizabeth L. Siegler, Olivia L. Sirpilla, Claudia Manriquez-Roman, Kun Yun, Carli M. Stewart, Jennifer M. Feigin, Makena L. Rodriguez, Omar L. Gutierrez-Ruiz, Ekene J. Ogbodo, Truc N. Huynh, Brooke L. Kimball, Long K. Mai, Mehrdad Hefazi, Lionel Kankeu Fonkoua, Hong Xia, Imene Hamaidi, Berke Alkan, Fatih Sezer, H. Atakan Ekiz, R. Leo Sakemura, Saad S. Kenderian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-06-01
Series:Molecular Cancer
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-025-02371-1
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author Ismail Can
Elizabeth L. Siegler
Olivia L. Sirpilla
Claudia Manriquez-Roman
Kun Yun
Carli M. Stewart
Jennifer M. Feigin
Makena L. Rodriguez
Omar L. Gutierrez-Ruiz
Ekene J. Ogbodo
Truc N. Huynh
Brooke L. Kimball
Long K. Mai
Mehrdad Hefazi
Lionel Kankeu Fonkoua
Hong Xia
Imene Hamaidi
Berke Alkan
Fatih Sezer
H. Atakan Ekiz
R. Leo Sakemura
Saad S. Kenderian
author_facet Ismail Can
Elizabeth L. Siegler
Olivia L. Sirpilla
Claudia Manriquez-Roman
Kun Yun
Carli M. Stewart
Jennifer M. Feigin
Makena L. Rodriguez
Omar L. Gutierrez-Ruiz
Ekene J. Ogbodo
Truc N. Huynh
Brooke L. Kimball
Long K. Mai
Mehrdad Hefazi
Lionel Kankeu Fonkoua
Hong Xia
Imene Hamaidi
Berke Alkan
Fatih Sezer
H. Atakan Ekiz
R. Leo Sakemura
Saad S. Kenderian
author_sort Ismail Can
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Despite the success of chimeric antigen receptor T (CART) cell therapy in hematological malignancies, durable remissions remain low. Here, we report CART senescence as a potential resistance mechanism in 41BB-costimulated CART cell therapy. To mimic cancer relapse, we utilized an in vitro model with repeated CART cell activation cycles followed by rest periods. Using CD19-targeted CART cells with costimulation via 4-1BB-CD3ζ (BBζ) or CD28-CD3ζ (28ζ), we showed that CART cells undergo functional, phenotypical, and transcriptomic changes of senescence, which is more prominent in BBζ. We then utilized two additional independent strategies to induce senescence through MYC activation and irradiation. Induction of senescence impaired BBζ activity but improved 28ζ activity in preclinical studies. These findings were supported by analyses of independent patient data sets; senescence signatures in CART cell products were associated with non-response to BBζ but with improved clinical outcomes in 28ζ treatment. In summary, our study identifies senescence as a potential mechanism of failure predominantly in 41BB-costimulated CART cells.
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spelling doaj-art-d129db6db3064e2b889cc304e06deaec2025-08-20T02:06:31ZengBMCMolecular Cancer1476-45982025-06-0124111610.1186/s12943-025-02371-1Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domainsIsmail Can0Elizabeth L. Siegler1Olivia L. Sirpilla2Claudia Manriquez-Roman3Kun Yun4Carli M. Stewart5Jennifer M. Feigin6Makena L. Rodriguez7Omar L. Gutierrez-Ruiz8Ekene J. Ogbodo9Truc N. Huynh10Brooke L. Kimball11Long K. Mai12Mehrdad Hefazi13Lionel Kankeu Fonkoua14Hong Xia15Imene Hamaidi16Berke Alkan17Fatih Sezer18H. Atakan Ekiz19R. Leo Sakemura20Saad S. Kenderian21T Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicCancer Biology, Mayo ClinicDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Izmir Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Izmir Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Izmir Institute of TechnologyT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicT Cell Engineering, Mayo ClinicAbstract Despite the success of chimeric antigen receptor T (CART) cell therapy in hematological malignancies, durable remissions remain low. Here, we report CART senescence as a potential resistance mechanism in 41BB-costimulated CART cell therapy. To mimic cancer relapse, we utilized an in vitro model with repeated CART cell activation cycles followed by rest periods. Using CD19-targeted CART cells with costimulation via 4-1BB-CD3ζ (BBζ) or CD28-CD3ζ (28ζ), we showed that CART cells undergo functional, phenotypical, and transcriptomic changes of senescence, which is more prominent in BBζ. We then utilized two additional independent strategies to induce senescence through MYC activation and irradiation. Induction of senescence impaired BBζ activity but improved 28ζ activity in preclinical studies. These findings were supported by analyses of independent patient data sets; senescence signatures in CART cell products were associated with non-response to BBζ but with improved clinical outcomes in 28ζ treatment. In summary, our study identifies senescence as a potential mechanism of failure predominantly in 41BB-costimulated CART cells.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-025-02371-1Chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapySenescenceExhaustionMYCImmunotherapy
spellingShingle Ismail Can
Elizabeth L. Siegler
Olivia L. Sirpilla
Claudia Manriquez-Roman
Kun Yun
Carli M. Stewart
Jennifer M. Feigin
Makena L. Rodriguez
Omar L. Gutierrez-Ruiz
Ekene J. Ogbodo
Truc N. Huynh
Brooke L. Kimball
Long K. Mai
Mehrdad Hefazi
Lionel Kankeu Fonkoua
Hong Xia
Imene Hamaidi
Berke Alkan
Fatih Sezer
H. Atakan Ekiz
R. Leo Sakemura
Saad S. Kenderian
Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domains
Molecular Cancer
Chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy
Senescence
Exhaustion
MYC
Immunotherapy
title Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domains
title_full Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domains
title_fullStr Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domains
title_full_unstemmed Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domains
title_short Differential susceptibility and role for senescence in CART cells based on costimulatory domains
title_sort differential susceptibility and role for senescence in cart cells based on costimulatory domains
topic Chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy
Senescence
Exhaustion
MYC
Immunotherapy
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-025-02371-1
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