Novel strategy for in vitro cell-selective protection has potential for use in adoptive cell therapy

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 29 2021

Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) is emerging powerful cancer immunotherapy, which includes a complex process of genetic modification, stimulation, and expansion. During in vitro or ex vivo manipulation, sensitive cells are inescapably subjected to harmful external stimuli. Although a variety of cytoprotection strategies have been developed, their application on ACT remains challenging.

The authors of this article constructed a DNA network on the cell surface by rolling circle amplification (RCA) and used T cell-targeted trivalent tetrahedral DNAnanostructure as a rigid scaffold to achieve high-efficient and selective coating for T cells. The cytoprotective DNA network on the T-cell surface made them aggregate over time to form cell clusters, which exhibited more resistance to external stimuli and enhanced activities in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and liver cancer organoid killing models.

The authors of this article demonstrate a novel strategy for in vitro cell-selective protection, which has a great potential for application in the ACT.