Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineering
CAR-T cell therapy is a groundbreaking strategy that kills cancer through engineered T cells expressing Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) in the patient’s T cells. CARs are composed of scFv that recognizes tumor-specific antigens on the cancer cell surface and intracellular signaling domains that can induce T cell activation, connected by transmembrane and hinge domains.
However, CAR-T therapy has side effects and it has not yet been successful in solid tumors. We aim to design more effective CARs to address these challenges.
We have developed a FRET-based biosensor that can sensitively monitor the CAR activation in live cells, which allowing the screening of various CAR candidates (Small Methods, 2024).
We are applying this FRET system to develop new CARs for various cancers.
Additionally, we are developing more efficient CAR screening methods.