3A12 CAR T cells

3A12 CAR T cells are an experimental chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy being developed for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM). Developed by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, this therapy utilizes a T-cell receptor (TCR)-like antibody (clone 3A12) to target a specific peptide fragment of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) presented by the HLA-A*02:01 major histocompatibility complex. While traditional CAR T cells are limited to targeting cell-surface proteins, TCR-like CARs enable the recognition of intracellular tumor-associated antigens like TERT, which is nearly universally upregulated in GBM. Preclinical data presented at SNO 2023 demonstrated that 3A12 CAR T cells specifically recognize the TERT:HLA complex and exhibit potent in vitro cytotoxicity against GBM cell lines.

Other names

TERT-specific TCR-like antibody CAR T cells