CXCR5+ anti-Env CAR T cells

CXCR5+ anti-Env CAR T cells represent an investigational chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy designed to target the latent HIV-1 reservoir. Developed by researchers at LMU Klinikum, the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), and collaborating institutions, this therapy addresses a major barrier to an HIV cure: the persistence of latently infected CD4+ T cells in B-cell follicles of secondary lymphoid tissues, which are largely inaccessible to conventional cytotoxic T cells. The primary CD8+ T cells are engineered via lentiviral transduction to co-express CXCR5—a chemokine receptor that directs homing to B-cell follicles via the CXCL13 gradient—and an anti-Env CAR utilizing the antigen-binding domain of the CD4-binding site-directed broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) 3BNC117. In preclinical studies, these dual-engineered CAR T cells demonstrated directed migration toward CXCL13 and potent in vitro cytotoxicity, eliminating up to 70% of HIV-1-infected primary CD4+ T cells and showing efficacy in biomimetic tonsil organoid models.

Other names

3BNC117-based CXCR5+ CAR T cellsCXCR5+ 3BNC117 CAR T cellsCXCR5+ anti-Env CAR-T cellsCXCR5+ anti-HIV Env CAR T cells