Bicistronic chimeric antigen receptor targeting CD19 and CD20

The "CD19/20 bicistronic" construct is an engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) strategy, generally introduced into T cells via viral vectors, enabling the recognition and killing of malignant B cells by simultaneously targeting both CD19 and CD20 surface antigens. This approach is developed to overcome tumor evasion mechanisms like antigen loss (where the tumor ceases to express one target, e.g., CD19, to escape single-target therapy). The bicistronic system uses a single vector to drive expression of two separate CARs, allowing for dual specificity in therapeutic T cell products[4][1][3]. These constructs contain various domains derived from human antibodies (single-chain variable fragments for CD19 and CD20), signal peptides, hinge and transmembrane domains, and intracellular activation and co-stimulatory domains (such as CD28 and 4-1BB)[4][1]. This therapeutic strategy is under investigational and early clinical development for treating B cell malignancies. Note: If you require information on the **individual targets** "CD19" or "CD20," these are well-characterized surface proteins on B cells, commonly used in lymphoma immunotherapies. The "CD19/20 bicistronic" entry, however, is an engineered, non-canonical therapeutic construct, not a discrete biological receptor[4][1][3].

Other names

CD19/CD20 bicistronic CARParallel CD19/20 CARDual-targeted CD19 and CD20 CARBispecific CD19/CD20 CAR

T cells are genetically engineered to express both anti-CD19 and anti-CD20 CARs, enabling recognition and cytotoxicity toward tumor cells expressing either or both antigens[4][1][3]. Reduces risk of tumor escape due to antigen loss.