Michael Traxlmayr – VJRegenMed

Enhancing CAR T-cells with an AvidCAR platform

Simon Ng — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 10:25:12 +0000

Michael Traxlmayr, PhD, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, provides an overview of the development of an avidity-controlled CAR (AvidCAR) platform and its potential applications in regulating the specificity of chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) T-cell therapy. AvidCARs have a lower antigen binding affinity compared to typical CAR T-cells and the reduced affinity results in increased tumor specificity as AvidCARs are dependent on bivalent antigen integration for activation. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Applying AvidCAR T-cells in a clinical setting

Simon Ng — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 10:25:11 +0000

Michael Traxlmayr, PhD, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, comments on the benefits and potential uses of avidity-controlled chimeric antigen receptor (AvidCAR) T-cells. AvidCAR T-cells require bivalent antigen engagement as a result of a reduced antigen-binding affinity, increasing the specificity of AvidCAR T-cells and sparing bystander cells. The AvidCAR platform additionally dimerizes CARs, enabling regulation of CAR activity with a small molecule inhibitor and Dr Traxlmayr suggests expression of clinically relevant antigen pairs to optimize AvidCAR T-cell design. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Highlights in the field of Treg cells from ICLE 2022

Simon Ng — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 10:25:10 +0000

Whilst the field of T-cell engineering is in its infancy, many exciting advances were presented at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022. Michael Traxlmayr, PhD, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, comments on some of his highlights during the conference, including engineering Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells, which will potentially expand the utility of T-cell therapies. This interview took place at ICLE 2022.