Pre-depletion of TRBC1+ T cells promotes the therapeutic efficacy of anti-TRBC1 CAR-T for T-cell malignancies

Targeting T cell receptor β-chain constant region 1 (TRBC1) CAR-T could specifically kill TRBC1+ T-cell malignancies. However, over-expressed CARs on anti-TRBC1 CAR transduced TRBC1+ T cells (CAR-C1) bound to autologous TRBC1, masking TRBC1 from identification by other anti-TRBC1 CAR-T, and moreover only the remaining unoccupied CARs recognized TRBC1+ cells, considerably reducing therapeutic potency of CAR-C1. In addition, co-culture of anti-TRBC1 CAR-T and TRBC1+ cells could promote exhaustion and terminal differentiation of CAR-T. These findings provide a rationale for pre-depleting TRBC1+ T cells before anti-TRBC1 CAR-T manufacturing. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12943-020-01282-7.