Immunotherapy articles from across Nature Portfolio

On 23–26 September 2024, the second ImmunOctoberfest conference took place in Raitenhaslach, Germany, and brought together scientists from all over the world to catch up on recent advances in ‘Bridging Innovation and Translation in T cell Immunotherapy’.

Although individual genes that distinguish tumor-reactive CD8+ T cells from bystander T cells in tumors have been described, a functionally meaningful integrative signature has not been established. Here authors show that mutation-associated neoantigen-specific CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes can be recognized by MANAscore, an algorithm that uses weighted expression levels of CXCL13, ENTPD1 and IL7R in single-cell RNAseq datasets of lung cancer and melanoma patients as input.

Yang and colleagues have previously reported a clinically guided culture method to generate allogeneic CAR-NKT cells by engineering human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. As potential application, here the authors describe the design and characterization of allogeneic CD33-targeting CAR-NKT cells, showing anti-tumor activity in preclinical models of bone marrow-resident myeloid malignancies.

Vaccination in glioblastomas does lead to the emergence of tumour-antigen-specific T cells but T cell dysfunction, poor tumour infiltration and persistence hinder efficient tumour killing. Here authors identify a T cell receptor in a vaccinated glioblastoma patient that specifically recognizes the glioblastoma stem cell antigen PTPRZ1 and utilise it in T cell receptor-engineered T (TCR-T) cell therapy, resulting in efficient tumour cell killing in vitro and in a mouse model.

VEGF-C induced lymphangiogenesis combined with immunotherapy approaches can promote anti-tumor immune responses. Here the authors report that lymphaticderived oxysterols promote anti-tumor immunity and response to immunotherapy in preclinical melanoma models

Oncolytic herpes simplex virus−1 (oHSV) can boost anti-tumor immune responses in gliomas. Here the authors report that CD4 + T cells are required for the therapeutic activity of an oHSV-engineered to express IL-12 in preclinical glioblastoma models.

On 23–26 September 2024, the second ImmunOctoberfest conference took place in Raitenhaslach, Germany, and brought together scientists from all over the world to catch up on recent advances in ‘Bridging Innovation and Translation in T cell Immunotherapy’.

CAR T cells are engineered from a heterogeneous pool of T cells. This study shows that CAR T cells are epigenetically imprinted by the previous antigen exposure of the original T cell, which affects subsequent functional characteristics. These epigenetic differences can be used to identify genes that can be manipulated to modify function.

In immunocompetent hosts, the ablation of FAS and CD3 in allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cells confers them with partial protection from rejection by T cells and natural killer cells.