Development of engineered immune cells sensing pathogenic virus with high sensitivity to prevent infection

The results of collaborative research and development led by Professor Akihide Ryo and Assistant Professor Satoko Matsunaga of Department of Microbiology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine; Department of Immunology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine; National Institute of Infectious Diseases; and National Center for Global health and Medicine.

• A customization of extracellular and intracellular portions of the “synNotch receptor,” a membrane protein developed for immunological therapy for cancer, led to the successful development of engineered immune cells sensing Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) surface antigen prior to enhancement of intracellular transcription.
• It was confirmed at the cellular level that activated engineered immune cells can control HBV transmission through the secretion of a neutralizing antibody—an antibody with the capacity to inhibit viral infection—and interferon.
• The results of R&D suggested that engineered immune cells with synNotch receptor may be an important tool for development of novel treatment for intractable infectious diseases.

This R&D project was conducted with the support of Research Program on Hepatitis by AMED.

The results of R&D were published in iScience , a multidisciplinary open access journal published by Cell Press, on February 27.

Matsunaga S, et al. Engineering cellular biosensors with customizable antiviral responses targeting hepatitis B virus iScience
DOI：10.1016/j.isci.2020.100867