Epitope Base Editing CD45 In Hematopoietic Cells Enables Universal Blood Cancer Immune Therapy

On October 27, 2023, the University of Pennsylvania hosted the High Efficiency Cell Engineering Seminar, showcasing an innovative presentation by Nils Wellhausen, mentored by Drs. Carl June and Saar Gill.

Wellhausen's team introduced a novel therapeutic strategy with the potential to treat a wide range of blood cancers. Their approach combines base editing to create fratricide-resistant CD45-targeting CAR T cells with CD45 epitope-edited hematopoietic stem cells, paving the way for universal blood cancer immunotherapy.

By mutating the targeted CD45 epitope, the therapy allows CAR T cells and bispecific engagers to avoid on-target/off-tumor toxicities while maintaining CD45 functionality. The engineered CD45-targeting CAR T cells have shown efficacy in combating patient-derived myeloid and lymphoid cancers.

This pioneering research may lead to the first human clinical trial integrating two base-edited cell therapies. MaxCyte’s scalable electroporation technology is expected to be instrumental in advancing this work toward clinical application.