Journal Article DKFZ-2026-02756

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RNA Vaccination Drives Expansion and Brain-Licensing of T Cells to Enhance the Efficacy of Adoptive Cell Therapy in Glioblastoma.

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2026
AACR Philadelphia, Pa.

Cancer research nn, nn () [10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-26-0760]
 GO

Abstract: Adoptive cell therapies using chimeric antigen receptor or T cell receptor-transgenic T cells (TCR-T) are effective in treating hematological malignancies but have limited efficacy in solid tumors, particularly brain tumors. A major challenge of adoptive T cell therapy in brain tumors is lack of access to the target antigen, which is necessary for restimulation and persistence. Here, we addressed this challenge by using an mRNA vaccine encoding the cognate antigen to induce in vivo restimulation of transferred TCR-T cells in glioma models. Delivery of mRNA encoding the immunodominant MHC class I ovalbumin epitope SIINFEKL to splenic dendritic cells initiated strong expansion of adoptively transferred ovalbumin-specific OT1 CD8+ T cells to up to 80% of all circulating CD8+ T cells. RNA vaccination markedly improved T cell infiltration and retained interferon-stimulated gene signature in the brain, suppressing glioblastoma growth. The therapeutic efficacy of this approach was further demonstrated in an experimental model for a first-in-class TCR-T cell therapy targeting an HLA-A2-restricted immunodominant epitope of the human glioblastoma stemness antigen PTPRZ1. Co-administration of human dendritic cells transfected with PTPRZ1-mRNA led to rejection of orthotopically implanted primary human gliomas endogenously expressing PTPRZ1 and HLA-A2 after adoptive transfer of PTPRZ1-TCR-T cells. In summary, these findings indicate that mRNA vaccines can boost TCR-T cell therapy against glioblastoma.

Classification:

Note: #EA:D170#LA:D170# / epub

Contributing Institute(s):
  1. KKE Neuroimmunologie und Hirntumorimmunologie (D170)
  2. DKTK HD zentral (HD01)
  3. KKE Neuroonkologie (B320)
Research Program(s):
  1. 314 - Immunologie und Krebs (POF4-314) (POF4-314)

Appears in the scientific report 2026
Database coverage:
BIOSIS Previews ; Biological Abstracts ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Clinical Medicine ; Current Contents - Life Sciences ; Ebsco Academic Search ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 10 ; JCR ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection
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Document types > Articles > Journal Article
Institute Collections > D170
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 Record created 2026-11-05, last modified 2026-11-06



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