Journal: Molecular Therapy. Nucleic Acids

Article Title: Engineered mRNA backbones for gene expression in human T cells

doi: 10.1016/j.omtn.2026.102913

Figure Lengend Snippet: T cell-specific UTRs for optimized CAR expression, reactivity, and tonic signaling (A). Representative flow cytometry analysis of PBMC-derived T cells electroporated with CD19-CAR-encoding constructs using various 5′ UTRs. (B) Quantification of percentages of CD19-CAR + cells in (A). Data are normalized to the HBA1 UTR condition and presented as mean ± SEM from four independent experiments ( n = 4). Kruskal-Wallis test revealed no statistically significant difference ( p = 0.29). (C) MFI of CD19-CAR + cells in (A) normalized to the HBA1 UTR. Data represent four independent experiments ( n = 4). Kruskal-Wallis test indicated a significant difference among groups ( p < 0.005); Dunn’s post hoc test revealed significant reduction in the TNF-UTR group compared to HBA1 ( p = 0.0022). (D) Secreted IFN-γ levels in co-culture supernatants of PBMC-derived T cells electroporated with CD19-CAR mRNA using different 5′ UTRs and CD19 + NALM6 target cells. Data from two healthy donors (D29 and D40) are shown at various effector-to-target (E:T) ratios. (E) Left: interferon gamma ELISA in media taken from co-cultures of PBMC-derived T cells electroporated with CD19-CAR mRNA using different UTRs, either together with CD19 + (filled) or CD19 − (NALM6 KO, empty) at an E:T ratio of 4:1. Right: delta of interferon gamma secretion of E between the co-culture of electroporated T cells with CD19 + vs. CD19 − NALM6 cells. Bars represent mean ± SEM, n = 5 (CD19 + co-cultures) and n = 2 (CD19 − co-cultures) per construct. (F) Flow cytometry analysis of virus-specific T cells (VSTs) electroporated with mRNA constructs encoding for CD19-CAR using various UTRs. Note that cells are grown without target cells to demonstrate tonic signaling. (G) Pie charts of PD-1/TIM-3 population distribution of (F). Data are representative of two independent experiments.

Article Snippet: Cells were harvested 24–48 h post-electroporation, washed in FACS buffer (PBS with 2% FBS), and stained with the following fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies: CD19 CAR Detection Reagent, Biotin (Miltenyi Biotec, #130-129-550), followed by secondary staining with Anti-Biotin-APC (Miltenyi Biotec, REAfinity #130-113-854); TIM-3 APC-Cy7 (BioLegend, #345025); 4-1BB PE-Cy7 (BioLegend, #309820); Viability Dye eFluor 506/AmCyan (Thermo Fisher Scientific, #65-0866-14).

Techniques: Expressing, Flow Cytometry, Derivative Assay, Construct, Co-Culture Assay, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Virus

Journal: Kidney International Reports

Article Title: Early-Stage B-cells Predict Relapse After Rituximab Treatment in Patients With Membranous Nephropathy

doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2026.106365

Figure Lengend Snippet: Reconstitution of B-cells over time. To characterize B-cell subsets, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stained with fluorochrome-conjugated monoclonal antibodies (BD Biosciences) directed against the following antigens: CD45 (V500-C), CD3 (APC), CD19 (APC-H7), CD27 (BV421), IgD (PE), CD38 (BV711), CD4 (BV605), and CD8 (PE), as well as 7-AAD (Miltenyi Biotech). The stained cells were then analyzed using multicolor flow cytometry (BD FACS Lyric). The subsets of gated CD19 + cells were identified based on surface marker expression as follows: naïve (CD19+CD27-IgD+), nonswitched memory (CD19+CD27+IgD+), switched memory (CD19+CD27+IgD-), and double negative (CD19+CD27-IgD-); and within the CD19+CD38++ population, we distinguished transitional cells (CD19+CD38++CD27-IgD+), plasmablasts (CD19+CD38++CD27+IgD-), and double-negative CD38 + cells (CD19+CD38++CD27-IgD-). B-cell subsets were expressed as a percentage of the total lymphocyte count. (a) B-cell subpopulations were assessed in 39 patients at baseline and in 36 patients at 3 (M3), 6 (M6), 9 (M9), 12 (M12), and 18 (M18) months following the first rituximab infusion. The 3 patients who did not receive treatment were excluded from the follow-up. Complete depletion of B-cells was observed in all patients at M3 post-rituximab for all B-cell subpopulations. CD19 + cells reappeared 6 months after rituximab infusion. Naive cells re-emerged the most among B-cells, followed by CD38 + cells, transitional cells and finally memory cells. Data are shown as mean values (dots). (b–k) B-cell subpopulations at baseline and at subsequent time points were compared between relapsing patients ( n = 8) and nonrelapsing patients ( n = 19); the 2 patients who received additional anti-CD20 infusions were excluded from subsequent analyses. Data are shown as medians and interquartile range (IQR). P -values were calculated by comparing the median values of each cell subpopulation between relapsing and nonrelapsing patients using a nonparametric, unpaired Mann–Whitney U test.

Article Snippet: To characterize B-cell subsets, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stained with fluorochrome-conjugated monoclonal antibodies (BD Biosciences) directed against the following antigens: CD45 (V500-C), CD3 (APC), CD19 (APC-H7), CD27 (BV421), IgD (PE), CD38 (BV711), CD4 (BV605), and CD8 (PE), as well as 7-AAD (Miltenyi Biotech).

Techniques: Staining, Bioprocessing, Flow Cytometry, Marker, Expressing, MANN-WHITNEY