Journal: Molecular Therapy. Nucleic Acids
Article Title: Lipid nanoparticle mRNA delivery preserves CAR T cell cytotoxicity and limits exhaustion compared to electroporation
doi: 10.1016/j.omtn.2026.102929
Figure Lengend Snippet: Functional characterization of CD19-CAR T cells produced by LNP-mediated versus electroporation-based mRNA delivery (A) Experimental workflow: electroporated and LNP-transfected T cells were assessed in an in vitro transwell assay, first migrating toward CCL21 for 3 h, followed by co-culture with NALM6 target cells (CD19 + GFP + ). Killing efficiency was monitored over 28 h with 4-h intervals using live-cell imaging. Created with BioRender.com . (B) Killing efficacy of NALM6 (CD19 + GFP + ) target cells using untouched, mock-transfected and CD19-CAR mRNA transfected T cells (EP and LNP) over 28 h assessed using live-cell imaging every 4 h. (C) Area under the curve (AUC) analysis of total killing capacity over the 28-h observation period for the same groups relative to untouched T cells. (D) Fold increase of migrated CD3 + T cells toward CCL21 chemokine normalized to untouched T cells comparing LNP and electroporation delivery methods for mock-transfected and CD19-CAR mRNA transfected T cells analyzed using flow cytometry. (E) Flow cytometric analysis of exhaustion marker expression (TIM-3 and LAG-3) in CD3 + , CD4 + and CD8 + T cell populations following cytotoxic activity of LNP-transfected T cells normalized to electroporated T cells. (F) Mean percentage of CAR T cells expressing zero, one, two, or three exhaustion markers in electroporated T cells (upper) and LNP-transfected CD19-CAR T cells (lower) following cytotoxic activity. (G) Supernatants from migrated T cell killing assays were collected and analyzed for pro-inflammatory cytokines. Mean levels of granzyme B, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-8, and IL-10 are shown. Normalized to CD19-CAR frequency for each sample. Statistical analysis for differences between subpopulations was performed by Friedman test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test (C, D, and G) or paired t test (E). ∗ns, not significant; ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01, ∗∗∗ p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗ p < 0.0001. Data represent mean ± SEM from n = 4 independent donors.
Article Snippet: PBMCs were isolated from healthy donors using Biocoll (Biochrom) gradient centrifugation, and CD3 + T cells were enriched using magnetic cell separation with CD3 Microbeads (Miltenyi Biotec).
Techniques: Functional Assay, Produced, Electroporation, Transfection, In Vitro, Transwell Assay, Co-Culture Assay, Live Cell Imaging, Flow Cytometry, Marker, Expressing, Activity Assay, Comparison