Described herein are
receptor configurations that allow
ligation of multiple targets expressed in
cancer cells via two main mechanisms:
direct binding via an
antibody-derived
single chain variable fragment (scFv), and indirect binding through the high-affinity engagement of the Fc component of an
antibody. When expressed in human T lymphocytes, these receptors (CARFcR) can trigger powerful CAR-
T cell activity as well as
antibody- dependent
cell cytotoxicity (ADCC), either simultaneously or sequentially. CARFcR T cells are not affected by soluble antibodies, but they can be redirected and activated by antibodies bound to target cells. Therefore, such T cells can be used to redirect adoptive
T cell therapy towards another tumor-associated
antigen "
on the fly" using clinically available antibodies. They also provide a practical way to target multiple antigens simultaneously with a single
receptor, a feature that should be useful in
cell therapies directed against phenotypically heterogeneous tumors.