CAR-T cell therapy has revolutionized the treatment of certain hematological cancers. Professor Christopher E. Rudd, Ph. D., D.Sc., researcher at the Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont and Principal Investigator, had the idea to use this technology to generate CAR-T cells against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. The results of this research have just been published in the journal iScience.
Currently, COVID-19 vaccines involve the use of adenoviruses (Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine) or mRNAs that express SARS-CoV-2 S1 peptides (Moderna and BioNTech / Pfizer vaccines) to elicit immune responses. Professor Rudd's lab team explored a new approach by designing a CAR-T cell capable of recognizing a segment of SARS-CoV-2. The research project was able to demonstrate that these CAR-T cells are activated in the presence of the specific peptide and can kill cells loaded with the appropriate peptide or protein of SARS-CoV-2. These studies were performed in vitro or in vivo in mice.
For Dr Christopher E. Rudd, Ph. D., who is also a professor in the Department of Medicine at the Université de Montréal, “the CAR-T approach could be the first step in the development of a potential new weapon to defeat the SARS-CoV virus. -2 and its new variants. "
The next step in the research project will be to demonstrate that these CAR-T cells can eliminate cells infected with a virus, an approach that could eventually lead to a new type of treatment for COVID-19.
The work was carried out in collaboration with Dr. Uri Saragovi of the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research affiliated with McGill University.