ArticleNature communications2021
An engineered IL-2 reprogrammed for anti-tumor therapy using a semi-synthetic organism.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
81 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of interleukin-2-based immunotherapies in clinical trials for cancer and autoimmune diseases.EBioMedicine · 2023Pooled it
- Engineering cytokines for cancer immunotherapy: a systematic review.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Pooled it
- Phase 1/2 study of pegenzileukin, a pegylated recombinant non-alpha IL-2, with cemiplimab for the treatment of advanced unresectable or metastatic skin cancers.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2026Trial
- TransCon IL-2 β/γ: a novel long-acting prodrug with sustained release of an IL-2Rβ/γ-selective IL-2 variant with improved pharmacokinetics and potent activation of cytotoxic immune cells for the treatment of cancer.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2022Trial
- Site-Specific Protein Bioconjugation Through Cellular Incorporation of Noncanonical Amino Acids.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Review
- Cytokine fusion proteins for solid tumor therapy: mechanistic insights and clinical advances.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2026Review
- Messenger RNA delivery of a dual CD25/CD122 affinity-tuned IL-2 variant prolongs exposure and potentiates antitumor T cell immunity.Science advances · 2026Article
- A Tumor-Microenvironment-Responsive Chemically Masked IL‑2 Prodrug Potentiates PD‑1 Checkpoint Blockade and Elicits Robust Antitumor Efficacy.ACS central science · 2026Article
- Total Chemical Synthesis of Interleukin-15 and Interleukin-2: Taming Protein Hydrophobicity and Aggregation by a Versatile Solubilizing Strategy.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Article
- Evaluating pegenzileukin (SAR444245/THOR-707) in combination with pembrolizumab or cetuximab in advanced metastatic gastrointestinal cancer: the PEGATHOR phase 2 study.Investigational new drugs · 2026Article
- Taming immune responses to AAV gene therapy by programmed in vivo Treg expansion.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2026Article
- Programmed Cell Death Protein 1-Interleukin-2 Bispecific Agents for Cancer Therapy.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2026Review
- Recoding multiple rare codons enables the simultaneous incorporation of up to five distinct noncanonical amino acids.Nature chemistry · 2026Article
- Article
- Advances in IL-2 Family Cytokine-Based Cancer Therapies: Overcoming Challenges Through Molecular Engineering and Delivery Strategies.Immune network · 2026Review
- Advances in IL-2-based cancer immunotherapy and the synergistic role of stem-like CD8Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Orchestrating T and NK cells for tumor immunotherapy via NKG2A-targeted delivery of a de novo designed IL-2Rβγ agonist.Drug delivery · 2025Article
- Protein engineering to overcome limitations of key cytokines in cancer immunotherapy: current approaches and future perspectives.Immuno-oncology technology · 2025Review
- Current landscape and future prospects of interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) agonists in cancer immunotherapy.Oncoimmunology · 2025Review
- Coupling IL-2 with IL-10 to mitigate toxicity and enhance antitumor immunity.Cell reports. Medicine · 2025Article
21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The implementation of applied engineering principles to create synthetic biological systems promises to revolutionize medicine, but application of fundamentally redesigned organisms has thus far not impacted practical drug development. Here we utilize an engineered microbial organism with a six-letter semi-synthetic DNA code to generate a library of site-specific, click chemistry compatible amino acid substitutions in the human cytokine IL-2. Targeted covalent modification of IL-2 variants with PEG polymers and screening identifies compounds with distinct IL-2 receptor specificities and improved pharmacological properties. One variant, termed THOR-707, selectively engages the IL-2 receptor beta/gamma complex without engagement of the IL-2 receptor alpha. In mice, administration of THOR-707 results in large-scale activation and amplification of CD8
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.