Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41827001›Full record

ArticleBMC medicine2026

Myeloid-derived immunosuppression of chimeric antigen receptor T cells in the neuronal microenvironment of glioblastoma.

Junyi Zhang, Jasmin von Ehr, Thomas Look, Jasim Kada Benotmane, Nicolas Neidert, Jan Kueckelhaus, Tobias Weiss, Dieter Henrik Heiland, Yahaya A Yabo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Junyi Zhang *Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0001-2971
Jasmin von Ehr *Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Thomas LookDepartment of Neurology, Clinical Neuroscience Center, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Jasim Kada BenotmaneDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.ORCID 0009-0005-2100-913X
Nicolas NeidertDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Jan KueckelhausDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Tobias WeissDepartment of Neurology, Clinical Neuroscience Center, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Dieter Henrik HeilandDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany. dieter.henrik.heiland@uniklinik-freiburg.de.ORCID 0000-0002-9258-3033
Yahaya A YaboDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 64, 79106, Freiburg, Germany. yahaya.yabo@uk-erlangen.de.ORCID 0000-0002-1128-6038

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy remains largely ineffective in glioblastoma (GB), where a highly immunosuppressive microenvironment and tumor heterogeneity impair therapeutic durability.

methodsUsing a human neocortical brain slice model that preserves the complex GB microenvironment, we profiled interactions between natural killer group 2D (NKG2D) CAR-T cells and tumor ecosystems via PIC-seq, spatial transcriptomics, and gene regulatory network reconstruction.

resultsCAR-T cells showed an early but unsustained tumor-suppressive effect in the slice model. Single-cell profiling revealed that CAR CD8 T cells adopt an effector-skewed activation state accompanied by coordinated upregulation of checkpoint receptors and an exhaustion-associated transcription factor program. These transcriptional changes were linked to ligand-receptor signaling interactions between CAR-T cells and myeloid populations. Tumor-associated macrophages displayed enhanced phagocytic programs and spatially co-localized with mesenchymal-like GB cells within hypoxic regions. Gene regulatory network analysis identified MAF and BACH2 as candidate regulators of CD8 T cell state, with MAF enriched in CAR CD8 T cells exhibiting exhaustion-like features, and BACH2 enriched in Mock CD8 T cells consistent with less differentiated programs. In silico perturbation analyses further suggested a reciprocal effect of MAF and BACH2 on CD8 T cell transcriptional trajectories.

conclusionsThese data map the microenvironmental and transcriptional changes associated with rapid CAR-T cell dysfunction in GB and identify candidate pathways and regulators that may be leveraged to engineer more durable cellular therapies.

Indexed as

Brain NeoplasmsGlioblastomaMyeloid CellsNeuronsReceptors, Chimeric AntigenTumor MicroenvironmentCD8-Positive T-LymphocytesHumansImmunosuppression TherapyImmunotherapy, AdoptiveT-Cell ExhaustionReceptors, Chimeric AntigenBrain slicesChimeric antigen receptorGlioblastomaImmunosuppressionT cell exhaustionTranscriptional regulation

Identifiers

PMID41827001
PMCPMC13063468

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Registered trials

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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.