Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41856998›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Engineering programmable CAR and antigen pairing via drug-gated light activation.

Ziliang Huang, Praopim Limsakul, Yiqian Wu, Tianze Guo, Yuxuan Wang, Zhuohang Wu, Linshan Zhu, Molly E Allen, Longwei Liu, Yingxiao Wang

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 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. Article
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

10 authors.

Ziliang HuangAlfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4102-3300
Praopim LimsakulShu Chien-Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering, Institute of Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Yiqian WuShu Chien-Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering, Institute of Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6313-6015
Tianze GuoAlfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Yuxuan WangAlfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Zhuohang WuAlfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Linshan ZhuAlfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Molly E AllenShu Chien-Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering, Institute of Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Longwei LiuAlfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4229-9066
Yingxiao WangAlfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ywang283@usc.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0265-326X

Funding

Ultrasensitive kinase biosensors for multiplex imaging of coordinated spatiotemporal signaling in cancer-immune interactionsR01CA262815 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI Yingxiao Wang, Jin Zhang · 2022 to 2026
$3.3M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA262815U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) CA262815U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) EB029122U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) GM140929U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) HD107206
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy has achieved clinical success, but remains limited in solid tumors by antigen escape and tumor heterogeneity. Here, we engineer a high-affinity R-phycoerythrin (PE)-binding monobody to create a PE-programmable CAR toward user-defined antigens sequentially or simultaneously. To reduce off-tumor toxicity, we implement a drug-gated light-activation approach (DGLA) strategy to spatially confine CAR function. We further couple DGLA-controlled tumor antigen presentation with synNotch-mediated programmable antigen-targeting CAR (sPAT) to establish programmable CAR-antigen pairing (DGLA-sPAT). This system induces clinically validated antigens on tumor cells as local 'training centers' that recruit and activate sPAT CAR T cells, enabling elimination of entire tumor populations through broadly expressed tumor antigens using PE-conjugated antibodies. In vivo, DGLA-sPAT manifests local T cell activation and potent tumor suppression with minimal off-tumor toxicity. Thus DGLA-sPAT provides a modular and spatially controlled framework to overcome antigen escape and heterogeneity while improving safety in solid-tumor CAR-T therapy.

Indexed as

Antigens, NeoplasmImmunotherapy, AdoptiveReceptors, Chimeric AntigenAnimalsCell Line, TumorHumansLightLymphocyte ActivationMiceNeoplasmsProtein EngineeringReceptors, Antigen, T-CellT-LymphocytesAntigens, NeoplasmReceptors, Antigen, T-CellReceptors, Chimeric Antigen

Identifiers

PMID41856998
PMCPMC13168450

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.