Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42294879›Full record

ArticleJournal of virology2026

Simultaneous TCR and IL-2 agonism selectively enhances epitope-specific CD8 T-cell responses during chronic viral infection.

Masao Hashimoto, Mohammad Affan Khan, Akil Akhtar, Javed N Agrewala, Gordon J Freeman, Natasha Girgis, Yu Zhang, Simon Low, Steven N Quayle, Anish Suri and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of virology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

11 authors.

Masao Hashimoto *Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7120-1390
Mohammad Affan Khan *Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.ORCID 0009-0009-5873-1125
Akil AkhtarEmory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Javed N AgrewalaImmunology Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar, India.
Gordon J FreemanDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7210-5616
Natasha GirgisCue Biopharma, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Yu ZhangCue Biopharma, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Simon LowCue Biopharma, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Steven N QuayleCue Biopharma, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Anish SuriCue Biopharma, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Rafi AhmedEmory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9591-2621

Funding

Transgenic/KnockoutP01AI056299 · NIAID · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (MEDICAL SCHOOL) · PI BLAZAR, BRUCE R · 2003 to 2023
$42.5M
T CELL MEMORY TO VIRUSESR01AI030048 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI AHMED, RAFI · 1990 to 2022
$5.2M
Cue BiopharmaNIAID NIH HHS P01 AI056299NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI030048NIH HHS P01AI056299NIH HHS R01AI030048
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) remains an attractive cytokine for enhancing antigen-specific CD8 T-cell responses in cancer immunotherapy, but systemic toxicity hinders its broad clinical application. To address this, various IL-2-based therapeutics have been engineered with altered IL-2 receptor bias or targeted delivery to tumors, the tumor microenvironment, or immune cell populations. Ideally, IL-2 signals should be selectively delivered to antigen-specific CD8 T cells, boosting their responses and promoting effector differentiation while sparing non-targeted populations. Immuno-STAT (Selective Targeting and Alteration of T cells) is a fusion protein platform comprising a bivalent peptide-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I complex and an affinity-attenuated IL-2 mutein that co-stimulates T-cell receptor and IL-2 signaling in epitope-specific CD8 T cells. Here, we investigated whether a D IMPORTANCE: Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a key cytokine for promoting effector differentiation of antigen-specific CD8 T cells and remains an attractive agent in cancer immunotherapy, but systemic toxicity limits its clinical use. This study addresses a central challenge in IL-2-based immunotherapy: delivering IL-2 to cognate antigen-specific CD8 T cells while minimizing activation of non-targeted populations. Using a mouse model of chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection, we show that the Immuno-STAT (Selective Targeting and Alteration of T cells) platform selectively expands targeted virus-specific CD8 T cells and enhances their function while limiting effects on non-targeted populations. We also show that combining Immuno-STAT with PD-1 blockade further enhances targeted virus-specific CD8 T-cell responses during chronic LCMV infection. These findings provide mechanistic and preclinical support for integrating T-cell receptor specificity with IL-2 signaling to advance cancer immunotherapy and guide next-generation IL-2 therapeutics for cancer and chronic infection.

Indexed as

CD8-Positive T-LymphocytesEpitopes, T-LymphocyteInterleukin-2Lymphocytic ChoriomeningitisPersistent InfectionReceptors, Antigen, T-CellAnimalsAntigens, ViralFemaleGlycoproteinsImmunotherapyLymphocytic choriomeningitis virusMiceMice, Inbred C57BLPeptide FragmentsSignal TransductionAntigens, ViralEpitopes, T-Lymphocyteglycoprotein peptide 33-41, Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virusGlycoproteinsInterleukin-2Peptide FragmentsReceptors, Antigen, T-CellViral ProteinsCD8 T cellschronic infectionIL-2immunotherapyT-cell exhaustion

Identifiers

PMID42294879
PMCPMC13366764

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.