CARs are organized in nanodomains in the plasma membrane of T cells that accumulate at tumor contact sites

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are synthetic immune receptors that are expressed in T cells through genetic engineering. CAR-T cells have been successfully used to eradicate very advanced leukemias and lymphomas and their functional properties have been intensively studied. However, relatively little is known about the spatiotemporal expression and organization of CARs on the T-cell membrane and how this influences their efficacy. Here, we applied super-resolution microscopy to visualize CD19-, ROR1-, and ROR2-specific CARs in human CD4+ and CD8+ T cells that were engineered with lentiviral and transposon-mediated gene transfer. Our data show that the majority of CARs is organized in nanodomains virtually independent of the T cell type, CAR construct and expression level. Quantitative analyses revealed a slightly higher CAR density in transposon-engineered T cells correlating with higher antigen sensitivity and faster resolution of anti-tumor functions compared to lentivirally-engineered T cells. Live-cell fluorescence imaging revealed that both, CAR nanodomains and CAR monomers accumulate at tumor contact sites and form multifocal immunological synapses. Our study provides novel insights into the membrane organization of CARs with single-molecule resolution and illustrates the potential of advanced microscopy to inform the rational design of synthetic immune receptors for applications in immune cell therapy.