Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41963304›Full record

ArticleSignal transduction and targeted therapy2026

Rapid CAR screening and circRNA-driven CAR-NK cells for persistent shed-resistant immunotherapy.

Joo-Yoon Chung, Jisu Hong, Su-Min Yee, Hye Won Lim, Dahye Lee, Sangwon Yoon, Seung-Hwan Lee, Yujin Jung, Seung Hun Shin, Song Cheol Kim and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Signal transduction and targeted therapy, 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

12 authors.

Joo-Yoon Chung *Medicinal Materials Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea.
Jisu Hong *Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
Su-Min YeeMedicinal Materials Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea.
Hye Won LimCancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
Dahye LeeDepartment of Pharmacology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
Sangwon YoonCorporate Research & Development Center, UCI Therapeutics, Seoul, 04784, Republic of Korea.
Seung-Hwan LeeDepartment of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7703-6421
Yujin JungDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
Seung Hun ShinMedicinal Materials Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea.
Song Cheol KimDivision of Hepato-Biliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, 05505, Seoul, Republic of Korea.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4169
Chang-Han LeeDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea. chlee-antibody@snu.ac.kr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7156-4423
Mihue JangMedicinal Materials Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea. mihue@kist.re.kr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2135-2983

Funding

Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) 2E33761National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) RS-2023-00278980National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) RS-2023-NR076986National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) RS-2024-00400042National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) RS-2024-00509114
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-based immunotherapies against solid tumors face two major hurdles, the "decoy effect" of shedding antigens that sequester CARs, and the limited persistence of immune effectors within the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Here, we present a mechanistic approach to overcome these barriers by integrating a physiologically relevant screening platform with circular RNA (circRNA) engineering. Unlike conventional screens using immortalized cell lines, we performed rapid functional screening directly in human primary natural killer (NK) cells to identify a novel scFv, CLMS10. Structural modeling revealed that CLMS10 targets a membrane-proximal epitope that overlaps the proteolytic cleavage site, thereby evading inhibition by soluble mesothelin (solMSLN). Furthermore, we demonstrated that circRNA-mediated CAR expression, when codelivered with interleukin-21 (IL-21), confers sufficient stability to withstand the continuous antigen shedding induced by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), resulting in reduced CAR downregulation. In an in vivo metastatic pancreatic cancer model, IL-21-augmented circCAR-MS10-NK cells exhibited potency comparable to that of lentivirally engineered CAR-NK cells while offering superior manufacturability. Overall, this study establishes a paradigm for generating shed-resistant CAR therapeutics through the strategic integration of epitope-specific functional selection and enhanced RNA stability.

Indexed as

Immunotherapy, AdoptiveKiller Cells, NaturalPancreatic NeoplasmsReceptors, Chimeric AntigenRNA, CircularAnimalsCell Line, TumorHumansInterleukin-21InterleukinsMesothelinMiceTumor MicroenvironmentInterleukin-21InterleukinsMesothelinReceptors, Chimeric AntigenRNA, Circular

Identifiers

PMID41963304
PMCPMC13068987

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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 Socratic graph.