Protein catenation potentiates antitumor activity of malaria VAR2CSA navigation CAR-T cells in a mouse model of hematological malignancies

Background <p>While CD19-targeting chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies have shown efficacy in B-cell hematological malignancies, treatment of antigen-negative or relapsed tumors remains challenging. The recombinant malaria protein VAR2CSA (rVAR2) binds specifically to placental-like chondroitin sulfate A (<i>pl</i>-CSA), which is expressed on many cancer types, enabling its use in various tumor-targeting platforms. However, rVAR2-based CAR-T strategies are limited by poor…