CAR-microglia to target autoimmune B-cells in multiple sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system and affects millions of people globally. Chimeric antigen receptor therapy (CAR cell therapy) is an emerging therapy and has revolutionised the treatment of haematological cancers. However, its potential for treating MS is still under investigation. Recently, B-cells have been shown to play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of MS. This study explores the potential of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) engineered microglia as a novel therapeutic strategy for MS. Specifically, we examined whether engineered microglia cells, when transduced with CAR, can target the CD19+ B-cell lymphoma line (A20) more effectively than the non-engineered microglia cell line (BV2) in vitro. Results showed that phagocytosis of A20 cells increased significantly by 577%, from 4.18% of BV2 cells fully performing to 24.12%. This study demonstrates that CAR significantly enhanced the ability of microglia to target and phagocytose CD19+ B cells in vitro. These results highlight the potential for CAR-microglia as a novel therapeutic strategy for MS. Future studies should focus on translating these findings into human models, overcoming challenges such as blood-brain barrier delivery and evaluating the in vivo efficacy of CAR-microglia.