Award
National Cancer Institute 1R21CA307944-01
Rational Design of Next-Generation Engineered T Cells for Enhanced Cancer Immunotherapy
Recipient
Washington University
Award Amount
$399,829.00
Ceiling
$399,829.00
Awarded
March 30, 2026
Identifier
1R21CA307944-01
Award for research on engineering T cells to enhance cancer immunotherapy by improving 4-1BB signaling through protein design.
Description
This project aims to improve the efficacy of engineered T cells for cancer treatment by harnessing 4-1BB signaling through structure-informed protein design. The study focuses on identifying key factors for robust 4-1BB signaling and creating synthetic 4-1BB capable of forming TNFR-like clustering without ligand, to enhance T cell persistence and therapeutic effects.