CD19-CAR T-cell therapy resets the EBV+ autoreactive B cell repertoire in autoimmune disease
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reprograms autoreactive B cells into activated antigen-presenting cells that drive pathogenic T- and B-cell responses in autoimmune disease. Using EBV B-cell sequencing (EBV-seq), we profiled EBV+ B cells in patients treated with CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells (systemic lupus, n=6; idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, n=3; systemic sclerosis, n=3) or rituximab (n=15). CAR T cells, but not rituximab, depleted EBV+ B cells, resetting the repertoire toward a naive state: predominantly IgM+ with minimal somatic hypermutation. Post-rituximab B-cells remained class-switched, hypermutated, and activated. Monoclonal antibodies cloned from EBV+ B cells lost autoreactivity after CAR T cells but not rituximab. Sustained drug-free remission occurred in 8/12 CAR-treated but 0/15 rituximab-treated patients. EBV+ B cells were predominantly Latency III and resisted anti-CD20 and anti-CD19 antibodies, yet were killed by CAR T cells and T-cell engagers. CD19-CAR T-cell therapy resets the autoreactive EBV+ B-cell repertoire, which may underlie sustained drug-free remission.