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bioRxiv · 10.1101/718767

ERK activation in CAR T cells is amplified by CD28-mediated increase in CD3ζ phosphorylation

Rohrs, J. A.·Siegler, E. L.·Wang, P.·Finley, S.
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Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are engineered receptors that mediate T cell activation. CARs are comprised of activating and costimulatory intracellular signaling domains derived from endogenous T cells that initiate signaling required for T cell activation, including ERK activation through the MAPK pathway. Understanding the mechanisms by which co-stimulatory domains influence signaling can help guide the design of next-generation CARs. Therefore, we constructed an experimentally-validated computational model of anti-CD19 CARs in T cells bearing the CD3{zeta} domain alone or in combination with CD28. We used ensemble modeling to explore different mechanisms of CD28 co-stimulation on the ERK response time. Model simulations show that CD28 primarily influences ERK activation by enhancing the phosphorylation kinetics of CD3{zeta}, predictions that are validated by experimental measurements. Overall, we present a mechanistic mathematical modeling framework that can be used to gain insights into the mechanism of CAR T cell activation and produce new testable hypotheses.

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Rohrs, J. A., Siegler, E. L., Wang, P., Finley, S.. 2019-07-30. ERK activation in CAR T cells is amplified by CD28-mediated increase in CD3ζ phosphorylation. https://doi.org/10.1101/718767

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