CAR-Macrophage Therapy Alleviates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

作者：Jiawan Wang, Heng Du, Wanrun Xie, Jinmiao Bi, Hao Zhang, Xu Liu, Yuhan Wang, Shaolong Zhang, Anhua Lei, Chuting He, Hailong Yuan, Jiahe Zhang, Yujing Li, Pengfei Xu, Siqi Liu, Yanan Zhou, Jianghua Shen, Jingdong Wu, Yihong Cai, Chaofan Yang, Zeya Li, Yingxin Liang, Yang Zhao, Jin Zhang, Moshi Song · 发表于：Circulation Research · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1161/circresaha.124.325212 · 被引用次数：75 · 研究领域：Cardiac Fibrosis and Remodeling、Peptidase Inhibition and Analysis、Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

BACKGROUND: Given the growing acknowledgment of the detrimental effects of excessive myocardial fibrosis on pathological remodeling after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R), targeting the modulation of myocardial fibrosis may offer protective and therapeutic advantages. However, effective clinical interventions and therapies that target myocardial fibrosis remain limited. As a promising chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) cell therapy, whether CAR macrophages (CAR-Ms) can be used to treat I/R remains unclear. METHODS: The expression of FAP (fibroblast activation protein) was studied in mouse hearts after I/R. FAP CAR-Ms were generated to target FAP-expressing cardiac fibroblasts in mouse hearts after I/R. The phagocytosis activity of FAP CAR-Ms was tested in vitro. The efficacy and safety of FAP CAR-Ms in treating I/R were evaluated in vivo. RESULTS: FAP was significantly upregulated in activated cardiac fibroblasts as early as 3 days after I/R. Upon demonstrating their ability to engulf FAP-overexpressing fibroblasts, we intravenously administered FAP CAR-Ms to mice at 3 days after I/R and found that FAP CAR-Ms significantly improved cardiac function and reduced myocardial fibrosis in mice after I/R. No toxicities associated with FAP CAR-Ms were detected in the heart or other organs at 2 weeks after I/R. Finally, we found that FAP CAR-Ms conferred long-term cardioprotection against I/R. CONCLUSIONS: Our proof-of-concept study demonstrates the therapeutic potential of F...