Foxp3 confers long-term efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor-T cells via metabolic reprogramming
Congyi Niu, Huan Wei, Xuanxuan Pan, Yuedi Wang, Huan Song, Congwen Li, Jingbo Qie, Jiawen Qian, Shaocong Mo, Wanwei Zheng, Kameina Zhuma, Zixin Lv, Yiyuan Gao, Dan Zhang, Hui Yang, Ronghua Liu, Luman Wang, Wenwei Tu, Jie Liu, Yiwei Chu, Feifei Luo
Abstract
The tumor microenvironment, characterized by low oxygen tension and scarce nutrients, impairs chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell metabolism, leading to T cell exhaustion and dysfunction. Notably, Foxp3 confers a metabolic advantage to regulatory T cells under such restrictive conditions. Exploiting this property, we generated CAR-T Foxp3 cells by co-expressing Foxp3 with a third-generation CAR construct. The CAR-T Foxp3 cells exhibited distinct metabolic reprogramming, marked by downregulated aerobic glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation coupled with upregulated lipid metabolism. This metabolic shift was driven by Foxp3’s interaction with dynamin-related protein 1. Crucially, CAR-T Foxp3 cells did not acquire regulatory T cell immunosuppressive functions but instead demonstrated enhanced antitumor potency and reduced expression of exhaustion markers via Foxp3-mediated adaptation. The potent antitumor effect and absence of immunosuppression were confirmed in a humanized immune system mouse model. Our findings establish a metabolic reprogramming-based strategy to enhance CAR-T cell adaptability within the hostile tumor microenvironment while preserving therapeutic efficacy.