Protein engineering: a driving force toward synthetic immunology

John R Cox; John Blazeck

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.09.005

Protein engineering: a driving force toward synthetic immunology

Trends Biotechnol. 2022 Apr;40(4):509-521. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.09.005. Epub 2021 Oct 6.

Authors

John R Cox¹, John Blazeck²

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
² School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34627648
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.09.005

Abstract

The full application of the diverse toolkit of protein engineering has made it easier to control the immune system. In particular, synthetic cytokine variants and engineered immune receptor platforms have shown promise for the treatment of various indications with dysregulated immune function, particularly cancer. Here, we review recent advances in the control of immune cell signaling and therapeutic potency that have employed protein engineering strategies. We further discuss how safety concerns are driving the design of immunotherapeutics toward 'user-defined' control or requiring multiple distinct inputs before a functional response, highlighting emergent control strategies employed for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineering.

Keywords: cancer; chimeric antigen receptors; cytokines; immunotherapy; protein engineering; synthetic immunology.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Cytokines / metabolism
Genetic Engineering
Humans
Immunotherapy, Adoptive
Neoplasms* / therapy
Protein Engineering
Receptors, Chimeric Antigen* / genetics
Receptors, Chimeric Antigen* / metabolism

Substances

Cytokines
Receptors, Chimeric Antigen