Published today in Science Advances, their study used protein design methods to improve a key component of T cells, which are cells of the immune system that can recognize and destroy diseased cells.
Based on these calculations, the researchers created an enhanced T-cell receptor scaffold, which they called SET (Structurally Enhanced TCR), that enabled engineered T cells to respond more strongly and attack target cells more effectively.
TCRs are natural receptors on T cells that recognize foreign targets, making them a key part of the cells’ ability to fight disease and an advantage over current therapeutic constructs. In laboratory experiments, the enhanced T cells produced substantially stronger immune responses and demonstrated a greater ability to kill cancer cells than T cells carrying the original receptor.