Fig. 5
Anti-tumor effects of armed CAR-T cells in tumor-bearing mice. (A) Time-course diagram of the animal experiment. Six-week-old C57BL/6J mice were subcutaneously injected with 2 × 106 MC38 cells expressing CEA. On day 7, mice from all groups were individually injected with 1 × 107 constructed CAR-T cells through the tail vein. Tumor imaging was performed once a week. (B) Bioluminescence images of mice treated with CART-CEA, CART-CEA.sPD-1scFv, CART-CEA.sTREM2 scFv, and CART-CEA.sBsAb at days 7, 14, and 21; PBS treatment served as the control (n = 4). (C) Bioluminescence signals of mice in each group at days 7, 14, and 21 are shown on the Y-axis. The PBS group is shown in black, the CART-CEA group in purple, the CART-CEA.sPD-1 scFv group in orange, the CART-CEA.sTREM2 scFv group in blue, and the CART-CEA.sBsAb group in red. (D) Comparison of tumor volume over time in each group of tumor-bearing mice. (E) Weight development of mice during treatment in each group. (F) Effect of different treatments on the survival of tumor-bearing mice. Data are expressed as means ± SD; * P < 0.05; **P < 0.01, by unpaired Student’s t test. CAR-T, chimeric antigen receptor-modified-T; CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; PD-1, programmed death-1; scFv, single-chain fragment variable; TREM2, triggering-receptor-expressed on myeloid cells 2; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline