To strengthen academic exchanges among faculty members, the 8th session of the Academic Salon of the School of Life Sciences was successfully held in Conference Room 822 of the Teaching Main Building on the afternoon of November 9. Dr. Chen Quangang delivered a thematic report for graduate supervisors and frontline teachers of the school. The report was titled “Study on the Therapeutic Effect of HBsAg-Targeted CAR-T Cells in Hepatocellular Carcinoma”.
The report elaborated key scientific issues that CAR-T therapy achieves remarkable efficacy in hematological tumors, while its clinical application in solid tumors is restricted by off-target effects and insufficient cytotoxicity. China has a high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although GPC3-targeted CAR-T therapy for HCC has entered Phase I clinical trials, it is also confronted with the above limitations. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major risk factor for HCC development. Accordingly, this project targets hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and adopts an innovative dual-target co-activation design covering both HBsAg and GPC3 to further enhance the targeting specificity of CAR-T cells. By recognizing viral proteins, the engineered CAR-T cells can precisely eliminate liver cancer cells.
After the report, Dr. Chen conducted in-depth discussions with participating teachers on multiple research topics, including tumor microenvironment, T cell engineering, and the binding affinity between anticancer drugs and cancer cells. The activity fostered a vigorous and promising academic research atmosphere in the school.
