CAR-engineered microglia harness phagocytosis to target brain tumor in organoid models.

CAR-engineered microglia effectively target and eliminate glioblastoma cells through phagocytosis in organoid models, with a 2D co-culture showing selective tumor cell removal.

• Why it matters: Glioblastoma remains highly lethal with limited treatment options, and current CAR T cell therapies have shown restricted success in brain tumors, highlighting the need for alternative immune strategies.
• What they did: Researchers developed a CAR-MG platform by engineering human microglia from cortical organoids to express a CAR targeting EGFRvIII, testing their ability to attack GBM in both 2D and 3D organoid models, including single-cell RNA sequencing analysis.
• The result: CAR-MG infiltrated tumor sites and depleted GBM cells over time, with enhanced phagocytic activity observed, demonstrating their potential as a novel myeloid CAR therapy for brain tumors.