Abstract
An emerging treatment option for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is to make cytotoxic immune cells express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that recognizes specific surface molecules on CLL cells. Here an mRNA coding for an anti-CD19 CAR was transfected into the NK-92 cell line by electroporation. In contrast to cDNA, mRNA resulted in high transfection efficiency (47.2 +/- 8% versus <5% for cDNA) with minimal effect on cell viability. NK-92 cells expressing anti-CD19 CAR killed previously resistant CD19+ B-ALL cell lines, as well as primary CLL cells and therefore may present a safe, cell-based, targeted treatment for patients with CLL.