29/04/2026
Several cytokines of the γ-chain family, such as IL-2, IL-7, IL-9 and IL-15, function as T cells growth factors. Most of them are used to fight cancers via CAR-T cells expressing their respective receptor or by injecting them directly in vivo. However, the use of these cytokines poses challenges because receptors for these cytokines are broadly expressed on healthy tissues, so systemic toxicities remain a concern. In addition, solid tumors pose multiple challenges for CAR-T cell immunotherapies, including chronic antigen exposure, suppressive microenvironmental cues, and physical barriers that limit the functional persistence of anti-tumor T cells. In a recent study in the journal Immunity (https://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(25)00478-9), the labs of Prof. Carl June (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA) and of Prof. Anusha Kalbasi (Stanford University, CA, USA) reported that IL- 9 is a key cytokine to enhance the activity of IL-9 receptor (IL-9R)-engineered CAR-T cells across diverse solid tumor settings. IL-9R, unlike receptors for other γc cytokines such as IL-2 and IL-15, has minimal expression in T cells and across normal tissues minimizing the toxicity risks when using higher concentration of the cytokine. IL-9 signaling redirects engineered CAR-T cell fate toward CD8+ memory and CD4+ proliferative states, enhancing antitumor efficacy. In addition, IL-9-signaling CAR-T cells do not alter cell type composition within the tumor microenvironment, (TME). Finally, they also observe that T cells engineered with wild-type IL-9R, by activating STAT1 and STAT4, exhibit superior tissue infiltration, stemness, and activity against solid tumors, making IL-9 signaling a new approach of T cells immunotherapy.
AdipoGen Life Sciences provides unique active InVivoKine™ proteins (https://adipogen.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=+il-9+invivokine) to study mouse and human IL-9 in vitro and in vivo. In Italia: [email protected]
