Professor Jason Lohmueller's research focuses on engineering immune cells, particularly T cells, to enhance cancer therapies using synthetic biology. His lab develops "universal" CAR T cells and synthetic Notch (SynNotch) receptors that can be customized to target different tumor antigens. This approach involves SNAPtag technology, which allows T cells to interact with antibodies targeting specific cancer proteins, making it easier to adapt therapies for various cancers, including solid tumors. The goal is to improve tumor targeting while reducing toxic side effects and overcoming immune resistance to cancer therapy.
"Small-molecule control of CAR T cells"
Adams EL, McGovern AC, So V, Srinivasan S, Deiters A, Lohmueller J Nat Rev Chem 2025, 9, 808-825
"Conditional Control of Benzylguanine Reaction with the Self-Labeling SNAP-tag Protein"
Caldwell SE, Demyan IR, Falcone GN, Parikh A, Lohmueller J, Deiters A. Bioconjug Chem. 2025, 36, 3, 540-548
"Preventative Cancer Vaccine-Elicited Human Anti-MUC1 Antibodies Have Multiple Effector Functions"
McKeague ML, Lohmueller J, Dracz MT, Saadallah N, Ricci ED, Beckwith DM, Ayyalasomayajula R, Cudic M, Finn OJ. Antibodies (Basel). 2024,13, 4, 85
"Conditional Control of Universal CAR T Cells by Cleavable OFF-Switch Adaptors"
Kvorjak M, Ruffo E, Tivon Y, So V, Parikh A, Deiters A, Lohmueller J. ACS Synth Biol. 2023,12, 10, 2996-3007
"Post-translational covalent assembly of CAR and synNotch receptors for programmable antigen targeting"
Ruffo E, Butchy AA, Tivon Y, So V, Kvorjak M, Parikh A, Adams EL, Miskov-Zivanov N, Finn OJ, Deiters A, Lohmueller J. Nat Commun. 2023,14, 1, 2463