targetsTarget

CD7

A T-cell surface marker kept on most T-cell leukaemias; CAR-T cells against it must be engineered not to kill each other, and they have produced remissions in T-ALL where nothing else worked.

CD7 is expressed on ~95% of T-ALL and T-lymphoblastic lymphoma, many NK/T lymphomas and ~30% of AML. CD7 CAR-T requires fratricide prevention (CD7 knockout, protein expression blockers or naturally selected CD7-negative T cells) and causes T-cell aplasia, so it is used as a bridge to allogeneic transplant. Trials in China (Peking University, Hebei Yanda) reported 90%+ complete remission in relapsed T-ALL (NEJM 2022, universal donor-derived CAR-T), and WU-CART-007 (allogeneic, US) received breakthrough status. Also a target for the ADC and for imaging in T-cell lymphoma.

CD7: what it is and how drugs act on it · animated generic schematic, not to scale

Target · the protein and the cell it sits on
Drug · antibody, small molecule, cell or radioligand
Effect · signal, damage or kill

In plain words · A T-cell surface marker kept on most T-cell leukaemias; CAR-T cells against it must be engineered not to kill each other, and they have produced remissions in T-ALL where nothing else worked.

1 · What it is
A T-cell surface marker kept on most T-cell leukaemias; CAR-T cells against it must be engineered not to kill each other, and they have produced remissions in T-ALL where nothing else worked.
2 · What goes wrong in cancer
Ig-superfamily transmembrane glycoprotein on thymocytes, mature T and NK cells; ligand is SECTM1/K12; co-stimulatory role in early T-cell development.
3 · How drugs use it
No product in this corpus aims at CD7 yet. Because it sits on the outside of the cell, it can be reached from the bloodstream: antibodies flag the cell, ADCs deliver a toxin, radioligands deliver radiation, and CAR-T or bispecifics bring a T cell.

Biology

Ig-superfamily transmembrane glycoprotein on thymocytes, mature T and NK cells; ligand is SECTM1/K12; co-stimulatory role in early T-cell development.

Where it is found