Fig. 2: FAP-CAR T cells infiltrate and deplete their target cells more effectively than Meso-CAR T cells in PDAC tumors.

a Schematic of experimental protocol. b Left: representative flow cytometry plots of tumor-infiltrating MigR control, Meso-CAR, and FAP-CAR T cells. Right: The number of CD45.1⁺GFP⁺ CAR T cells recovered per 0.2 grams of tumor tissue (top) and the percent of CD45.1⁺GFP⁺ CAR T cells amongst total live cells recovered (bottom) at each time point for each group. Representative flow cytometry analysis and quantification of PD-1 (c), Ki-67 (d) and IFN-γ (e) expression in the tumor-infiltrating MigR control, Meso-CAR and FAP-CAR T cells at day 7 post-administration. f Quantification of flow cytometric analysis on FAP⁺ cells (top), Pearson correlation analysis on FAP⁺ cells with the extent of tumor-infiltrating FAP-CAR T cells (middle), and quantification of flow cytometric analysis on mesothelin⁺ cells (bottom). g Representative multiplex IF images (left) showing the localization of CAR T cells and their spatial relationships to FAP⁺ stromal cells and EpCAM⁺ tumor cells in syngenetic transplanted 4622 tumors. Quantification is depicted in the adjacent bar graphs (right). h Representative multiplex IF images (left) showing the localization of CAR T cells and their spatial relationships to FAP⁺ stromal cells and PanCK⁺ tumor cells in spontaneous pancreatic tumors in KPC mice. Quantification is depicted in the adjacent bar graphs (right). Data points are mean±SD (n = 5 per group) and groups were compared using one-way ANOVA analysis with Dunnett’s multiple comparison tests (c–e, h) or two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons tests (b, f, g). ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001, and ^****p < 0.0001. b top panel Day 1: MigR vs. FAP-CAR, p = 0.040; Meso-CAR vs. FAP-CAR, p = 0.026. bottom panel Day 1: MigR vs. FAP-CAR, p = 0.011; Meso-CAR vs. FAP-CAR, p = 0.012. The p values for remaining comparisons are all <0.001 or <0.0001. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.