![](https://www.toscanalifesciences.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1193074568-scaled.jpg)
ArTCell
General Aspects
ArTCell [Bottom-up manufacturing of artificial anti-tumor T cells] is a project approved by the European Union under the Pathfinder program with a total budget of € 3.391.796,25 with the aim of developing more effective cancer treatments based on T-cells. Members of the ArTCell consortium are Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (coordinator), Fondazione Toscana Life Sciences, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre Polish Academy of Sciences and University Medical Center Groningen. The consortium includes biologists working with T cells and B cell tumour models, and bioengineers specialized in creating artificial cells: a team that combines specific expertise to develop innovative immunotherapeutic products. ArTCell aims to provide a scalable and on-demand substitute for artificial T cells that, by mimicking the antitumor function of therapies, seeks to develop safer, more efficient, and less expensive therapeutic solutions.
Project Activities
T cells play a central role in anti-tumor immune protection. While their ability to target and eliminate emerging tumor cells is increasingly recognized, fully-established tumors can efficiently evade T cell response. Significant efforts spanning several decades of research have been made to develop T cell-based therapies manufactured from donor-derived T cells. The use of tumor-directed Tcells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) represents, to date, one of the most successful applications for treatment of chemoresistant cancers. However, several major drawbacks, including economic factors, suboptimal functioning, and life-threatening side effects, are still hindering the full potential of T cell-based therapies. To address this issue, we aim to generate Artificial T cells (ArTCell) that will mimic the anti-tumor function of a T cell-based therapy but in a safer, more efficient, and less expensive product.
TLS will be responsible for the Work Package 1 “Purification of native & recombinant T cell proteins”, which is preliminary to the whole consortium work.
Website: https://www.artcell.eu/