Development of CAR Exosomes Targeting FAP for the Treatment of Intrauterine Adhesion
Engineered extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as promising cell-free platforms for immunomodulation and tissue repair. In this study, we generated EVs derived from chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting fibroblast activation protein (FAP) and investigated their biological and therapeutic functions. These FAP-CAR EVs effectively inhibited intrauterine fibrosis, promoted endometrial regeneration, and increased pregnancy rates in a mouse model of intrauterine adhesion. Importantly, the exosome-based therapy did not affect embryonic development or trigger systemic inflammation, indicating high safety compared with T-cell-based treatment. Mechanistically, while FAP-targeted T cells could suppress fibrosis, they also induced severe cytokine-release toxicity, which was completely avoided in the EV-based strategy. Together, these findings demonstrate that FAP is a critical target for fibrotic disease intervention and that CAR-T-derived EVs represent a safe and effective vesicle-based therapeutic modality.
Authors
- Changhai Lei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1665-5215)
- Yi Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9610-4370)
- Kewen Qian
- Hongru Ai
- Jian Zhao
- Ruixue Mao
- Wenyan Fu
- Shi Hu
- Yitan Zou
Institutions
- Second Military Medical University (CN)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Extracellular Vesicles
- Published
- 2026-04-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jev2.70284
- Primary Topic
- Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Shanghai Rising-Star Program