Engineered T cells and their therapeutic applications in autoimmune diseases

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells) are engineered recombinant T cells, which were initially used to treat hematopoietic malignancies and are now widely used in the treatment of various diseases. Considering their intrinsic targeting efficiency, CAR-T cells show considerable potential in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, regulatory T cells (Treg), a subset of CD4 T cells exhibiting immunosuppressive functions, have attracted increasing attention regarding CAR-Treg cell production. In this review, we report on recent developments in preclinical and clinical studies on CAR-T cells in autoimmune diseases and provide an outlook on opportunities and challenges of CAR-T application in such diseases.