Fig. 2

IL-6 knockdown in ssCART-19 T cells does not impair basic properties of CAR T cells. a IL-6 mRNA levels and b IFN-γ/IL-6 mRNA ratios in CART-19 cells expressing 8 different IL-6-specific shRNAs. c Schematic of the CD19 CAR vector containing an anti-human CD19 scFv linked to 4-1BB costimulatory domains and CD3-ζ signaling domain with (ssCART-19) or without (regular CART-19) an IL-6-specific shRNA modification. d Transduction efficiency and the CD4/CD8 ratio of ssCART-19 and CART-19 cells. e Cell proliferation of ssCART-19 cells and regular CART-19 cells after re-stimulation with Raji cells, as analyzed by flow cytometry. f CD107a expression in ssCART-19 cells and regular CART-19 cells after induction with Raji cells. g Cytotoxicity of ssCART-19 and CART-19 cells to K562 cells, Raji cells and autologous primary acute B lymphocytic leukemia cells at different effector: target ratios. Differences among groups were assessed for significance by using one-way ANOVA. Data are shown as the mean ± SD (n = 3). NS, no significant difference, *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001, ****p ≤ 0.0001