Contextualising T-cell receptor repertoires from chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with ImmuneWatch DETECT

Researchers from DKFZ in Heidelberg and their collaborators have identified a promising new target for immunotherapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a disease where current treatments often fail due to T-cell exhaustion. Using a powerful combination of single-cell analysis techniques, they created an unprecedented, high-resolution map of the T-cell landscape in CLL patients.

To help contextualize the T-cell repertoire, the team used different databases and platforms including ImmuneWatch DETECT to determine the specificity of the identified T-cell receptors. With the help of ImmuneWatch DETECT they found a match against a CMV-specific epitope, matching the patients HLA-type.

Source:

Llaó-Cid, L., Wong, J., Fernandez Botana, I. et al. Integrative multi-omics reveals a regulatory and exhausted T-cell landscape in CLL and identifies galectin-9 as an immunotherapy target.  Nat Commun16, 7271 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61822-x