Deep Phenotyping of Skin Tissue Remodeling in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis Treated with CD19-CAR T Cells

    May 2026 in “ Nature Communications ”
    Aleix Rius Rigau, Meilin Xu, Ziyuan Liu, Sara Chenguiti Fakhouri, Janina Auth, Panagiotis Garantziotis, A. Zoli, Manoj Kumar Selvaraju, Maria Gabriella Raimondo, Carlo Tur, Tim Filla, Paula Gehringer, Markus Eckstein, Fabian Müller, Armin Atzinger, Moritz Ronicke, Arif Ekici, Rafael Schmid, Andreas Wirsching, Melanie Hagen, Sebastian Böltz, Tobias Krickau, Raymund E. Horch, Carola Berking, R Grieshaber-Bouyer, Andreas Ramming, Pooja Gupta, Aline Bözec, Andreas Mackensen, Jörg HW Distler, G Schett, Yi-Nan Li, Christina Bergmann
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    TLDR CD19-CAR T cell therapy may help regenerate skin in systemic sclerosis.
    The study investigates the effects of CD19-CAR T cell therapy on skin tissue remodeling in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrotic changes. By analyzing skin biopsy samples from patients in the CASTLE study or named patient use, the research demonstrates structural regeneration of SSc skin, including recovery of skin papillae. Advanced analyses indicate a shift in fibroblast populations towards a more physiological state and signs of vascular repair and changes in epidermal cell function. These findings suggest that CD19-CAR T cell therapy, through B cell depletion, may promote skin tissue remodeling and holds potential for tissue regeneration in fibrotic diseases.
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