Abstract

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a severe autoimmune inflammation that needs life-long immunosuppression. The standard steroid therapy has strong side-effects and many patients are nonresponders to the therapy. Therefore, the goal for the treatment of AIH is specific immune regulation while preserving general immunocompetence. The use of antigen-specific regulatory T cells (Tregs) seems to be the most promising option. While the low frequency of natural antigen-specific Tregs and the resulting decreased possibility of their identification creates large problems, clinically used T cells will need genetically modified T cell receptors. Unfortunately, T cells with a classical transgenic T cell receptor are not of high clinical value due to MHC restriction. Therefore, the use of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) seems to be a favorable option.

Abbreviations: AIH: Autoimmune Hepatitis; CARs: Chimeric Antigen Receptors; MS: Multiple Sclerosis, T1D: Type 1 Diabetes, HBV: Hepatitis B Virus, HCV: Hepatitis C Virus; HEV: Hepatitis E Virus; EAE: Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis; scFv: Single Chain Fragment ()