Mesothelin (MSLN)
Mesothelin (MSLN) is a cell-surface protein that has attracted substantial biomedical interest as a tumor-associated target.
Mesothelin (MSLN) is a cell-surface protein that has attracted substantial biomedical interest as a tumor-associated target. It is expressed at low levels in normal tissues but is frequently overexpressed in several malignancies, making it a useful biomarker and therapeutic target in oncology. In recent research, mesothelin has been studied in the context of solid tumors as well as in acute myeloid leukemia, where its expression has been linked to disease behavior.
Biologically, mesothelin is relevant because it can participate in tumor cell adhesion and metastatic processes through interaction with MUC16. This interaction has been implicated in epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related biology and tumor immune regulation, and it has made mesothelin a focus for antibody-based imaging, CAR-T cell therapy, and other targeted immunotherapies. Its value as a target is also shaped by the fact that heterogeneous antigen expression can limit therapeutic efficacy, especially in solid malignancies.
Rebuilt from PubMed 10 Sept 2026 · no new papers today
Where the papers sit
8 papers study mesothelin (msln) directly. Those 8 are one subject: Mesothelin Cancer Targeting. Mesothelin-directed cancer work is moving toward multifunctional therapies, combining CAR-T or CAR-NK cells with TRAIL, tenascin-C targeting, or nicotinamide mononucleotide. Nanobody optimization and 89Zr-labeled antibody fragments extend the focus to durable targeting and noninvasive tumor imaging. No way of splitting those 8 scores better than chance.
Recent Findings on Mesothelin (MSLN) — latest 30 papers
Recent publications on mesothelin (MSLN) focused on its use as a therapeutic target, imaging biomarker, and disease-associated marker across several experimental settings. In solid tumors, MSLN-directed CAR-T strategies were highlighted in both preclinical and translational contexts, including membrane-bound TRAIL-armored MSLN-specific CAR-T cells designed to improve activity against tumors with heterogeneous antigen expression 42167810May. A separate report described three phase I studies of distinct mesothelin-targeted CAR T-cell therapies—SynKIR-110, UCMYM802, and M28z1XXPD1DNR—presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 42057455Apr.
MSLN was also used to support patient selection and noninvasive tumor detection. One study developed an 89Zr-labeled antibody fragment based on the MSLN-targeting ScFv component of anti-MSLN CAR-T cells for immunoPET imaging of mesothelin-overexpressing tumors, reporting high radiochemical purity, favorable molar activity, and stability over 6 days 42117406May. These findings were framed as supporting prescreening of patients for anti-MSLN CAR-T therapy and broader MSLN-targeted clinical translation 42117406May.
Beyond oncology, MSLN was identified in the protein corona formed on iron oxide nanoparticles exposed to human tear extracts, where proteomic profiling detected mesothelin among the adsorbed tear proteins 42360315Jun. The study primarily examined nanoparticle physicochemical changes and tear-protein adsorption, indicating that mesothelin is part of the ocular tear proteome interacting with nanomaterials 42360315Jun.
In acute myeloid leukemia, MSLN expression was reported as a predictor of extramedullary disease risk and a mechanistic contributor to dissemination 41824794Mar. In a cohort of 118 adults with de novo AML, MSLN positivity at transcript level and on leukemic blasts by flow cytometry independently correlated with higher EMD risk 41824794Mar. Mechanistically, MSLN overexpression promoted proliferation, metastasis, invasion, and cell-cell adhesion through interaction with MUC16, and was linked to PI3K signaling activation 41824794Mar.
Written from 8 PubMed abstracts, each one cited by PMID above. Published: 2026-06-24. Last written: 2026-07-29 by GPT. Drafted by language models from published abstracts; not medical advice.