CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTORS TARGETING CD20

1 . A chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), comprising: an anti-CD20 antigen-binding region which comprises a heavy chain variable region (V H ) and a light chain variable region (V L ), V H comprising three CDRs, HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3, V L comprising three complementarity determining regions (CDRs), LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3,

(a) wherein HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3 have amino acid sequences about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 42, SEQ ID NO: 43, respectively, wherein LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3 have amino acid sequences about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO: 44, SEQ ID NO: 45, SEQ ID NO: 46, respectively;

(b) wherein HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3 have amino acid sequences about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO: 48, SEQ ID NO: 50, SEQ ID NO: 52, respectively, wherein LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3 have amino acid sequences about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO: 55, SEQ ID NO: 57, SEQ ID NO: 59, respectively; or

(c) wherein HCDR1, HCDR2 and HCDR3 have amino acid sequences about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO: 62, SEQ ID NO: 64, SEQ ID NO: 66, respectively, wherein LCDR1, LCDR2 and LCDR3 have amino acid sequences about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO: 69, SEQ ID NO: 71, SEQ ID NO: 73, respectively.

2 . The CAR of claim 1 , wherein V H is located at the N-terminus of V L .

3 . The CAR of claim 1 , wherein V H and V L have amino acid sequences about 80% to about 100% identical to amino acid sequences set forth in (a) SEQ ID NO: 7 and SEQ ID NO: 11, respectively; (b) SEQ ID NO: 9 and SEQ ID NO: 13, respectively; or (c) SEQ ID NO: 33 and SEQ ID NO: 35, respectively.

4 . The CAR of claim 1 , wherein the anti-CD20 antigen-binding region is a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) that specifically binds CD20.

5 . The CAR of claim 1 , wherein the CAR further comprises one or more of the following:

(a) a signal peptide,

(b) a hinge region,

(c) a transmembrane domain,

(d) a co-stimulatory region, and

(e) a cytoplasmic signaling domain.

6 . The CAR of claim 5 , wherein the co-stimulatory region comprises a co-stimulatory region of 4-1BB (CD137), CD28, or combinations thereof.

7 . The CAR of claim 5 , wherein the cytoplasmic signaling domain comprises a cytoplasmic signaling domain of CD3ζ.

8 . The CAR of claim 5 , wherein the hinge region comprises a hinge region of CD8, CD28, CD137, IG4, or combinations thereof.

9 . The CAR of claim 5 , wherein the transmembrane domain comprises a transmembrane domain of CD8, CD28, or combinations thereof.

10 . The CAR of claim 1 , comprising an amino acid sequence about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 29, or SEQ ID NO: 31.

11 . The CAR of claim 5 , wherein the hinge region comprises an amino acid sequence about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 17, or SEQ ID NO: 19.

12 . The CAR of claim 5 , wherein the transmembrane domain comprises an amino acid sequence about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 21.

13 . The CAR of claim 5 , wherein the cytoplasmic signaling domain comprises an amino acid sequence about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 25.

14 . The CAR of claim 5 , wherein the co-stimulatory region comprises an amino acid sequence about 80% to about 100% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 23, or SEQ ID NO: 39.

15 . An immune cell expressing the CAR of claim 1 .

16 . The immune cell of claim 15 , wherein the immune cell is a T cell or a natural killer (NK) cell.

17 . A pharmaceutical composition comprising the immune cell of claim 15 .

18 - 39 . (canceled)