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Hiratsuka H, Akahori Y, Maeta S, Egashira Y, Shiku H. Fast on-rates of chimeric antigen receptors enhance the sensitivity to peptide MHC via antigen rebinding. J Biol Chem 2024:107651. [PMID: 39122001 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2024] [Accepted: 07/30/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) is a synthetic receptor that induces T cell-mediated lysis of abnormal cells. As cancer driver proteins are present at low levels on the cell surface, they can cause weak CAR reactivity, resulting in antigen sensitivity defects and consequently limited therapeutic efficacy. Although affinity maturation enhances the efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy, it causes off-target cross-reactions resulting in adverse effects. Preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) is an intracellular oncoprotein that is overexpressed in various tumors and restricted in normal tissues, except the testis. Therefore, PRAME could be an ideal target for cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we developed an experimental CAR system comprising six single-chain variable fragments that specifically recognizes the PRAMEp301/HLA-A*24:02 complex. Cell-mediated cytotoxicity was demonstrated using a panel of CARs with a wide range of affinities (KD = 10-10-10-7 M) and affinity modulation. CAR-T cells with fast on-rates enhance antigen sensitivity by accelerating the killing rates of these cells. Alanine scanning data demonstrated the potential of genetically engineered CARs to reduce the risk of cross-reactivity, even among CARs with high affinities. Given the correlation between on-rates and dwell time that occurs in rebinding and cell-mediated cytotoxicity, it is proposed that CAR-binding characteristics, including on-rate, play a pivotal role in the lytic capacity of peptide-major histocompatibility complex-targeting CAR-T cells, thus facilitating the development of strategies whereby genetically engineered CARs target intracellular antigens in cancer cells to lyse the cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroyuki Hiratsuka
- Department of Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy, Mie University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan.
| | - Yasushi Akahori
- Department of Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy, Mie University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan.
| | - Shingo Maeta
- Bio-Diagnostic Reagent Technology Center, Sysmex Corporation, 4-3-2 Takatsukadai, Nishi-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2271, Japan
| | - Yuriko Egashira
- Bio-Diagnostic Reagent Technology Center, Sysmex Corporation, 4-3-2 Takatsukadai, Nishi-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2271, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Shiku
- Department of Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy, Mie University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan; Center for Comprehensive Cancer Immunotherapy, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
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2
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Isvoranu G, Chiritoiu-Butnaru M. Therapeutic potential of interleukin-21 in cancer. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1369743. [PMID: 38638431 PMCID: PMC11024325 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1369743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is an immunostimulatory cytokine which belongs to the common gamma-chain family of cytokines. It plays an import role in the development, differentiation, proliferation, and activation of immune cells, in particular T and natural killer (NK) cells. Since its discovery in 2000, IL-21 has been shown to regulate both adaptive and immune responses associates with key role in antiviral and antitumor responses. Recent advances indicate IL-21 as a promising target for cancer treatment and encouraging results were obtained in preclinical studies which investigated the potency of IL-21 alone or in combination with other therapies, including monoclonal antibodies, checkpoint inhibitory molecules, oncolytic virotherapy, and adoptive cell transfer. Furthermore, IL-21 showed antitumor effects in the treatment of patients with advanced cancer, with minimal side effects in several clinical trials. In the present review, we will outline the recent progress in IL-21 research, highlighting the potential of IL-21 based therapy as single agent or in combination with other drugs to enhance cancer treatment efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gheorghita Isvoranu
- Department of Animal Husbandry,” Victor Babeș” National Institute of Pathology, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Marioara Chiritoiu-Butnaru
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania
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3
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Klebanoff CA, Chandran SS, Baker BM, Quezada SA, Ribas A. T cell receptor therapeutics: immunological targeting of the intracellular cancer proteome. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2023; 22:996-1017. [PMID: 37891435 PMCID: PMC10947610 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-023-00809-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
The T cell receptor (TCR) complex is a naturally occurring antigen sensor that detects, amplifies and coordinates cellular immune responses to epitopes derived from cell surface and intracellular proteins. Thus, TCRs enable the targeting of proteins selectively expressed by cancer cells, including neoantigens, cancer germline antigens and viral oncoproteins. As such, TCRs have provided the basis for an emerging class of oncology therapeutics. Herein, we review the current cancer treatment landscape using TCRs and TCR-like molecules. This includes adoptive cell transfer of T cells expressing endogenous or engineered TCRs, TCR bispecific engagers and antibodies specific for human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-bound peptides (TCR mimics). We discuss the unique complexities associated with the clinical development of these therapeutics, such as HLA restriction, TCR retrieval, potency assessment and the potential for cross-reactivity. In addition, we highlight emerging clinical data that establish the antitumour potential of TCR-based therapies, including tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes, for the treatment of diverse human malignancies. Finally, we explore the future of TCR therapeutics, including emerging genome editing methods to safely enhance potency and strategies to streamline patient identification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Klebanoff
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Smita S Chandran
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, New York, NY, USA
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, New York, NY, USA
- Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Brian M Baker
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, ID, USA
- The Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, ID, USA
| | - Sergio A Quezada
- Cancer Immunology Unit, Research Department of Haematology, University College London Cancer Institute, London, UK
- Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, University College London Cancer Institute, London, UK
- Achilles Therapeutics, London, UK
| | - Antoni Ribas
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
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4
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Meng Z, Rodriguez Ehrenfried A, Tan CL, Steffens LK, Kehm H, Zens S, Lauenstein C, Paul A, Schwab M, Förster JD, Salek M, Riemer AB, Wu H, Eckert C, Leonhardt CS, Strobel O, Volkmar M, Poschke I, Offringa R. Transcriptome-based identification of tumor-reactive and bystander CD8 + T cell receptor clonotypes in human pancreatic cancer. Sci Transl Med 2023; 15:eadh9562. [PMID: 37967201 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adh9562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is generally refractory to immune checkpoint blockade, although patients with genetically unstable tumors can show modest therapeutic benefit. We previously demonstrated the presence of tumor-reactive CD8+ T cells in PDAC samples. Here, we charted the tumor-infiltrating T cell repertoire in PDAC by combining single-cell transcriptomics with functional testing of T cell receptors (TCRs) for reactivity against autologous tumor cells. On the basis of a comprehensive dataset including 93 tumor-reactive and 65 bystander TCR clonotypes, we delineated a gene signature that effectively distinguishes between these T cell subsets in PDAC, as well as in other tumor indications. This revealed a high frequency of tumor-reactive TCR clonotypes in three genetically unstable samples. In contrast, the T cell repertoire in six genetically stable PDAC tumors was largely dominated by bystander T cells. Nevertheless, multiple tumor-reactive TCRs were successfully identified in each of these samples, thereby providing a perspective for personalized immunotherapy in this treatment-resistant indication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zibo Meng
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Sino-German Laboratory of Personalized Medicine for Pancreatic Cancer, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430022 Wuhan, China
| | - Aaron Rodriguez Ehrenfried
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Helmholtz-Institute for Translational Oncology by DKFZ (HI-TRON), 55131 Mainz, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Chin Leng Tan
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Laura K Steffens
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Hannes Kehm
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stefan Zens
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Claudia Lauenstein
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Alina Paul
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marius Schwab
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jonas D Förster
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Immunotherapy & Immunoprevention, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Molecular Vaccine Design, German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mogjiborahman Salek
- Division of Immunotherapy & Immunoprevention, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Molecular Vaccine Design, German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angelika B Riemer
- Division of Immunotherapy & Immunoprevention, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Molecular Vaccine Design, German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Heshui Wu
- Sino-German Laboratory of Personalized Medicine for Pancreatic Cancer, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430022 Wuhan, China
- Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430022 Wuhan, China
| | - Christoph Eckert
- Pathology Institute, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Carl-Stephan Leonhardt
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Oliver Strobel
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Volkmar
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Helmholtz-Institute for Translational Oncology by DKFZ (HI-TRON), 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Isabel Poschke
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Immune Monitoring Unit, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rienk Offringa
- Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Molecular Oncology of Gastrointestinal Tumors, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Sino-German Laboratory of Personalized Medicine for Pancreatic Cancer, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430022 Wuhan, China
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5
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Yarmarkovich M, Marshall QF, Warrington JM, Premaratne R, Farrel A, Groff D, Li W, di Marco M, Runbeck E, Truong H, Toor JS, Tripathi S, Nguyen S, Shen H, Noel T, Church NL, Weiner A, Kendsersky N, Martinez D, Weisberg R, Christie M, Eisenlohr L, Bosse KR, Dimitrov DS, Stevanovic S, Sgourakis NG, Kiefel BR, Maris JM. Targeting of intracellular oncoproteins with peptide-centric CARs. Nature 2023; 623:820-827. [PMID: 37938771 PMCID: PMC10665195 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06706-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
The majority of oncogenic drivers are intracellular proteins, constraining their immunotherapeutic targeting to mutated peptides (neoantigens) presented by individual human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allotypes1. However, most cancers have a modest mutational burden that is insufficient for generating responses using neoantigen-based therapies2,3. Neuroblastoma is a paediatric cancer that harbours few mutations and is instead driven by epigenetically deregulated transcriptional networks4. Here we show that the neuroblastoma immunopeptidome is enriched with peptides derived from proteins essential for tumorigenesis. We focused on targeting the unmutated peptide QYNPIRTTF discovered on HLA-A*24:02, which is derived from the neuroblastoma-dependency gene and master transcriptional regulator PHOX2B. To target QYNPIRTTF, we developed peptide-centric chimeric antigen receptors (PC-CARs) through a counter panning strategy using predicted potentially cross-reactive peptides. We further proposed that PC-CARs can recognize peptides on additional HLA allotypes when presenting a similar overall molecular surface. Informed by our computational modelling results, we show that PHOX2B PC-CARs also recognize QYNPIRTTF presented by HLA-A*23:01, the most common non-A2 allele in people with African ancestry. Finally, we demonstrate potent and specific killing of neuroblastoma cells expressing these HLAs in vitro and complete tumour regression in mice. These data suggest that PC-CARs have the potential to expand the pool of immunotherapeutic targets to include non-immunogenic intracellular oncoproteins and allow targeting through additional HLA allotypes in a clinical setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Yarmarkovich
- Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Quinlen F Marshall
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - John M Warrington
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Alvin Farrel
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - David Groff
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Wei Li
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | | | - Erin Runbeck
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Hau Truong
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jugmohit S Toor
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Sarvind Tripathi
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Son Nguyen
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Helena Shen
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Tiffany Noel
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Amber Weiner
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Nathan Kendsersky
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Dan Martinez
- Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Rebecca Weisberg
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Molly Christie
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Laurence Eisenlohr
- Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Kristopher R Bosse
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | | | - Nikolaos G Sgourakis
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - John M Maris
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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6
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Foldvari Z, Knetter C, Yang W, Gjerdingen TJ, Bollineni RC, Tran TT, Lund-Johansen F, Kolstad A, Drousch K, Klopfleisch R, Leisegang M, Olweus J. A systematic safety pipeline for selection of T-cell receptors to enter clinical use. NPJ Vaccines 2023; 8:126. [PMID: 37607971 PMCID: PMC10444760 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00713-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer immunotherapy using T cell receptor-engineered T cells (TCR-Ts) represents a promising treatment option. However, technologies for pre-clinical safety assessment are incomplete or inaccessible to most laboratories. Here, TCR-T off-target reactivity was assessed in five steps: (1) Mapping target amino acids necessary for TCR-T recognition, followed by (2) a computational search for, and (3) reactivity screening against, candidate cross-reactive peptides in the human proteome. Natural processing and presentation of recognized peptides was evaluated using (4) short mRNAs, and (5) full-length proteins. TCR-Ts were screened for recognition of unintended HLA alleles, and as proxy for off-target reactivity in vivo, a syngeneic, HLA-A*02:01-transgenic mouse model was used. Validation demonstrated importance of studying recognition of full-length candidate off-targets, and that the clinically applied 1G4 TCR has a hitherto unknown reactivity to unintended HLA alleles, relevant for patient selection. This widely applicable strategy should facilitate evaluation of candidate therapeutic TCRs and inform clinical decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zsofia Foldvari
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway
- Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Cathrine Knetter
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway
- Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Weiwen Yang
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway
- Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Thea Johanne Gjerdingen
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway
- Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ravi Chand Bollineni
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway
- Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Trung The Tran
- Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Immunology, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Fridtjof Lund-Johansen
- Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Immunology, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Arne Kolstad
- Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway
| | - Kimberley Drousch
- Institute of Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Robert Klopfleisch
- Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Matthias Leisegang
- Institute of Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- David and Etta Jonas Center for Cellular Therapy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Berlin, and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Johanna Olweus
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
- Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
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7
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Rollins ZA, Huang J, Tagkopoulos I, Faller R, George SC. A Computational Algorithm to Assess the Physiochemical Determinants of T Cell Receptor Dissociation Kinetics. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:3473-3481. [PMID: 35860406 PMCID: PMC9278023 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.06.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The rational design of T Cell Receptors (TCRs) for immunotherapy has stagnated due to a limited understanding of the dynamic physiochemical features of the TCR that elicit an immunogenic response. The physiochemical features of the TCR-peptide major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) bond dictate bond lifetime which, in turn, correlates with immunogenicity. Here, we: i) characterize the force-dependent dissociation kinetics of the bond between a TCR and a set of pMHC ligands using Steered Molecular Dynamics (SMD); and ii) implement a machine learning algorithm to identify which physiochemical features of the TCR govern dissociation kinetics. Our results demonstrate that the total number of hydrogen bonds between the CDR2β-MHC⍺(β), CDR1α-Peptide, and CDR3β-Peptide are critical features that determine bond lifetime.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jun Huang
- University of California, Davis, Davis, California, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | | | | | - Steven C. George
- Department of Biomedical Engineering
- Corresponding author at: Department of Biomedical Engineering, 451 E. Health Sciences Drive, room 2315, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616.
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8
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Gene Engineering T Cells with T-Cell Receptor for Adoptive Therapy. METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (CLIFTON, N.J.) 2022; 2453:209-229. [PMID: 35622329 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2115-8_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Prior to clinical testing of adoptive T-cell therapy with T-cell receptor (TCR)-engineered T cells, TCRs need to be retrieved, annotated, gene-transferred, and extensively tested in vitro to accurately assess specificity and sensitivity of target recognition. Here, we present a fundamental series of protocols that cover critical preclinical parameters, thereby enabling the selection of candidate TCRs for clinical testing.
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9
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Shafer P, Kelly LM, Hoyos V. Cancer Therapy With TCR-Engineered T Cells: Current Strategies, Challenges, and Prospects. Front Immunol 2022; 13:835762. [PMID: 35309357 PMCID: PMC8928448 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.835762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
To redirect T cells against tumor cells, T cells can be engineered ex vivo to express cancer-antigen specific T cell receptors (TCRs), generating products known as TCR-engineered T cells (TCR T). Unlike chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), TCRs recognize HLA-presented peptides derived from proteins of all cellular compartments. The use of TCR T cells for adoptive cellular therapies (ACT) has gained increased attention, especially as efforts to treat solid cancers with ACTs have intensified. In this review, we describe the differing mechanisms of T cell antigen recognition and signal transduction mediated through CARs and TCRs. We describe the classes of cancer antigens recognized by current TCR T therapies and discuss both classical and emerging pre-clinical strategies for antigen-specific TCR discovery, enhancement, and validation. Finally, we review the current landscape of clinical trials for TCR T therapy and discuss what these current results indicate for the development of future engineered TCR approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Shafer
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, United States
- Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Program in Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Lauren M. Kelly
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, United States
- Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Program in Cancer & Cell Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Valentina Hoyos
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, United States
- Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
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10
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Yarmarkovich M, Marshall QF, Warrington JM, Premaratne R, Farrel A, Groff D, Li W, di Marco M, Runbeck E, Truong H, Toor JS, Tripathi S, Nguyen S, Shen H, Noel T, Church NL, Weiner A, Kendsersky N, Martinez D, Weisberg R, Christie M, Eisenlohr L, Bosse KR, Dimitrov DS, Stevanovic S, Sgourakis NG, Kiefel BR, Maris JM. Cross-HLA targeting of intracellular oncoproteins with peptide-centric CARs. Nature 2021; 599:477-484. [PMID: 34732890 PMCID: PMC8599005 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04061-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The majority of oncogenic drivers are intracellular proteins, thus constraining their immunotherapeutic targeting to mutated peptides (neoantigens) presented by individual human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allotypes1. However, most cancers have a modest mutational burden that is insufficient to generate responses using neoantigen-based therapies2,3. Neuroblastoma is a paediatric cancer that harbours few mutations and is instead driven by epigenetically deregulated transcriptional networks4. Here we show that the neuroblastoma immunopeptidome is enriched with peptides derived from proteins that are essential for tumourigenesis and focus on targeting the unmutated peptide QYNPIRTTF, discovered on HLA-A*24:02, which is derived from the neuroblastoma dependency gene and master transcriptional regulator PHOX2B. To target QYNPIRTTF, we developed peptide-centric chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) using a counter-panning strategy with predicted potentially cross-reactive peptides. We further hypothesized that peptide-centric CARs could recognize peptides on additional HLA allotypes when presented in a similar manner. Informed by computational modelling, we showed that PHOX2B peptide-centric CARs also recognize QYNPIRTTF presented by HLA-A*23:01 and the highly divergent HLA-B*14:02. Finally, we demonstrated potent and specific killing of neuroblastoma cells expressing these HLAs in vitro and complete tumour regression in mice. These data suggest that peptide-centric CARs have the potential to vastly expand the pool of immunotherapeutic targets to include non-immunogenic intracellular oncoproteins and widen the population of patients who would benefit from such therapy by breaking conventional HLA restriction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Yarmarkovich
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Quinlen F Marshall
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - John M Warrington
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Alvin Farrel
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - David Groff
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Wei Li
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | | | - Erin Runbeck
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Hau Truong
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jugmohit S Toor
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Sarvind Tripathi
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Son Nguyen
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Helena Shen
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Tiffany Noel
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Amber Weiner
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Nathan Kendsersky
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Dan Martinez
- Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Rebecca Weisberg
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Molly Christie
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Laurence Eisenlohr
- Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Kristopher R Bosse
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | | | - Nikolaos G Sgourakis
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - John M Maris
- Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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11
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An HLA-A*11:01-Binding Neoantigen from Mutated NPM1 as Target for TCR Gene Therapy in AML. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13215390. [PMID: 34771556 PMCID: PMC8582585 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13215390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive hematological malignancy with poor prognosis. For AML relapses after chemotherapy, new and effective therapies are needed. In 30–35% of AMLs, a frameshift mutation in the nucleophosmin 1 gene (dNPM1) creates potential neoantigens that are attractive targets for immunotherapy. We previously isolated a T-cell receptor (TCR) that targets an HLA-A*02:01-binding dNPM1 neoantigen on primary AML. Here, we investigated whether AVEEVSLRK is another dNPM1 neoantigen that can be targeted by TCR gene transfer. We isolated various T-cells, cloned the HLA-A*11:01-restricted TCR from one T-cell clone and, upon transfer to CD8 cells, demonstrated targeting of dNPM1 primary AMLs in vitro. However, the TCR failed to mediate an anti-tumor effect in immunodeficient mice engrafted with dNPM1 OCI-AML3 cells. Our results demonstrate that AVEEVSLRK is an HLA-A*11:01-binding neoantigen on dNPM1 AML. Whether the isolated TCR is of sufficient affinity to treat patients remains uncertain. Abstract Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy caused by clonal expansion of myeloid progenitor cells. Most patients with AML respond to chemotherapy, but relapses often occur and infer a very poor prognosis. Thirty to thirty-five percent of AMLs carry a four base pair insertion in the nucleophosmin 1 gene (NPM1) with a C-terminal alternative reading frame of 11 amino acids. We previously identified various neopeptides from the alternative reading frame of mutant NPM1 (dNPM1) on primary AML and isolated an HLA-A*02:01-restricted T-cell receptor (TCR) that enables human T-cells to kill AML cells upon retroviral gene transfer. Here, we isolated T-cells recognizing the dNPM1 peptide AVEEVSLRK presented in HLA-A*11:01. The TCR cloned from a T-cell clone recognizing HLA-A*11:01+ primary AML cells conferred in vitro recognition and lysis of AML upon transfer to CD8 cells, but failed to induce an anti-tumor effect in immunodeficient NSG mice engrafted with dNPM1 OCI-AML3 cells. In conclusion, our data show that AVEEVSLRK is a dNPM1 neoantigen on HLA-A*11:01+ primary AMLs. CD8 cells transduced with an HLA-A*11:01-restricted TCR for dNPM1 were reactive against AML in vitro. The absence of reactivity in a preclinical mouse model requires further preclinical testing to predict the potential efficacy of this TCR in clinical development.
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12
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Lin X, Ji Y. The Joint i3+3 (Ji3+3) design for phase I/II adoptive cell therapy clinical trials. J Biopharm Stat 2020; 30:993-1005. [DOI: 10.1080/10543406.2020.1818250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Lin
- School of Data Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuan Ji
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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13
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Cai L, Caraballo Galva LD, Peng Y, Luo X, Zhu W, Yao Y, Ji Y, He Y. Preclinical Studies of the Off-Target Reactivity of AFP 158-Specific TCR Engineered T Cells. Front Immunol 2020; 11:607. [PMID: 32395117 PMCID: PMC7196607 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Autologous T cells engineered with T receptor genes (TCR) are being studied to treat cancers. We have recently identified a panel of mouse TCRs specific for the HLA-A0201/alpha fetoprotein epitope (AFP158) complex and have shown that human T cells engineered with these TCR genes (TCR-Ts) can eradicate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) xenografts in NSG mice. However, due to TCR’s promiscuity, their off-target cross-reactivity must be studied prior to conducting clinical trials. In this study, we conducted in vitro X-scan assay and in silico analysis to determine the off-target cross-reactivity of 3 AFP158-specific TCR-Ts. We found that the 3 AFP158-specific TCR-Ts could be cross-activated by ENPP1436 peptide and that the TCR3-Ts could also be activated by another off-target peptide, RCL1215. However, compared to AFP158, it requires 250 times more ENPP1436 and 10,000 times more RCL1215 peptides to achieve the same level of activation. The EC50 of ENPP1436 peptide for activating TCR-Ts is approximately 17–33 times higher than AFP158. Importantly, the ENPP1+ tumor cells did not activate TCR1-Ts and TCR2-Ts, and only weakly activated TCR3-Ts. The IFNγ produced by TCR3-Ts after ENPP1+ cell stimulation was >22x lower than that after HepG2 cells. And, all TCR-Ts did not kill ENPP1 + tumor cells. Furthermore, ectopic over-expression of ENPP1 protein in HLA-A2+ tumor cells did not activate TCR-Ts. In silico analysis showed that the ENPP1436 peptide affinity for HLA-A0201 was ranked 40 times lower than AFP158 and the chance of ENPP1436 peptide being processed and presented by HLA-A0201 was 100 times less likely than AFP158. In contrast, the two off-targets (Titin and MAGE-A3) that did cause severe toxicity in previous trials have the same or higher MHC-binding affinity and the same or higher chance of being processed and presented. In conclusion, our data shows that TCR-Ts can be activated by off-target ENPP1436 peptide. But, compared to target AFP158, it requires at least 250 times more ENPP1436 to achieve the same level of activation. Importantly, ENPP1436 peptide in human cells is not processed and presented to a sufficient level to activate the AFP158-specific TCR-Ts. Thus, these TCR-Ts, especially the TCR1-Ts and TCR2-Ts, will unlikely cause significant off-target toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lun Cai
- Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Leidy D Caraballo Galva
- Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, United States.,The Graduate School, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Yibing Peng
- Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Xiaobing Luo
- Cellular Biomedicine Group (CBMG), Gaithersburg, MD, United States
| | - Wei Zhu
- Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Yihong Yao
- Cellular Biomedicine Group (CBMG), Gaithersburg, MD, United States
| | - Yun Ji
- Cellular Biomedicine Group (CBMG), Gaithersburg, MD, United States
| | - Yukai He
- Georgia Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, United States.,The Graduate School, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States.,Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
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14
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Teck AT, Urban S, Quass P, Nelde A, Schuster H, Letsch A, Busse A, Walz JS, Keilholz U, Ochsenreither S. Cancer testis antigen Cyclin A1 harbors several HLA-A*02:01-restricted T cell epitopes, which are presented and recognized in vivo. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2020; 69:1217-1227. [PMID: 32157447 PMCID: PMC8222032 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-020-02519-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Cyclin A1 is a promising antigen for T cell therapy being selectively expressed in high-grade ovarian cancer (OC) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) stem cells. For adoptive T cell therapy, a single epitope has to be selected, with high affinity to MHC class I and adequate processing and presentation by malignant cells to trigger full activation of specific T cells. In silico prediction with three algorithms indicated 13 peptides of Cyclin A1 9 to 11 amino acids of length to have high affinity to HLA-A*02:01. Ten of them proved to be affine in an HLA stabilization assay using TAP-deficient T2 cells. Their immunogenicity was assessed by repetitive stimulation of CD8+ T cells from two healthy donors with single-peptide-pulsed dendritic cells or monocytes. Intracellular cytokine staining quantified the enrichment of peptide-specific functional T cells. Seven peptides were immunogenic, three of them against both donors. Specific cell lines were cloned and used in killing assays to demonstrate recognition of endogenous Cyclin A1 in the HLA-A*02:01-positive AML cell line THP-1. Immunopeptidome analysis based on direct isolation of HLA-presented peptides by mass spectrometry of primary AML and OC samples identified four naturally presented epitopes of Cyclin A1. The immunopeptidome of HeLa cells transfected with Cyclin A1 and HLA-A*02:01 revealed six Cyclin A1-derived HLA ligands. Epitope p410–420 showed high affinity to HLA-A*02:01 and immunogenicity in both donors. It proved to be naturally presented on primary AML blast and provoked spontaneous functional response of T cells from treatment naïve OC and, therefore, warrants further development for clinical application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anja Tatjana Teck
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sabrina Urban
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Petra Quass
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Charité Comprehensive Cancer Center, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany.,German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Annika Nelde
- Department of Immunology, Interfaculty Institute of Cell Biology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Clinical Collaboration Unit Translational Immunology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Heiko Schuster
- Department of Immunology, Interfaculty Institute of Cell Biology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Anne Letsch
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Antonia Busse
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Juliane Sarah Walz
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ulrich Keilholz
- Charité Comprehensive Cancer Center, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany.,German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ochsenreither
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité Berlin, Berlin, Germany. .,Charité Comprehensive Cancer Center, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany. .,German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
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15
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Hardy IR, Schamel WW, Baeuerle PA, Getts DR, Hofmeister R. Implications of T cell receptor biology on the development of new T cell therapies for cancer. Immunotherapy 2020; 12:89-103. [PMID: 31902264 DOI: 10.2217/imt-2019-0046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, two chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies were approved based on their remarkable efficacy in patients with hematological malignancies. By contrast, CAR-T cell therapies results in solid tumors have been less promising. To develop the next generation of T cell therapies a better understanding of T cell receptor (TCR) biology and its implication for the design of synthetic receptors is critical. Here, we review current and newly developed forms of T cell therapies and how their utilization of different components of the TCR signaling machinery and their requirement for engagement (or not) of human leukocyte antigen impacts their design, efficacy and applicability as cancer drugs. Notably, we highlight the development of human leukocyte antigen-independent T cell platforms that utilize the full TCR complex as having promise to overcome some of the limitations of existing T cell therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian R Hardy
- TCR2 Therapeutics, Inc., 100 Binney St. Suite 710, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Wolfgang W Schamel
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Biology, BIOSS Center for Biological Signalling Studies, CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies & Centre for Chronic Immunodeficiency CCI, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraβe 18,79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Patrick A Baeuerle
- TCR Therapeutics, Inc., 100 Binney St. Suite 710, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.,Institute for Immunology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Grosshadernerstr. 9, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Daniel R Getts
- TCR Therapeutics, Inc., 100 Binney St. Suite 710, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Robert Hofmeister
- TCR Therapeutics, Inc., 100 Binney St. Suite 710, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
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16
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Sanderson JP, Crowley DJ, Wiedermann GE, Quinn LL, Crossland KL, Tunbridge HM, Cornforth TV, Barnes CS, Ahmed T, Howe K, Saini M, Abbott RJ, Anderson VE, Tavano B, Maroto M, Gerry AB. Preclinical evaluation of an affinity-enhanced MAGE-A4-specific T-cell receptor for adoptive T-cell therapy. Oncoimmunology 2019; 9:1682381. [PMID: 32002290 PMCID: PMC6959444 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2019.1682381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2019] [Revised: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A substantial obstacle to the success of adoptive T cell-based cancer immunotherapy is the sub-optimal affinity of T-cell receptors (TCRs) for most tumor antigens. Genetically engineered TCRs that have enhanced affinity for specific tumor peptide-MHC complexes may overcome this barrier. However, this enhancement risks increasing weak TCR cross-reactivity to other antigens expressed by normal tissues, potentially leading to clinical toxicities. To reduce the risk of such adverse clinical outcomes, we have developed an extensive preclinical testing strategy, involving potency testing using 2D and 3D human cell cultures and primary tumor material, and safety testing using human primary cell and cell-line cross-reactivity screening and molecular analysis to predict peptides recognized by the affinity-enhanced TCR. Here, we describe this strategy using a developmental T-cell therapy, ADP-A2M4, which recognizes the HLA-A2-restricted MAGE-A4 peptide GVYDGREHTV. ADP-A2M4 demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity in the absence of major off-target cross-reactivity against a range of human primary cells and cell lines. Identification and characterization of peptides recognized by the affinity-enhanced TCR also revealed no cross-reactivity. These studies demonstrated that this TCR is highly potent and without major safety concerns, and as a result, this TCR is now being investigated in two clinical trials (NCT03132922, NCT04044768).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Tina Ahmed
- Preclinical Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, UK
| | - Karen Howe
- Target Validation, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, UK
| | - Manoj Saini
- Preclinical Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, UK
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17
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Chen L, Qiao D, Wang J, Tian G, Wang M. Cancer immunotherapy with lymphocytes genetically engineered with T cell receptors for solid cancers. Immunol Lett 2019; 216:51-62. [PMID: 31597088 DOI: 10.1016/j.imlet.2019.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Revised: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Adoptive transfer of T cells genetically engineered with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR-T cells) have proven to be highly effective for treating CD19+ B cell-derived hematologic malignancies. However, due to the lack of ideal tumor surface antigens, CAR-T cell therapy has limited success in treating solid tumors. T cells genetically engineered with T cell receptors (TCR-T cells) recognize intracellular and cell-surface antigens in the context of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) presentation and thus have the potential to access much more target antigens than CAR-T cells, providing great promise in treating solid tumors. There is an increasing interest in the application of TCR-T cell therapy for solid tumors, and fifty-six clinical trials are undergoing worldwide to confirm its validity. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in clinical studies of TCR-T cell therapy, describe strategies in the preparation and characterization of TCR-T cells, focusing on antigen selection, TCR isolation and methods to further enhance the potency of adoptively transferred cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Chen
- Department of Research and Development, Shenzhen Institute for Innovation and Translational Medicine, Shenzhen International Biological Valley-Life Science Industrial Park, Dapeng New District, Shenzhen, China
| | - Dongjuan Qiao
- Department of Research and Development, Shenzhen Institute for Innovation and Translational Medicine, Shenzhen International Biological Valley-Life Science Industrial Park, Dapeng New District, Shenzhen, China
| | - Juntao Wang
- Department of Research and Development, Shenzhen Institute for Innovation and Translational Medicine, Shenzhen International Biological Valley-Life Science Industrial Park, Dapeng New District, Shenzhen, China
| | - Geng Tian
- Department of Oncology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518035, China
| | - Mingjun Wang
- Department of Research and Development, Shenzhen Institute for Innovation and Translational Medicine, Shenzhen International Biological Valley-Life Science Industrial Park, Dapeng New District, Shenzhen, China.
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18
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Yan W, Hu H, Tang B. Advances Of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy In Ovarian Cancer. Onco Targets Ther 2019; 12:8015-8022. [PMID: 31686857 PMCID: PMC6777428 DOI: 10.2147/ott.s203550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2019] [Accepted: 09/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Ovarian cancer, as a common gynecological tumor, is currently recognized as the most lethal gynecological malignancy. In addition to conventional treatment methods such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, adoptive immunotherapy represented by modified immune cells also shows good curative effects and is becoming an important method in the treatment of ovarian cancer. Studies have shown that most cancer cells can avoid the recognition of the immune system, thus limiting the anticancer effect of immunotherapy. Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell technology has emerged and has good targeting, killing, proliferation and persistence. A large number of clinical trials also have shown that this technology has achieved great success in improving the quality of life and prolonging the survival time of patients with malignant hematological tumors. CAR-T cell technology has become a research hotspot for immunotherapy. This article mainly reviews various CAR-T cell treatments and their specific mechanisms in the field of ovarian cancer treatment to provide new ideas for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenying Yan
- Department of Gynecology, Wangjiang Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongmei Hu
- Department of Gynecology, Sichuan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Biao Tang
- Department of Gynecology, Sichuan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China
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19
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Li D, Li X, Zhou WL, Huang Y, Liang X, Jiang L, Yang X, Sun J, Li Z, Han WD, Wang W. Genetically engineered T cells for cancer immunotherapy. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2019; 4:35. [PMID: 31637014 PMCID: PMC6799837 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-019-0070-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
T cells in the immune system protect the human body from infection by pathogens and clear mutant cells through specific recognition by T cell receptors (TCRs). Cancer immunotherapy, by relying on this basic recognition method, boosts the antitumor efficacy of T cells by unleashing the inhibition of immune checkpoints and expands adaptive immunity by facilitating the adoptive transfer of genetically engineered T cells. T cells genetically equipped with chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or TCRs have shown remarkable effectiveness in treating some hematological malignancies, although the efficacy of engineered T cells in treating solid tumors is far from satisfactory. In this review, we summarize the development of genetically engineered T cells, outline the most recent studies investigating genetically engineered T cells for cancer immunotherapy, and discuss strategies for improving the performance of these T cells in fighting cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Li
- Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
| | - Xue Li
- Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
| | - Wei-Lin Zhou
- Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
| | - Yong Huang
- Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
| | - Xiao Liang
- Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
- Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
| | - Lin Jiang
- Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
| | - Xiao Yang
- Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
| | - Jie Sun
- Department of Cell Biology, and Bone Marrow Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 310058 Zhejiang, China
- Institute of Hematology, Zhejiang University & Laboratory of Stem cell and Immunotherapy Engineering, 310058 Zhejing, China
| | - Zonghai Li
- State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 200032 Shanghai, China
- CARsgen Therapeutics, 200032 Shanghai, China
| | - Wei-Dong Han
- Molecular & Immunological Department, Biotherapeutic Department, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, 100853 Beijing, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Biotherapy, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, 610041 Chengdu, China
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20
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Zhou Y, Wen P, Li M, Li Y, Li X. Construction of chimeric antigen receptor‑modified T cells targeting EpCAM and assessment of their anti‑tumor effect on cancer cells. Mol Med Rep 2019; 20:2355-2364. [PMID: 31322180 DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2019.10460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yan Zhou
- Gastroenterology Tumor and Microenvironment Laboratory, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P.R. China
| | - Ping Wen
- Gastroenterology Tumor and Microenvironment Laboratory, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P.R. China
| | - Mingmei Li
- Gastroenterology Tumor and Microenvironment Laboratory, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P.R. China
| | - Yaqi Li
- Gastroenterology Tumor and Microenvironment Laboratory, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P.R. China
| | - Xiao‑An Li
- Gastroenterology Tumor and Microenvironment Laboratory, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P.R. China
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21
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Audehm S, Glaser M, Pecoraro M, Bräunlein E, Mall S, Klar R, Effenberger M, Albers J, Bianchi HDO, Peper J, Yusufi N, Busch DH, Stevanović S, Mann M, Antes I, Krackhardt AM. Key Features Relevant to Select Antigens and TCR From the MHC-Mismatched Repertoire to Treat Cancer. Front Immunol 2019; 10:1485. [PMID: 31316521 PMCID: PMC6611213 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 06/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Adoptive transfer of T cells transgenic for tumor-reactive T-cell receptors (TCR) is an attractive immunotherapeutic approach. However, clinical translation is so far limited due to challenges in the identification of suitable target antigens as well as TCRs that are concurrent safe and efficient. Definition of key characteristics relevant for effective and specific tumor rejection is essential to improve current TCR-based adoptive T-cell immunotherapies. We here characterized in-depth two TCRs derived from the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-mismatched allogeneic repertoire targeting two different myeloperoxidase (MPO)-derived peptides presented by the same HLA-restriction element side by side comprising state of the art biochemical and cellular in vitro, in vivo, and in silico experiments. In vitro experiments reveal comparable functional avidities, off-rates, and cytotoxic activities for both TCRs. However, we observed differences especially with respect to cytokine secretion and cross-reactivity as well as in vivo activity. Biochemical and in silico analyses demonstrate different binding qualities of MPO-peptides to the HLA-complex determining TCR qualities. We conclude from our biochemical and in silico analyses of peptide-HLA-binding that rigid and high-affinity binding of peptides is one of the most important factors for isolation of TCRs with high specificity and tumor rejection capacity from the MHC-mismatched repertoire. Based on our results, we developed a workflow for selection of such TCRs with high potency and safety profile suitable for clinical translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Audehm
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Manuel Glaser
- Center for Integrated Protein Science at the Department for Biosciences, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany
| | - Matteo Pecoraro
- Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Eva Bräunlein
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Sabine Mall
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Richard Klar
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Manuel Effenberger
- Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Immunologie und Hygiene, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Julian Albers
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Henrique de Oliveira Bianchi
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Janet Peper
- Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Interfaculty Institute for Cell Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nahid Yusufi
- Nuklearmedizin, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Dirk H Busch
- Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Immunologie und Hygiene, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Stefan Stevanović
- Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Interfaculty Institute for Cell Biology, Tübingen, Germany.,Partner Site Tübingen, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Tübingen, Germany
| | - Matthias Mann
- Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Iris Antes
- Center for Integrated Protein Science at the Department for Biosciences, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany
| | - Angela M Krackhardt
- Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin III, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.,Partner Site Munich, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Munich, Germany.,German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
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22
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Weenink B, van Brakel M, Wijers R, Sillevis Smitt PAE, French PJ, Debets R. Lack of B and T cell reactivity towards IDH1 R132H in blood and tumor tissue from LGG patients. J Neurooncol 2019; 144:79-87. [PMID: 31240524 PMCID: PMC6660510 DOI: 10.1007/s11060-019-03228-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Purpose Mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 gene (IDH1) occur at high frequency in grade II–III gliomas (LGGs). IDH1 mutations are somatic, missense and heterozygous affecting codon 132 in the catalytic pocket of the enzyme. In LGG, most mutations (90%) result in an arginine to histidine substitution (IDH1R132H) providing a neo-epitope that is expressed in all tumor cells. To assess the immunogenic nature of this epitope, and its potential use to develop T cell treatments, we measured IDH1R132H-specific B and T cell reactivity in blood and tumor tissue of LGG patients. Methods Sera from IDH1R132H-mutated LGG patients (n = 27) were assayed for the presence of a neo-specific antibody response using ELISA. In addition, PBMCs (n = 36) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs, n = 10) were measured for T cell activation markers and IFN-γ production by flow cytometry and ELISA. In some assays, frequencies of CD4 T cells specific for mutated peptide presented by HLA-DR were enriched prior to T cell monitoring assays. Results Despite high sensitivity of our assay, we failed to detect IDH1R132H-specific IgG in sera of LGG patients. Similarly, we did not observe CD4 T cell reactivity towards IDH1R132H in blood, neither did we observe such reactivity following pre-enrichment of frequencies of IDH1R132H-specific CD4 T cells. Finally, we did not detect IDH1R132H-specific CD4 T cells among TILs. Conclusions The absence of both humoral and cellular responses in blood and tumors of LGG patients indicates that IDH1R132H is not sufficiently immunogenic and devaluates its further therapeutic exploitation, at least in the majority of LGG patients. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11060-019-03228-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bas Weenink
- Department of Neurology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Be 430A, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Mandy van Brakel
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Rebecca Wijers
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Peter A E Sillevis Smitt
- Department of Neurology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Be 430A, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Pim J French
- Department of Neurology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Be 430A, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Reno Debets
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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23
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Preclinical assessment of transiently TCR redirected T cells for solid tumour immunotherapy. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2019; 68:1235-1243. [PMID: 31214732 PMCID: PMC6682583 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-019-02356-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2018] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Off-target toxicity due to the expression of target antigens in normal tissue or TCR cross-reactivity represents a major risk when using T cell receptor (TCR)-engineered T cells for treatment of solid tumours. Due to the inherent cross-reactivity of TCRs it is difficult to accurately predict their target recognition pre-clinically. It has become evident that direct testing in a human being represents the best evaluation of the risks. There is, therefore, a clear unmet need for assessing the safety of a therapeutic TCR in a more controllable manner than by the injection of permanently modified cellular products. Using transiently modified T cells combined with dose escalation has already been shown feasible for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells, but nothing is yet reported for TCR. We performed a preclinical evaluation of a therapeutic TCR transiently expressed in T cells by mRNA electroporation. We analyzed if the construct was active in vitro, how long it was detectable for and if this expression format was adapted to in vivo efficacy assessment. Our data demonstrate the potential of mRNA engineered T cells, although less powerful than permanent redirection, to induce a significant response. Thus, these findings support the development of mRNA based TCR-therapy strategies as a feasible and efficacious method for evaluating TCR safety and efficacy in first-in-man testing.
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24
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Sun Q, Zhang X, Wang L, Gao X, Xiong Y, Liu L, Wei F, Yang L, Ren X. T-cell receptor gene therapy targeting melanoma-associated antigen-A4 by silencing of endogenous TCR inhibits tumor growth in mice and human. Cell Death Dis 2019; 10:475. [PMID: 31209257 PMCID: PMC6572850 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-019-1717-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Revised: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Genetically engineered T cells expressing a T-cell receptor (TCR) are powerful tools for cancer treatment and have shown significant clinical effects in sarcoma patients. However, mismatch of the introduced TCR α/β chains with endogenous TCR may impair the expression of transduced TCR, resulting in an insufficient antitumor capacity of modified T cells. Here, we report the development of immunotherapy using human lymphocytes transduced with a codon-optimized melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE)-A4 and HLA-A*2402-restricted TCR, which specifically downregulate endogenous TCR by small interfering RNA (si-TCR). We evaluated the efficacy of this immunotherapy in both NOD-SCID mice and uterine leiomyosarcoma patients. Our results revealed that transduced human lymphocytes exhibited high surface expression of the introduced tumor-specific TCR, enhanced cytotoxic activity against antigen-expressing tumor cells, and increased interferon-γ production by specific MAGE-A4 peptide stimulation. Retarded tumor growth was also observed in NOD-SCID mice inoculated with human tumor cell lines expressing both MAGE-A4 and HLA-A*2402. Furthermore, we report the successful management of a case of uterine leiomyosarcoma treated with MAGE-A4 si-TCR/HLA-A*2402 gene-modified T cells. Our results indicate that the TCR-modified T cell therapy is a promising novel strategy for cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Sun
- Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiying Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Limei Wang
- Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Xujie Gao
- Department of Radiology, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Yanjuan Xiong
- Department of Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Liang Liu
- Department of Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Feng Wei
- Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Lili Yang
- Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China.
| | - Xiubao Ren
- Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China. .,Department of Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China.
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25
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Filipska M, Pedraz-Valdunciel C, Chaib I, Rosell R. Biological therapies in lung cancer treatment: using our immune system as an ally to defeat the malignancy. Expert Opin Biol Ther 2019; 19:457-467. [PMID: 30763126 DOI: 10.1080/14712598.2019.1582635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Biological therapies, with immunotherapy leading the field, have arisen as one of the quickest expanding areas of research for cancer treatment in the last few years. The clear benefits for patients are undeniable, satisfying the long-awaited necessity of a target-specific therapy. However, its full potential remains still unexploited due to a lack of response in a majority of patients and pending reliable biomarkers. AREAS COVERED This review provides a summarizing view of the current biological therapies for lung cancer, focusing on immunotherapy - including immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell therapy and vaccines available in clinical/pre-clinical settings or currently in development. A thorough analysis of the technical and functional differences among all therapies is provided, along with a critical discussion of prospective treatments and potential biomarkers. EXPERT OPINION The use of immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer has provided clear benefits for patients. Still, exploitation of the full potential of immune checkpoint inhibitors alone or in combination, or adoptive cell therapies is hampered by, amongst other reasons, the lack of reliable biomarkers and possible adverse immune effects. We postulate that the development of liquid biopsy-based diagnostics will help to overcome these limitations in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martyna Filipska
- a Cancer Biology and Precision Medicine , Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP) , Badalona , Spain
| | - Carlos Pedraz-Valdunciel
- a Cancer Biology and Precision Medicine , Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP) , Badalona , Spain
| | - Imane Chaib
- a Cancer Biology and Precision Medicine , Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP) , Badalona , Spain
| | - Rafael Rosell
- a Cancer Biology and Precision Medicine , Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP) , Badalona , Spain.,b Pangaea Oncology , Laboratory of Molecular Biology , Barcelona, Spain.,c Institute of Oncology Rosell (IOR) , Quiron-Dexeus University Institute , Barcelona , Spain.,d Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) , Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol , Badalona , Spain
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26
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Ren L, Leisegang M, Deng B, Matsuda T, Kiyotani K, Kato T, Harada M, Park JH, Saloura V, Seiwert T, Vokes E, Agrawal N, Nakamura Y. Identification of neoantigen-specific T cells and their targets: implications for immunotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Oncoimmunology 2019; 8:e1568813. [PMID: 30906664 PMCID: PMC6422382 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2019.1568813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2018] [Revised: 10/23/2018] [Accepted: 11/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
To develop a practically applicable method for T-cell receptor (TCR)-engineered T cell immunotherapy targeting neoantigens, we have been attempting to identify neoantigen-specific T cell receptors (TCRs) and establish TCR-engineered T cells in a 3-4-month period. In this study, we report the characterization of T cell repertoires in tumor microenvironment (TME) and identification of neoantigen-specific TCRs after stimulation of patient-derived T cells. We screened 15 potential neoantigen peptides and successfully identified two CD8+HLA-dextramer+ T cells, which recognized MAGOHBG17A and ZCCHC14P368L. All three dominant TCR clonotypes from MAGOHBG17A-HLA dextramer-sorted CD8+ T cells were also found in T cells in TME, while none of dominant TCR clonotypes from ZCCHC14P368L-HLA dextramer-sorted CD8+ T cells was found in the corresponding TME. The most dominant TCRA/TCRB pairs for these two neoantigens were cloned into HLA-matched healthy donors' T lymphocytes to generate TCR-engineered T cells. The functional assay showed MAGOHBG17A TCR-engineered T cells could be significantly activated in a mutation-specific, HLA-restricted and peptide-dose-dependent manner while ZCCHC14P368L TCR-engineered T cells could not. Our data showed neoantigen-reactive T cell clonotypes that were identified in the patient's peripheral blood could be present in the corresponding TME and might be good TCRs targeting neoantigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Ren
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.,Cytotherapy Laboratory, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University), Shenzhen, China
| | - Matthias Leisegang
- Institute of Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Boya Deng
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Tatsuo Matsuda
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Kazuma Kiyotani
- Cancer Precision Medicine Center, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Taigo Kato
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Makiko Harada
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jae-Hyun Park
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Tanguy Seiwert
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Everett Vokes
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Nishant Agrawal
- Department of Surgery, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Yusuke Nakamura
- Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.,Cancer Precision Medicine Center, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Surgery, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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27
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Wolf B, Zimmermann S, Arber C, Irving M, Trueb L, Coukos G. Safety and Tolerability of Adoptive Cell Therapy in Cancer. Drug Saf 2019; 42:315-334. [DOI: 10.1007/s40264-018-0779-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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28
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Ohta R, Demachi-Okamura A, Akatsuka Y, Fujiwara H, Kuzushima K. Improving TCR affinity on 293T cells. J Immunol Methods 2018; 466:1-8. [PMID: 30468736 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2018.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Revised: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
This study presents an efficient method to improve TCR affinity, comprising 1) CDR-directed saturation mutation of TCR cDNA, 2) transient TCR display on CD3-expressing HEK293T (CD3-293T) cells by simple plasmid transfection, 3) staining with HLA-tetramers, and 4) multi-round sorting of cells with CD8-independent tetramer binding on a flow cytometer. Using these procedures, we successfully identified mutant TCRs with enhanced binding from an HLA-A*24:02-restricted, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-specific TCR. Two such clones, 2A7A and 2D162, harboring mutations in CDR1 and CDR2 of TCRβ, respectively, were isolated with both showing sequential four amino acid substitutions. When expressed on CD3-293T cells along with wild-type TCRα, the TCR molecules of these mutants as well as their combinatory mutation, bound to HLA-A24/hTERT-tetramers more strongly than the wild-type TCRs, without binding to control tetramers. Besides, in order to facilitate a functional study of TCR, we established an artificial T cell line, designated as CD8I-J2, which expresses a human CD8 and IFN-γ producing cassette by modifying Jurkat-derived J.RT3-T3.5 cells. CD8I-J2 cells expressing wild-type or affinity-enhanced hTERT-specific TCRs were analyzed for their recognition of serially diluted cognate peptide on HLA-A*24:02-transduced T2 cells. CD8I-J2 cells expressing each mutant TCR recognized the hTERT peptide at lower concentrations than wild-type TCR. The hierarchy of peptide recognition is concordant with tetramer binding on CD3-293T cells and none of these mutant TCRs were cross-reactive with irrelevant peptides reported to be present on HLA-A*24:02 molecules as far as tested. These methods might thus be useful for obtaining high affinity mutants from other TCRs of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rieko Ohta
- Division of Immune Response, Aichi, Cancer Center Research Institute, Nagoya 464-8681, Japan
| | - Ayako Demachi-Okamura
- Division of Immune Response, Aichi, Cancer Center Research Institute, Nagoya 464-8681, Japan
| | - Yoshiki Akatsuka
- Division of Immune Response, Aichi, Cancer Center Research Institute, Nagoya 464-8681, Japan; Department of Hematology, Fujita Health University, Aichi 470-1192, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Fujiwara
- Department of Hematology, Clinical Immunology and Infectious Disease, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime, 791-0295, Japan
| | - Kiyotaka Kuzushima
- Division of Immune Response, Aichi, Cancer Center Research Institute, Nagoya 464-8681, Japan; Division of Cellular Oncology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
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29
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Border EC, Sanderson JP, Weissensteiner T, Gerry AB, Pumphrey NJ. Affinity-enhanced T-cell receptors for adoptive T-cell therapy targeting MAGE-A10: strategy for selection of an optimal candidate. Oncoimmunology 2018; 8:e1532759. [PMID: 30713784 PMCID: PMC6343776 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2018.1532759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2018] [Revised: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 08/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Circulating T-cells that have passed thymic selection generally bear T-cell receptors (TCRs) with sub-optimal affinity for cancer-associated antigens, resulting in a limited ability to detect and eliminate tumor cells. Engineering TCRs to increase their affinity for cancer targets is a promising strategy for generating T-cells with enhanced potency for adoptive immunotherapy in cancer patients. However, this manipulation also risks generating cross-reactivity to antigens expressed by normal tissue, with potentially serious consequences. Testing in animal models might not detect such cross-reactivity due to species differences in the antigenic repertoire. To mitigate the risk of off-target toxicities in future clinical trials, we therefore developed an extensive in vitro testing strategy. This approach involved systematic substitution at each position of the antigenic peptide sequence using all natural amino acids to generate a profile of peptide specificity (“X-scan”). The likelihood of off-target reactivity was investigated by searching the human proteome for sequences matching this profile, and testing against a panel of primary cell lines. Starting from a diverse panel of parental TCRs, we engineered several affinity-enhanced TCRs specific for the cancer-testis antigen MAGE-A10. Two of these TCRs had affinities and specificities which appeared to be equally optimal when tested in conventional biochemical and cellular assays. The X-scan method, however, permitted us to select the most specific and potent candidate for further pre-clinical and clinical testing.
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30
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Kansy B, Lang S. [Immunotherapy - The New Era of Oncology]. Laryngorhinootologie 2018; 97:S3-S47. [PMID: 29905353 PMCID: PMC6541097 DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-121594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
In the field of immunotherapy, essential progress was achieved over the past years partially demonstrating long lasting therapeutic responses in different tumor entities. A better understanding of the interactions between the tumor and the immune system as well as the integration of immunotherapeutic approaches into clinical routine were the foundations for this development. The different approaches intervene on multiple levels of the immune response and directly or indirectly mount the patient‘s own immune defense against tumor cells. Immunotherapeutic approaches are represented by cytokine therapies, vaccinations, the use of oncolytic viruses and monoclonal antibody therapies as well as adoptive cell transfer strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Kansy
- Klinik für Hals-Nasen-Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Universität Duisburg-Essen
| | - Stephan Lang
- Klinik für Hals-Nasen-Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Universität Duisburg-Essen
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31
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Pang Y, Hou X, Yang C, Liu Y, Jiang G. Advances on chimeric antigen receptor-modified T-cell therapy for oncotherapy. Mol Cancer 2018; 17:91. [PMID: 29769134 PMCID: PMC5956614 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-018-0840-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Tumor treatment is still complicated in the field of medicine. Tumor immunotherapy has been the most interesting research field in cancer therapy. Application of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has recently achieved excellent clinical outcome in patients, especially those with CD19-positive hematologic malignancies. This phenomenon has induced intense interest to develop CAR-T cell therapy for cancer, especially for solid tumors. However, the performance of CAR-T cell treatment in solid tumor is not as satisfactory as that in hematologic disease. Clinical studies on some neoplasms, such as glioblastoma, ovarian cancer, and cholangiocarcinoma, have achieved desirable outcome. This review describes the history and evolution of CAR-T, generalizes the structure and preparation of CAR-T, and summarizes the latest advances on CAR-T cell therapy in different tumor types. The last section presents the current challenges and prospects of CAR-T application to provide guidance for subsequent research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanyu Pang
- Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221002, China
| | - Xiaoyang Hou
- Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221002, China
| | - Chunsheng Yang
- Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Huai'an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, the Second People's Hospital of Huai'an, Huai'an, 223002, China
| | - Yanqun Liu
- Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221002, China.
| | - Guan Jiang
- Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221002, China.
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Kunert A, Debets R. Engineering T cells for adoptive therapy: outsmarting the tumor. Curr Opin Immunol 2018; 51:133-139. [PMID: 29579622 DOI: 10.1016/j.coi.2018.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2018] [Revised: 02/01/2018] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Adoptive transfer of T cells gene-engineered with antigen-specific receptors, whether it be chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or T cell receptors (TCRs), has proven its feasibility and therapeutic potential in the treatment of tumors. Despite clinical successes, the majority of patients experiences no or non-sustainable clearance of solid tumors, which is attributed to local T cell evasive mechanisms. A rapidly expanding understanding of molecular and cellular events that contribute to a reduction in numbers and/or activation of intra-tumor T cells has facilitated the development of gene-engineering strategies, enabling T cells to counter immune tolerance. Here, we present an overview of gene-engineering approaches and considerations to improve tumor-selectivity and effectiveness of adoptively transferred T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Kunert
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC-Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Reno Debets
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC-Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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Preclinical Strategies to Identify Off-Target Toxicity of High-Affinity TCRs. Mol Ther 2018; 26:1206-1214. [PMID: 29567312 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2018.02.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2017] [Revised: 02/16/2018] [Accepted: 02/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Adoptive transfer of T cells engineered with a cancer-specific T cell receptor (TCR) has demonstrated clinical benefit. However, the risk for off-target toxicity of TCRs remains a concern. Here, we examined the cross-reactive profile of T cell clone (7B5) with a high functional sensitivity for the hematopoietic-restricted minor histocompatibility antigen HA-2 in the context of HLA-A*02:01. HA-2pos Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B lymphoblastic cell lines (EBV-LCLs) and primary acute myeloid leukemia samples, but not hematopoietic HA-2neg samples, are effectively recognized. However, we found unexpected off-target recognition of human fibroblasts and keratinocytes not expressing the HA-2 antigen. To uncover the origin of this off-target recognition, we performed an alanine scanning approach, identifying six out of nine positions to be important for peptide recognition. This indicates a low risk for broad cross-reactivity. However, using a combinatorial peptide library scanning approach, we identified a CDH13-derived peptide activating the 7B5 T cell clone. This was confirmed by recognition of CDH13-transduced EBV-LCLs and cell subsets endogenously expressing CDH13, such as proximal tubular epithelial cells. As such, we recommend the use of a combinatorial peptide library scan followed by screening against additional cell subsets to validate TCR specificity and detect off-target toxicity due to cross-reactivity directed against unrelated peptides before selecting candidate TCRs for clinical testing.
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