1
|
Kalinina AA, Khromykh LM, Kazansky DB. T Cell Receptor Chain Centricity: The Phenomenon and Potential Applications in Cancer Immunotherapy. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:15211. [PMID: 37894892 PMCID: PMC10607890 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242015211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
T cells are crucial players in adaptive anti-cancer immunity. The gene modification of T cells with tumor antigen-specific T cell receptors (TCRs) was a milestone in personalized cancer immunotherapy. TCR is a heterodimer (either α/β or γ/δ) able to recognize a peptide antigen in a complex with self-MHC molecules. Although traditional concepts assume that an α- and β-chain contribute equally to antigen recognition, mounting data reveal that certain receptors possess chain centricity, i.e., one hemi-chain TCR dominates antigen recognition and dictates its specificity. Chain-centric TCRs are currently poorly understood in terms of their origin and the functional T cell subsets that express them. In addition, the ratio of α- and β-chain-centric TCRs, as well as the exact proportion of chain-centric TCRs in the native repertoire, is generally still unknown today. In this review, we provide a retrospective analysis of studies that evidence chain-centric TCRs, propose patterns of their generation, and discuss the potential applications of such receptors in T cell gene modification for adoptive cancer immunotherapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Dmitry B. Kazansky
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Mattila J, Sormunen S, Heikkilä N, Mattila IP, Saramäki J, Arstila TP. Analysis of thymic generation of shared T-cell receptor α repertoire associated with recognition of tumor antigens shows no preference for neoantigens over wild-type antigens. Cancer Med 2023; 12:13486-13496. [PMID: 37114587 PMCID: PMC10315763 DOI: 10.1002/cam4.6002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The number of mutations in cancer cells is an important predictor of a positive response to cancer immunotherapy. It has been suggested that the neoantigens produced by these mutations are more immunogenic than nonmutated tumor antigens, which are likely to be protected by immunological tolerance. However, the mechanisms of tolerance as regards tumor antigens are incompletely understood. METHODS Here, we have analyzed the impact of thymic negative selection on shared T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire associated with the recognition of either mutated or nonmutated tumor antigens by comparing previously known TCR-antigen-pairs to TCR repertoires of 21 immunologically healthy individuals. RESULTS Our results show that TCRα chains associated with either type of tumor antigens are readily generated in the thymus, at a frequency similar to TCRα chains associated with nonself. In the peripheral repertoire, the relative clone size of nonself-associated chains is higher than that of the tumor antigens, but importantly, there is no difference between TCRα chains associated with mutated or nonmutated tumor antigens. CONCLUSION This suggests that the tolerance mechanisms protecting nonmutated tumor antigens are non-deletional and therefore potentially reversible. As unmutated antigens are, unlike mutations, shared by a large number of patients, they may offer advantages in designing immunological approaches to cancer treatment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joonatan Mattila
- Research Programs Unit, Translational Immunology, Haartmaninkatu 3 (PL 21) 00014, and MedicumUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Silja Sormunen
- Department of Computer ScienceAalto UniversityEspooFinland
| | - Nelli Heikkilä
- Research Programs Unit, Translational Immunology, Haartmaninkatu 3 (PL 21) 00014, and MedicumUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
- Faculty of Medicine, Center for Vaccinology, Department of Pathology and ImmunologyUniversity of GenevaGenevaSwitzerland
| | - Ilkka P. Mattila
- Department of Pediatric Cardiac and Transplantation SurgeryHospital for Children and Adolescents, Helsinki University Central HospitalHelsinkiFinland
| | - Jari Saramäki
- Department of Computer ScienceAalto UniversityEspooFinland
| | - T. Petteri Arstila
- Research Programs Unit, Translational Immunology, Haartmaninkatu 3 (PL 21) 00014, and MedicumUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Kalinina A, Persiyantseva N, Britanova O, Lupyr K, Shagina I, Khromykh L, Kazansky D. Unique features of the TCR repertoire of reactivated memory T cells in the experimental mouse tumor model. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2023; 21:3196-3209. [PMID: 37333858 PMCID: PMC10275742 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
T cell engineering with T cell receptors (TCR) specific to tumor antigens has become a breakthrough towards personalized cancer adoptive cell immunotherapy. However, the search for therapeutic TCRs is often challenging, and effective strategies are strongly required for the identification and enrichment of tumor-specific T cells that express TCRs with superior functional characteristics. Using an experimental mouse tumor model, we studied sequential changes in TCR repertoire features of T cells involved in the primary and secondary immune responses to allogeneic tumor antigens. In-depth bioinformatics analysis of TCR repertoires showed differences in reactivated memory T cells compared to primarily activated effectors. After cognate antigen re-encounter, memory cells were enriched with clonotypes that express α-chain TCR with high potential cross-reactivity and enhanced strength of interaction with both MHC and docked peptides. Our findings suggest that functionally true memory T cells could be a better source of therapeutic TCRs for adoptive cell therapy. No marked changes were observed in the physicochemical characteristics of TCRβ in reactivated memory clonotypes, indicative of the dominant role of TCRα in the secondary allogeneic immune response. The results of this study could further contribute to the development of TCR-modified T cell products based on the phenomenon of TCR chain centricity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anastasiia Kalinina
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh. 24, 115478 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Nadezda Persiyantseva
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh. 24, 115478 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Olga Britanova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya st. 16/10, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Ostrovityanova st.1, 17997 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Ksenia Lupyr
- Center of Life Sciences, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Bolshoi boulevard 30c1, 121205 Moscow, Russian Federation
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Ostrovityanova st.1,build. 1, 17997 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Irina Shagina
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya st. 16/10, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Ostrovityanova st.1, 17997 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Ludmila Khromykh
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh. 24, 115478 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Dmitry Kazansky
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh. 24, 115478 Moscow, Russian Federation
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Kalinina AA, Kazansky DB, Khromykh LM. Recombinant Human Cyclophilin A in Combination with Adoptive T-cell Therapy Improves the Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy in Experimental Models in vivo. BIOCHEMISTRY. BIOKHIMIIA 2023; 88:590-599. [PMID: 37331705 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297923050024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Adoptive T-cell therapy (ACT) is successfully applied in cancer treatment; however, its efficiency can be limited by a low viability, short persistence time, and loss of functional activity of T-cells after adoptive transfer. The search for novel immunomodulators that can improve the viability, expansion, and functions of T-cells after their infusion with the minimal side effects could contribute to the development of more efficient and safe ACT strategies. Recombinant human cyclophilin A (rhCypA) is of particular interest in this respect, as it exhibits pleiotropic immunomodulatory activity and stimulates both innate and adaptive anti-tumor immunity. Here, we evaluated the effect of rhCypA on the efficacy of ACT in the mouse EL4 lymphoma model. Lymphocytes from transgenic 1D1a mice with an inborn pool of EL4-specific T-cells were used as a source of tumor-specific T-cells for ACT. In models of immunocompetent and immunodeficient transgenic mice, the course (3 days) rhCypA administration was shown to significantly stimulate EL4 rejection and prolong the overall survival of tumor-bearing mice after adoptive transfer of lowered doses of transgenic 1D1a cells. Our studies showed that rhCypA significantly improved the efficacy of ACT by enhancing the effector functions of tumor-specific cytotoxic T-cells. These findings open up the prospects for the development of innovative strategies of adoptive T-cell immunotherapy for cancer using rhCypA as an alternative to existing cytokine therapies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anastasiia A Kalinina
- N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, 115478, Russia.
| | - Dmitry B Kazansky
- N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, 115478, Russia
| | - Ludmila M Khromykh
- N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, 115478, Russia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Kalinina AA, Ziganshin RK, Silaeva YY, Sharova NI, Nikonova MF, Persiyantseva NA, Gorkova TG, Antoshina EE, Trukhanova LS, Donetskova AD, Komogorova VV, Litvina MM, Mitin AN, Zamkova MA, Bruter AV, Khromykh LM, Kazansky DB. Physiological and Functional Effects of Dominant Active TCRα Expression in Transgenic Mice. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24076527. [PMID: 37047500 PMCID: PMC10094918 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24076527] [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: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
A T cell receptor (TCR) consists of α- and β-chains. Accumulating evidence suggests that some TCRs possess chain centricity, i.e., either of the hemi-chains can dominate in antigen recognition and dictate the TCR’s specificity. The introduction of TCRα/β into naive lymphocytes generates antigen-specific T cells that are ready to perform their functions. Transgenesis of the dominant active TCRα creates transgenic animals with improved anti-tumor immune control, and adoptive immunotherapy with TCRα-transduced T cells provides resistance to infections. However, the potential detrimental effects of the dominant hemi-chain TCR’s expression in transgenic animals have not been well investigated. Here, we analyzed, in detail, the functional status of the immune system of recently generated 1D1a transgenic mice expressing the dominant active TCRα specific to the H2-Kb molecule. In their age dynamics, neither autoimmunity due to the random pairing of transgenic TCRα with endogenous TCRβ variants nor significant disturbances in systemic homeostasis were detected in these mice. Although the specific immune response was considerably enhanced in 1D1a mice, responses to third-party alloantigens were not compromised, indicating that the expression of dominant active TCRα did not limit immune reactivity in transgenic mice. Our data suggest that TCRα transgene expression could delay thymic involution and maintain TCRβ repertoire diversity in old transgenic mice. The detected changes in the systemic homeostasis in 1D1a transgenic mice, which are minor and primarily transient, may indicate variations in the ontogeny of wild-type and transgenic mouse lines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anastasiia A. Kalinina
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| | - Rustam Kh. Ziganshin
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya st. 16/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Yulia Yu. Silaeva
- Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova st. 34/5, 119334 Moscow, Russia
| | - Nina I. Sharova
- National Research Center, Institute of Immunology Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115522 Moscow, Russia
| | - Margarita F. Nikonova
- National Research Center, Institute of Immunology Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115522 Moscow, Russia
| | - Nadezda A. Persiyantseva
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| | - Tatiana G. Gorkova
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena E. Antoshina
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| | - Lubov S. Trukhanova
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| | - Almira D. Donetskova
- National Research Center, Institute of Immunology Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115522 Moscow, Russia
| | - Victoria V. Komogorova
- National Research Center, Institute of Immunology Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115522 Moscow, Russia
| | - Marina M. Litvina
- National Research Center, Institute of Immunology Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115522 Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander N. Mitin
- National Research Center, Institute of Immunology Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115522 Moscow, Russia
| | - Maria A. Zamkova
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova st. 34/5, 119334 Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexandra V. Bruter
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 34/5 Vavilov St., 119334 Moscow, Russia
| | - Ludmila M. Khromykh
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitry B. Kazansky
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, 115478 Moscow, Russia
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Kalinina A, Bruter A, Persiyantseva N, Silaeva Y, Zamkova M, Khromykh L, Kazansky D. Safety evaluation of the mouse TCRα - transduced T cell product in preclinical models in vivo and in vitro. Biomed Pharmacother 2021; 145:112480. [PMID: 34915667 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.112480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) based on TCR- or CAR-T cells has become an efficient immunotherapeutic approach for the treatment of various diseases, including cancer. Previously, we developed a novel strategy for generating therapeutic T cell products based on chain-centric TCRs, in which either α- or β-chain dominates in cognate antigen recognition. To assess the suitability of our experimental approach for the clinical application and predict its possible adverse effects, in studies here, we evaluated the safety of the experimental TCRα-modified T cell product in mouse preclinical models. Our data showed no tumorigenic or mutagenic activity in vitro of TCRα-transduced T cells, indicating no genotoxicity of viral vectors used for the generation of the experimental T cell product. Adoptive transfer of TCRα-engineered T cells in a wide dose range didn`t disturb the host homeostasis and exhibited no acute toxicity or immunotoxicity in vivo. Based on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics analysis here, modified T cells rapidly penetrated and distributed in many viscera after infusion. Histological evaluations revealed no pathological changes in organs caused by T cells accumulation, indicating the absence of non-specific off-target activity or cross-reactivity of the therapeutic TCRα. Studies here provide valuable information on the potential safety of TCRα-T cell based ACT that could be extrapolated to possible effects in a human host.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anastasiia Kalinina
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, Moscow 115478, Russian Federation
| | - Alexandra Bruter
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, Moscow 115478, Russian Federation; Core Facility Center, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova st. 34/5, Moscow 119334, Russian Federation
| | - Nadezhda Persiyantseva
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, Moscow 115478, Russian Federation
| | - Yulia Silaeva
- Core Facility Center, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova st. 34/5, Moscow 119334, Russian Federation
| | - Maria Zamkova
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, Moscow 115478, Russian Federation
| | - Ludmila Khromykh
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, Moscow 115478, Russian Federation
| | - Dmitry Kazansky
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kashirskoe sh., 24, Moscow 115478, Russian Federation.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Kalinina AA, Nesterenko LN, Bruter AV, Balunets DV, Chudakov DM, Izraelson M, Britanova OV, Khromykh LM, Kazansky DB. Adoptive Immunotherapy Based on Chain-Centric TCRs in Treatment of Infectious Diseases. iScience 2020; 23:101854. [PMID: 33313494 PMCID: PMC7721641 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Revised: 11/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Complications after vaccination, lack of vaccines against certain infections, and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms point to the need for alternative ways of protection and treatment of infectious diseases. Here, we proposed a therapeutic approach to control salmonellosis based on adoptive cell therapy. We showed that the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of salmonella-specific memory cells contains 20% of TCR variants with the dominant-active α-chain. Transduction of intact T lymphocytes with the dominant salmonella-specific TCRα led to their enhanced in vitro proliferation in response to salmonella. Adoptive transfer of transduced T cells resulted in a significant decrease in bacterial loads in mice infected with salmonella before or after the adoptive transfer. We demonstrated that adoptive immunotherapy based on T cells, transduced with dominant-specific TCRα could be successfully applied for treatment and prevention of infectious diseases and represent a useful addition to vaccination and existing therapeutic strategies. A regular TCR repertoire of memory T cells contains alpha-chain-centric TCRs Dominant-active TCRα, paired with random TCRβ, recognizes specific microbial antigens Adoptive immunotherapy could be applied for treatment of infections
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anastasiia A Kalinina
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" оf the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| | - Ludmila N Nesterenko
- "N. F. Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology", the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 123098 Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexandra V Bruter
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" оf the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 115478 Moscow, Russia.,Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
| | - Denis V Balunets
- "N. F. Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology", the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 123098 Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitriy M Chudakov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Mark Izraelson
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga V Britanova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Ludmila M Khromykh
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" оf the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitry B Kazansky
- Federal State Budgetary Institution "N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology" оf the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 115478 Moscow, Russia
| |
Collapse
|