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Kim SH, Lee BR, Kim SM, Kim S, Kim MS, Kim J, Lee I, Kim HS, Nam GH, Kim IS, Song K, Choi Y, Lee DS, Park WY. The identification of effective tumor-suppressing neoantigens using a tumor-reactive TIL TCR-pMHC ternary complex. Exp Mol Med 2024:10.1038/s12276-024-01259-2. [PMID: 38866910 DOI: 10.1038/s12276-024-01259-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Neoantigens are ideal targets for cancer immunotherapy because they are expressed de novo in tumor tissue but not in healthy tissue and are therefore recognized as foreign by the immune system. Advances in next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics technologies have enabled the quick identification and prediction of tumor-specific neoantigens; however, only a small fraction of predicted neoantigens are immunogenic. To improve the predictability of immunogenic neoantigens, we developed the in silico neoantigen prediction workflows VACINUSpMHC and VACINUSTCR: VACINUSpMHC incorporates physical binding between peptides and MHCs (pMHCs), and VACINUSTCR integrates T cell reactivity to the pMHC complex through deep learning-based pairing with T cell receptors (TCRs) of putative tumor-reactive CD8 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). We then validated our neoantigen prediction workflows both in vitro and in vivo in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in a B16F10 mouse melanoma model. The predictive abilities of VACINUSpMHC and VACINUSTCR were confirmed in a validation cohort of 8 patients with HCC. Of a total of 118 neoantigen candidates predicted by VACINUSpMHC, 48 peptides were ultimately selected using VACINUSTCR. In vitro validation revealed that among the 48 predicted neoantigen candidates, 13 peptides were immunogenic. Assessment of the antitumor efficacy of the candidate neoepitopes using a VACINUSTCR in vivo mouse model suggested that vaccination with the predicted neoepitopes induced neoantigen-specific T cell responses and enabled the trafficking of neoantigen-specific CD8 + T cell clones into the tumor tissue, leading to tumor suppression. This study showed that the prediction of immunogenic neoantigens can be improved by integrating a tumor-reactive TIL TCR-pMHC ternary complex.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Jaehyun Kim
- Department of Research and Development, SHIFTBIO Inc., Seoul, 02751, Korea
| | - Inkyu Lee
- Department of Research and Development, SHIFTBIO Inc., Seoul, 02751, Korea
- KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Korea
| | | | - Gi-Hoon Nam
- Department of Research and Development, SHIFTBIO Inc., Seoul, 02751, Korea
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, 02841, Korea
| | - In-San Kim
- KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Korea
- Chemical & Biological Integrative Research Center, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, Korea
| | | | - Yoonjoo Choi
- Combinatorial Tumor Immunotherapy MRC, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, 58128, Korea.
| | - Dong-Sup Lee
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
| | - Woong-Yang Park
- Geninus Inc., Seoul, 05836, Korea.
- Department of Health Science and Technology, Samsung Advanced Institute of Health Science and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.
- Samsung Genome Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
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This S, Costantino S, Melichar HJ. Machine learning predictions of T cell antigen specificity from intracellular calcium dynamics. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadk2298. [PMID: 38446885 PMCID: PMC10917351 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk2298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Adoptive T cell therapies rely on the production of T cells with an antigen receptor that directs their specificity toward tumor-specific antigens. Methods for identifying relevant T cell receptor (TCR) sequences, predominantly achieved through the enrichment of antigen-specific T cells, represent a major bottleneck in the production of TCR-engineered cell therapies. Fluctuation of intracellular calcium is a proximal readout of TCR signaling and candidate marker for antigen-specific T cell identification that does not require T cell expansion; however, calcium fluctuations downstream of TCR engagement are highly variable. We propose that machine learning algorithms may allow for T cell classification from complex datasets such as polyclonal T cell signaling events. Using deep learning tools, we demonstrate accurate prediction of TCR-transgenic CD8+ T cell activation based on calcium fluctuations and test the algorithm against T cells bearing a distinct TCR as well as polyclonal T cells. This provides the foundation for an antigen-specific TCR sequence identification pipeline for adoptive T cell therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien This
- Centre de recherche de l'Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Santiago Costantino
- Centre de recherche de l'Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Département d’Ophtalmologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Heather J. Melichar
- Centre de recherche de l'Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Département de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
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Clutton GT, Weideman AMK, Mischell MA, Kallon S, Conrad SZ, Shaw FR, Warren JA, Lin L, Kuruc JD, Xu Y, Gay CM, Armistead PM, G. Hudgens M, Goonetilleke NP. CD3 downregulation identifies high-avidity human CD8 T cells. Clin Exp Immunol 2024; 215:279-290. [PMID: 37950348 PMCID: PMC10876116 DOI: 10.1093/cei/uxad124] [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: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
CD8 T cells recognize infected and cancerous cells via their T-cell receptor (TCR), which binds peptide-MHC complexes on the target cell. The affinity of the interaction between the TCR and peptide-MHC contributes to the antigen sensitivity, or functional avidity, of the CD8 T cell. In response to peptide-MHC stimulation, the TCR-CD3 complex and CD8 co-receptor are downmodulated. We quantified CD3 and CD8 downmodulation following stimulation of human CD8 T cells with CMV, EBV, and HIV peptides spanning eight MHC restrictions, observing a strong correlation between the levels of CD3 and CD8 downmodulation and functional avidity, regardless of peptide viral origin. In TCR-transduced T cells targeting a tumor-associated antigen, changes in TCR-peptide affinity were sufficient to modify CD3 and CD8 downmodulation. Correlation analysis and generalized linear modeling indicated that CD3 downmodulation was the stronger correlate of avidity. CD3 downmodulation, simply measured using flow cytometry, can be used to identify high-avidity CD8 T cells in a clinical context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genevieve T Clutton
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Ann Marie K Weideman
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Melissa A Mischell
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Sallay Kallon
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Shayla Z Conrad
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Fiona R Shaw
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Joanna A Warren
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Lin Lin
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - JoAnn D Kuruc
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Yinyan Xu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Cynthia M Gay
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Paul M Armistead
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Michael G. Hudgens
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Nilu P Goonetilleke
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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SU S, LV X, QI L, WEI M, LIU B, WANG L. [Predictive Value of Peripheral Blood Biomarkers in the Treatment of
Lung Cancer Patients with Anti PD-1 Immunotherapy]. ZHONGGUO FEI AI ZA ZHI = CHINESE JOURNAL OF LUNG CANCER 2024; 26:901-909. [PMID: 38163976 PMCID: PMC10767665 DOI: 10.3779/j.issn.1009-3419.2023.102.38] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The application of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibodies has greatly improved the clinical outcomes of lung cancer patients. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of PD-1 antibody therapy in locally advanced non-surgical or metastatic lung cancer patients, and preliminarily explored the correlation between peripheral blood biomarkers and clinical responses. METHODS We conducted a single center study that included 61 IIIA-IV lung cancer patients who received PD-1 antibody treatment from March 2020 to December 2021, and collected the medical record data on PD-1 antibody first-line or second-line treatment. The levels of multiple Th1 and Th2 cytokines in the patient's peripheral blood serum, as well as the phenotype of peripheral blood T cells, were detected and analyzed. RESULTS All the patients completed at least 2 cycles of PD-1 monoclonal antibody treatment. Among them, 42 patients (68.9%) achieved partial response (PR); 7 patients (11.5%) had stable disease (SD); and 12 patients (19.7%) had progressive disease (PD). The levels of peripheral blood interferon gamma (IFN-γ) (P=0.023), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) (P=0.007) and interleukin 5 (IL-5) (P=0.002) before treatment were higher in patients of the disease control rate (DCR) (PR+SD) group than in the PD group. In addition, the decrease in absolute peripheral blood lymphocyte count after PD-1 antibody treatment was associated with disease progression (P=0.023). Moreover, the levels of IL-5 (P=0.0027) and IL-10 (P=0.0208) in the blood serum after immunotherapy were significantly increased compared to baseline. CONCLUSIONS Peripheral blood serum IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-5 in lung cancer patients have certain roles in predicting the clinical efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy. The decrease in absolute peripheral blood lymphocyte count in lung cancer patients is related to disease progression, but large-scale prospective studies are needed to further elucidate the value of these biomarkers.
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Migueles SA, Nettere DM, Gavil NV, Wang LT, Toulmin SA, Kelly EP, Ward AJ, Lin S, Thompson SA, Peterson BA, Abdeen CS, Sclafani CR, Pryal PF, Leach BG, Ludwig AK, Rogan DC, Przygonska PA, Cattani A, Imamichi H, Sachs A, Cafri G, Huang NN, Patamawenu A, Liang CJ, Hallahan CW, Kambach DM, Han EX, Coupet T, Chen J, Moir SL, Chun TW, Coates EE, Ledgerwood J, Schmidt J, Taillandier-Coindard M, Michaux J, Pak H, Bassani-Sternberg M, Frahm N, McElrath MJ, Connors M. HIV vaccines induce CD8 + T cells with low antigen receptor sensitivity. Science 2023; 382:1270-1276. [PMID: 38096385 DOI: 10.1126/science.adg0514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
Current HIV vaccines designed to stimulate CD8+ T cells have failed to induce immunologic control upon infection. The functions of vaccine-induced HIV-specific CD8+ T cells were investigated here in detail. Cytotoxic capacity was significantly lower than in HIV controllers and was not a consequence of low frequency or unaccumulated functional cytotoxic proteins. Low cytotoxic capacity was attributable to impaired degranulation in response to the low antigen levels present on HIV-infected targets. The vaccine-induced T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire was polyclonal and transduction of these TCRs conferred the same reduced functions. These results define a mechanism accounting for poor antiviral activity induced by these vaccines and suggest that an effective CD8+ T cell response may require a vaccination strategy that drives further TCR clonal selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen A Migueles
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Danielle M Nettere
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Noah V Gavil
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lawrence T Wang
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sushila A Toulmin
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Elizabeth P Kelly
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Addison J Ward
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Siying Lin
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sarah A Thompson
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Bennett A Peterson
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Cassidy S Abdeen
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Carina R Sclafani
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Patrick F Pryal
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Benjamin G Leach
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Amanda K Ludwig
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Daniel C Rogan
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Paulina A Przygonska
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Angela Cattani
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Hiromi Imamichi
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Abraham Sachs
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Gal Cafri
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ning-Na Huang
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Andy Patamawenu
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - C Jason Liang
- Biostatistics Research Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Claire W Hallahan
- Biostatistics Research Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Susan L Moir
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Tae-Wook Chun
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Emily E Coates
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Julie Ledgerwood
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Julien Schmidt
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marie Taillandier-Coindard
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Justine Michaux
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - HuiSong Pak
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michal Bassani-Sternberg
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nicole Frahm
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - M Juliana McElrath
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Mark Connors
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Couturaud B, Doix B, Carretero-Iglesia L, Allard M, Pradervand S, Hebeisen M, Rufer N. Overall avidity declines in TCR repertoires during latent CMV but not EBV infection. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1293090. [PMID: 38053994 PMCID: PMC10694213 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1293090] [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: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The avidity of the T-cell receptor (TCR) for antigenic peptides presented by the MHC (pMHC) on cells is an essential parameter for efficient T cell-mediated immunity. Yet, whether the TCR-ligand avidity can drive the clonal evolution of virus antigen-specific CD8 T cells, and how this process is determined in latent Cytomegalovirus (CMV)- against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-mediated infection remains largely unknown. Methods To address these issues, we quantified monomeric TCR-pMHC dissociation rates on CMV- and EBV-specific individual TCRαβ clonotypes and polyclonal CD8 T cell populations in healthy donors over a follow-up time of 15-18 years. The parameters involved during the long-term persistence of virus-specific T cell clonotypes were further evaluated by gene expression profiling, phenotype and functional analyses. Results Within CMV/pp65-specific T cell repertoires, a progressive contraction of clonotypes with high TCR-pMHC avidity and low CD8 binding dependency was observed, leading to an overall avidity decline during long-term antigen exposure. We identified a unique transcriptional signature preferentially expressed by high-avidity CMV/pp65-specific T cell clonotypes, including the inhibitory receptor LILRB1. Interestingly, T cell clonotypes of high-avidity showed higher LILRB1 expression than the low-avidity ones and LILRB1 blockade moderately increased T cell proliferation. Similar findings were made for CD8 T cell repertoires specific for the CMV/IE-1 epitope. There was a gradual in vivo loss of high-avidity T cells with time for both CMV specificities, corresponding to virus-specific CD8 T cells expressing enhanced LILRB1 levels. In sharp contrast, the EBV/BMFL1-specific T cell clonal composition and distribution, once established, displayed an exceptional stability, unrelated to TCR-pMHC binding avidity or LILRB1 expression. Conclusions These findings reveal an overall long-term avidity decline of CMV- but not EBV-specific T cell clonal repertoires, highlighting the differing role played by TCR-ligand avidity over the course of these two latent herpesvirus infections. Our data further suggest that the inhibitor receptor LILRB1 potentially restricts the clonal expansion of high-avidity CMV-specific T cell clonotypes during latent infection. We propose that the mechanisms regulating the long-term outcome of CMV- and EBV-specific memory CD8 T cell clonotypes in humans are distinct.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Couturaud
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Bastien Doix
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Laura Carretero-Iglesia
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Mathilde Allard
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Sylvain Pradervand
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Lausanne Genomic Technologies Facility (LGTF), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michael Hebeisen
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Nathalie Rufer
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
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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.
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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
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Rappazzo CG, Fernández-Quintero ML, Mayer A, Wu NC, Greiff V, Guthmiller JJ. Defining and Studying B Cell Receptor and TCR Interactions. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2023; 211:311-322. [PMID: 37459189 PMCID: PMC10495106 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2300136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
BCRs (Abs) and TCRs (or adaptive immune receptors [AIRs]) are the means by which the adaptive immune system recognizes foreign and self-antigens, playing an integral part in host defense, as well as the emergence of autoimmunity. Importantly, the interaction between AIRs and their cognate Ags defies a simple key-in-lock paradigm and is instead a complex many-to-many mapping between an individual's massively diverse AIR repertoire, and a similarly diverse antigenic space. Understanding how adaptive immunity balances specificity with epitopic coverage is a key challenge for the field, and terms such as broad specificity, cross-reactivity, and polyreactivity remain ill-defined and are used inconsistently. In this Immunology Notes and Resources article, a group of experimental, structural, and computational immunologists define commonly used terms associated with AIR binding, describe methodologies to study these binding modes, as well as highlight the implications of these different binding modes for therapeutic design.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Andreas Mayer
- Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Nicholas C. Wu
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Victor Greiff
- Department of Immunology, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, 0372 Oslo, Norway
| | - Jenna J. Guthmiller
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045
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Schmidt J, Chiffelle J, Perez MAS, Magnin M, Bobisse S, Arnaud M, Genolet R, Cesbron J, Barras D, Navarro Rodrigo B, Benedetti F, Michel A, Queiroz L, Baumgaertner P, Guillaume P, Hebeisen M, Michielin O, Nguyen-Ngoc T, Huber F, Irving M, Tissot-Renaud S, Stevenson BJ, Rusakiewicz S, Dangaj Laniti D, Bassani-Sternberg M, Rufer N, Gfeller D, Kandalaft LE, Speiser DE, Zoete V, Coukos G, Harari A. Neoantigen-specific CD8 T cells with high structural avidity preferentially reside in and eliminate tumors. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3188. [PMID: 37280206 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38946-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The success of cancer immunotherapy depends in part on the strength of antigen recognition by T cells. Here, we characterize the T cell receptor (TCR) functional (antigen sensitivity) and structural (monomeric pMHC-TCR off-rates) avidities of 371 CD8 T cell clones specific for neoantigens, tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) or viral antigens isolated from tumors or blood of patients and healthy donors. T cells from tumors exhibit stronger functional and structural avidity than their blood counterparts. Relative to TAA, neoantigen-specific T cells are of higher structural avidity and, consistently, are preferentially detected in tumors. Effective tumor infiltration in mice models is associated with high structural avidity and CXCR3 expression. Based on TCR biophysicochemical properties, we derive and apply an in silico model predicting TCR structural avidity and validate the enrichment in high avidity T cells in patients' tumors. These observations indicate a direct relationship between neoantigen recognition, T cell functionality and tumor infiltration. These results delineate a rational approach to identify potent T cells for personalized cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Schmidt
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Johanna Chiffelle
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marta A S Perez
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Morgane Magnin
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sara Bobisse
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marion Arnaud
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Raphael Genolet
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Julien Cesbron
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - David Barras
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Blanca Navarro Rodrigo
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Fabrizio Benedetti
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alexandra Michel
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Lise Queiroz
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Petra Baumgaertner
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Philippe Guillaume
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michael Hebeisen
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Olivier Michielin
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tu Nguyen-Ngoc
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Florian Huber
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Melita Irving
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Stéphanie Tissot-Renaud
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Brian J Stevenson
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sylvie Rusakiewicz
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Denarda Dangaj Laniti
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michal Bassani-Sternberg
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nathalie Rufer
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - David Gfeller
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Lana E Kandalaft
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Daniel E Speiser
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vincent Zoete
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - George Coukos
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alexandre Harari
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Agora Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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10
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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.
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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
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11
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Arman I, Haus-Cohen M, Reiter Y. The Intracellular Proteome as a Source for Novel Targets in CAR-T and T-Cell Engagers-Based Immunotherapy. Cells 2022; 12:cells12010027. [PMID: 36611821 PMCID: PMC9818436 DOI: 10.3390/cells12010027] [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: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The impressive clinical success of cancer immunotherapy has motivated the continued search for new targets that may serve to guide potent effector functions in an attempt to efficiently kill malignant cells. The intracellular proteome is an interesting source for such new targets, such as neo-antigens and others, with growing interest in their application for cell-based immunotherapies. These intracellular-derived targets are peptides presented by MHC class I molecules on the cell surface of malignant cells. These disease-specific class I HLA-peptide complexes can be targeted by specific TCRs or by antibodies that mimic TCR-specificity, termed TCR-like (TCRL) antibodies. Adoptive cell transfer of TCR engineered T cells and T-cell-receptor-like based CAR-T cells, targeted against a peptide-MHC of interest, are currently tested as cancer therapeutic agents in pre-clinical and clinical trials, along with soluble TCR- and TCRL-based agents, such as immunotoxins and bi-specific T cell engagers. Targeting the intracellular proteome using TCRL- and TCR-based molecules shows promising results in cancer immunotherapy, as exemplified by the success of the anti-gp100/HLA-A2 TCR-based T cell engager, recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma. This review is focused on the selection and isolation processes of TCR- and TCRL-based targeting moieties, with a spotlight on pre-clinical and clinical studies, examining peptide-MHC targeting agents in cancer immunotherapy.
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12
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Inflammatory Cytokines That Enhance Antigen Responsiveness of Naïve CD8 + T Lymphocytes Modulate Chromatin Accessibility of Genes Impacted by Antigen Stimulation. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232214122. [PMID: 36430600 PMCID: PMC9698886 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232214122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Naïve CD8+ T lymphocytes exposed to certain inflammatory cytokines undergo proliferation and display increased sensitivity to antigens. Such 'cytokine priming' can promote the activation of potentially autoreactive and antitumor CD8+ T cells by weak tissue antigens and tumor antigens. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of cytokine priming, naïve PMEL-1 TCR transgenic CD8+ T lymphocytes were stimulated with IL-15 and IL-21, and chromatin accessibility was assessed using the assay for transposase-accessible chromatin (ATAC) sequencing. PMEL-1 cells stimulated by the cognate antigenic peptide mgp10025-33 served as controls. Cytokine-primed cells showed a limited number of opening and closing chromatin accessibility peaks compared to antigen-stimulated cells. However, the ATACseq peaks in cytokine-primed cells substantially overlapped with those of antigen-stimulated cells and mapped to several genes implicated in T cell signaling, activation, effector differentiation, negative regulation and exhaustion. Nonetheless, the expression of most of these genes was remarkably different between cytokine-primed and antigen-stimulated cells. In addition, cytokine priming impacted the expression of several genes following antigen stimulation in a synergistic or antagonistic manner. Our findings indicate that chromatin accessibility changes in cytokine-primed naïve CD8+ T cells not only underlie their increased antigen responsiveness but may also enhance their functional fitness by reducing exhaustion without compromising regulatory controls.
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13
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Vazquez-Lombardi R, Jung JS, Schlatter FS, Mei A, Mantuano NR, Bieberich F, Hong KL, Kucharczyk J, Kapetanovic E, Aznauryan E, Weber CR, Zippelius A, Läubli H, Reddy ST. High-throughput T cell receptor engineering by functional screening identifies candidates with enhanced potency and specificity. Immunity 2022; 55:1953-1966.e10. [PMID: 36174557 DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2022.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
A major challenge in adoptive T cell immunotherapy is the discovery of natural T cell receptors (TCRs) with high activity and specificity to tumor antigens. Engineering synthetic TCRs for increased tumor antigen recognition is complicated by the risk of introducing cross-reactivity and by the poor correlation that can exist between binding affinity and activity of TCRs in response to antigen (peptide-MHC). Here, we developed TCR-Engine, a method combining genome editing, computational design, and deep sequencing to engineer the functional activity and specificity of TCRs on the surface of a human T cell line at high throughput. We applied TCR-Engine to successfully engineer synthetic TCRs for increased potency and specificity to a clinically relevant tumor-associated antigen (MAGE-A3) and validated their translational potential through multiple in vitro and in vivo assessments of safety and efficacy. Thus, TCR-Engine represents a valuable technology for engineering of safe and potent synthetic TCRs for immunotherapy applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Vazquez-Lombardi
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland; Engimmune Therapeutics AG, Hegenheimermattweg 167A, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland.
| | - Johanna S Jung
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Fabrice S Schlatter
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Anna Mei
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Florian Bieberich
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Kai-Lin Hong
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Jakub Kucharczyk
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Edo Kapetanovic
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Erik Aznauryan
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Cédric R Weber
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Alfred Zippelius
- Department of Biomedicine, Universitätsspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Heinz Läubli
- Department of Biomedicine, Universitätsspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Sai T Reddy
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
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14
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Kim GB, Fritsche J, Bunk S, Mahr A, Unverdorben F, Tosh K, Kong H, Maldini CR, Lau C, Srivatsa S, Jiang S, Glover J, Dopkin D, Zhang CX, Schuster H, Kowalewski DJ, Goldfinger V, Ott M, Fuhrmann D, Baues M, Boesmueller H, Schraeder C, Schimmack G, Song C, Hoffgaard F, Roemer M, Tsou CC, Hofmann M, Treiber T, Hutt M, Alten L, Jaworski M, Alpert A, Missel S, Reinhardt C, Singh H, Schoor O, Walter S, Wagner C, Maurer D, Weinschenk T, Riley JL. Quantitative immunopeptidomics reveals a tumor stroma-specific target for T cell therapy. Sci Transl Med 2022; 14:eabo6135. [PMID: 36044599 PMCID: PMC10130759 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abo6135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
T cell receptor (TCR)-based immunotherapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of patients with solid cancers. Identifying peptide-human leukocyte antigen (pHLA) complexes highly presented on tumors and rarely expressed on healthy tissue in combination with high-affinity TCRs that when introduced into T cells can redirect T cells to eliminate tumor but not healthy tissue is a key requirement for safe and efficacious TCR-based therapies. To discover promising shared tumor antigens that could be targeted via TCR-based adoptive T cell therapy, we employed population-scale immunopeptidomics using quantitative mass spectrometry across ~1500 tumor and normal tissue samples. We identified an HLA-A*02:01-restricted pan-cancer epitope within the collagen type VI α-3 (COL6A3) gene that is highly presented on tumor stroma across multiple solid cancers due to a tumor-specific alternative splicing event that rarely occurs outside the tumor microenvironment. T cells expressing natural COL6A3-specific TCRs demonstrated only modest activity against cells presenting high copy numbers of COL6A3 pHLAs. One of these TCRs was affinity-enhanced, enabling transduced T cells to specifically eliminate tumors in vivo that expressed similar copy numbers of pHLAs as primary tumor specimens. The enhanced TCR variants exhibited a favorable safety profile with no detectable off-target reactivity, paving the way to initiate clinical trials using COL6A3-specific TCRs to target an array of solid tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gloria B Kim
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jens Fritsche
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Sebastian Bunk
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Andrea Mahr
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Felix Unverdorben
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Kevin Tosh
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Hong Kong
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Colby R Maldini
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Chui Lau
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Sriram Srivatsa
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Shuguang Jiang
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Joshua Glover
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Derek Dopkin
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Carolyn X Zhang
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Heiko Schuster
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Daniel J Kowalewski
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | | | - Martina Ott
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - David Fuhrmann
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Maike Baues
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Hans Boesmueller
- Institute of Pathology and Neuropathology, Eberhard Karls University, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Christoph Schraeder
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Gisela Schimmack
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Colette Song
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Franziska Hoffgaard
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Michael Roemer
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Chih-Chiang Tsou
- Immatics US, 2201 W. Holcombe Blvd., Suite 205, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Martin Hofmann
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Treiber
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Meike Hutt
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Leonie Alten
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Maike Jaworski
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Amir Alpert
- Immatics US, 2201 W. Holcombe Blvd., Suite 205, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Sarah Missel
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Carsten Reinhardt
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Harpreet Singh
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.,Immatics US, 2201 W. Holcombe Blvd., Suite 205, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Oliver Schoor
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Steffen Walter
- Immatics US, 2201 W. Holcombe Blvd., Suite 205, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Claudia Wagner
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Dominik Maurer
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Toni Weinschenk
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 15, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.,Immatics US, 2201 W. Holcombe Blvd., Suite 205, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - James L Riley
- Department of Microbiology, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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15
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Purcarea A, Jarosch S, Barton J, Grassmann S, Pachmayr L, D'Ippolito E, Hammel M, Hochholzer A, Wagner KI, van den Berg JH, Buchholz VR, Haanen JBAG, Busch DH, Schober K. Signatures of recent activation identify a circulating T cell compartment containing tumor-specific antigen receptors with high avidity. Sci Immunol 2022; 7:eabm2077. [PMID: 35960818 DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abm2077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
T cell receptor (TCR) avidity is assumed to be a major determinant of the spatiotemporal fate and protective capacity of tumor-specific T cells. However, monitoring polyclonal T cell responses with known TCR avidities in vivo over space and time remains challenging. Here, we investigated the fate and functionality of tumor neoantigen-specific T cells with TCRs of distinct avidities in a well-established, reductionist preclinical tumor model and human patients with melanoma. To this end, we used polyclonal T cell transfers with in-depth characterized TCRs together with flow cytometric phenotyping in mice inoculated with MC38 OVA tumors. Transfer of T cells from retrogenic mice harboring TCRs with high avidity resulted in best tumor protection. Unexpectedly, we found that both high- and low-avidity T cells are similarly abundant within the tumor and adopt concordant phenotypic signs of exhaustion. Outside the tumor, high-avidity TCR T cells were not generally overrepresented but, instead, selectively enriched in T cell populations with intermediate PD-1 protein expression. Single-cell sequencing of neoantigen-specific T cells from two patients with melanoma-combined with transgenic reexpression of identified TCRs by CRISPR-Cas9-mediated orthotopic TCR replacement-revealed high-functionality TCRs to be enriched in T cells with RNA signatures of recent activation. Furthermore, of 130 surface protein candidates, PD-1 surface expression was most consistently enriched in functional TCRs. Together, our findings show that tumor-reactive TCRs with high protective capacity circulating in peripheral blood are characterized by a signature of recent activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Purcarea
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Sebastian Jarosch
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Jack Barton
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Simon Grassmann
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Ludwig Pachmayr
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Elvira D'Ippolito
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Monika Hammel
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Anna Hochholzer
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Karolin I Wagner
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | | | - Veit R Buchholz
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - John B A G Haanen
- Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Dirk H Busch
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich, Germany.,Focus Group "Clinical Cell Processing and Purification", Institute for Advanced Study, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Kilian Schober
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany.,Mikrobiologisches Institut-Klinische Mikrobiologie, Immunologie, und Hygiene, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
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16
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Baumgaertner P, Schmidt J, Costa-Nunes CM, Bordry N, Guillaume P, Luescher I, Speiser DE, Rufer N, Hebeisen M. CD8 T cell function and cross-reactivity explored by stepwise increased peptide-HLA versus TCR affinity. Front Immunol 2022; 13:973986. [PMID: 36032094 PMCID: PMC9399405 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.973986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Recruitment and activation of CD8 T cells occur through specific triggering of T cell receptor (TCR) by peptide-bound human leucocyte antigen (HLA) ligands. Within the generated trimeric TCR-peptide:HLA complex, the molecular binding affinities between peptide and HLA, and between TCR and peptide:HLA both impact T cell functional outcomes. However, how their individual and combined effects modulate immunogenicity and overall T cell responsiveness has not been investigated systematically. Here, we established two panels of human tumor peptide variants differing in their affinity to HLA. For precise characterization, we developed the “blue peptide assay”, an upgraded cell-based approach to measure the peptide:HLA affinity. These peptide variants were then used to investigate the cross-reactivity of tumor antigen-specific CD8 T cell clonotypes derived from blood of cancer patients after vaccination with either the native or an affinity-optimized Melan-A/MART-1 epitope, or isolated from tumor infiltrated lymph nodes (TILNs). Vaccines containing the native tumor epitope generated T cells with better functionality, and superior cross-reactivity against potential low affinity escape epitopes, as compared to T cells induced by vaccines containing an HLA affinity-optimized epitope. Comparatively, Melan-A/MART-1-specific TILN cells displayed functional and cross-reactive profiles that were heterogeneous and clonotype-dependent. Finally, we took advantage of a collection of T cells expressing affinity-optimized NY-ESO-1-specific TCRs to interrogate the individual and combined impact of peptide:HLA and TCR-pHLA affinities on overall CD8 T cell responses. We found profound and distinct effects of both biophysical parameters, with additive contributions and absence of hierarchical dominance. Altogether, the biological impact of peptide:HLA and TCR-pHLA affinities on T cell responses was carefully dissected in two antigenic systems, frequently targeted in human cancer immunotherapy. Our technology and stepwise comparison open new insights into the rational design and selection of vaccine-associated tumor-specific epitopes and highlight the functional and cross-reactivity profiles that endow T cells with best tumor control capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Baumgaertner
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Michael Hebeisen, ; Petra Baumgaertner,
| | - Julien Schmidt
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Carla-Marisa Costa-Nunes
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Natacha Bordry
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Philippe Guillaume
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Immanuel Luescher
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Daniel E. Speiser
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Nathalie Rufer
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Michael Hebeisen
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch - University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Michael Hebeisen, ; Petra Baumgaertner,
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17
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Ashby JF, Schmidt J, Kc N, Kurum A, Koch C, Harari A, Tang L, Au SH. Microfluidic T Cell Selection by Cellular Avidity. Adv Healthc Mater 2022; 11:e2200169. [PMID: 35657072 DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202200169] [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: 02/02/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
No T cell receptor (TCR) T cell therapies have obtained clinical approval. The lack of strategies capable of selecting and recovering potent T cell candidates may be a contributor to this. Existing protocols for selecting TCR T cell clones for cell therapies such as peptide multimer methods have provided effective measurements on TCR affinities. However, these methods lack the ability to measure the collective strength of intercellular interactions (i.e., cellular avidity) and markers of T cell activation such as immunological synapse formation. This study describes a novel microfluidic fluid shear stress-based approach to identify and recover highly potent T cell clones based on the cellular avidity between living T cells and tumor cells. This approach is capable of probing approximately up to 10 000 T cell-tumor cell interactions per run and can recover potent T cells with up to 100% purity from mixed populations of T cells within 30 min. Markers of cytotoxicity, activation, and avidity persist when recovered high cellular avidity T cells are subsequently exposed to fresh tumor cells. These results demonstrate how microfluidic probing of cellular avidity may fast track the therapeutic T cell selection process and move the authors closer to precision cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian F Ashby
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Julien Schmidt
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1066, Switzerland
| | - Neelima Kc
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Armand Kurum
- Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
| | - Caroline Koch
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Alexandre Harari
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1066, Switzerland
| | - Li Tang
- Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland.,Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
| | - Sam H Au
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.,Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
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18
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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: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [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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19
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Egan JR, Abu-Shah E, Dushek O, Elliott T, MacArthur BD. Fluctuations in T cell receptor and pMHC interactions regulate T cell activation. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20210589. [PMID: 35135295 PMCID: PMC8833104 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0589] [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] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptive immune responses depend on interactions between T cell receptors (TCRs) and peptide major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) ligands located on the surface of T cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs), respectively. As TCRs and pMHCs are often only present at low copy numbers their interactions are inherently stochastic, yet the role of stochastic fluctuations on T cell function is unclear. Here, we introduce a minimal stochastic model of T cell activation that accounts for serial TCR-pMHC engagement, reversible TCR conformational change and TCR aggregation. Analysis of this model indicates that it is not the strength of binding between the T cell and the APC cell per se that elicits an immune response, but rather the information imparted to the T cell from the encounter, as assessed by the entropy rate of the TCR-pMHC binding dynamics. This view provides an information-theoretic interpretation of T cell activation that explains a range of experimental observations. Based on this analysis, we propose that effective T cell therapeutics may be enhanced by optimizing the inherent stochasticity of TCR-pMHC binding dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph R Egan
- Mathematical Sciences, Stem Cells and Regeneration, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.,Institute for Life Sciences, Stem Cells and Regeneration, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.,Centre for Cancer Immunology, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.,Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Enas Abu-Shah
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK.,Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7FY, UK
| | - Omer Dushek
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Tim Elliott
- Institute for Life Sciences, Stem Cells and Regeneration, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.,Centre for Cancer Immunology, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.,Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Ben D MacArthur
- Mathematical Sciences, Stem Cells and Regeneration, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.,Institute for Life Sciences, Stem Cells and Regeneration, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.,Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.,Alan Turing Institute, London NW1 2DB, UK
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20
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Jammes F, Schmidt J, Coukos G, Maerkl SJ. High-Throughput Single-Cell TCR-pMHC Dissociation Rate Measurements Performed by an Autonomous Microfluidic Cellular Processing Unit. ACS Sens 2022; 7:159-165. [PMID: 35006683 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.1c01935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We developed an integrated microfluidic cellular processing unit (mCPU) capable of autonomously isolating single cells and performing measurements and on-the-fly analysis of cell-surface dissociation rates, followed by recovery of selected cells. We performed proof-of-concept, high-throughput single-cell experiments characterizing pMHC-TCR interactions on live CD8+ T cells. The mCPU platform analyzed TCR-pMHC dissociation rates with a throughput of 50 cells per hour and hundreds of cells per run, and we demonstrate that cells can be selected, enriched, and easily recovered from the device.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien Jammes
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Julien Schmidt
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, 1066 Lausanne, & Department of Oncology University of Lausanne & University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), 1066 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - George Coukos
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, 1066 Lausanne, & Department of Oncology University of Lausanne & University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), 1066 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian J. Maerkl
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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21
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Adoptive Cellular Therapy for Multiple Myeloma Using CAR- and TCR-Transgenic T Cells: Response and Resistance. Cells 2022; 11:cells11030410. [PMID: 35159220 PMCID: PMC8834324 DOI: 10.3390/cells11030410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the substantial improvement of therapeutic approaches, multiple myeloma (MM) remains mostly incurable. However, immunotherapeutic and especially T cell-based approaches pioneered the therapeutic landscape for relapsed and refractory disease recently. Targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) on myeloma cells has been demonstrated to be highly effective not only by antibody-derived constructs but also by adoptive cellular therapies. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-transgenic T cells lead to deep, albeit mostly not durable responses with manageable side-effects in intensively pretreated patients. The spectrum of adoptive T cell-transfer covers synthetic CARs with diverse specificities as well as currently less well-established T cell receptor (TCR)-based personalized strategies. In this review, we want to focus on treatment characteristics including efficacy and safety of CAR- and TCR-transgenic T cells in MM as well as the future potential these novel therapies may have. ACT with transgenic T cells has only entered clinical trials and various engineering strategies for optimization of T cell responses are necessary to overcome therapy resistance mechanisms. We want to outline the current success in engineering CAR- and TCR-T cells, but also discuss challenges including resistance mechanisms of MM for evading T cell therapy and point out possible novel strategies.
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22
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Yan C, Ma X, Guo Z, Wei X, Han D, Zhang T, Chen X, Cao F, Dong J, Zhao G, Gao X, Wang T, Jiang Y, Wang P, Pang Q, Zhang W. Time-spatial analysis of T cell receptor repertoire in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with combined radiotherapy and PD-1 blockade. Oncoimmunology 2022; 11:2025668. [PMID: 35036077 PMCID: PMC8759588 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2022.2025668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire as a biomarker for predicting immunotherapy efficiency has been widely studied. However, its dynamics during radiotherapy combined with PD-1 blockade is little known. Using paired tumor and blood samples from the phase Ib clinical study (NCT03222440), we investigate the time-spatial TCR repertoire in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients treated with first-line definitive radiotherapy concurrently with anti-PD-1 antibody camrelizumab, and also evaluate the association between TCR repertoire and clinical outcomes. TCR sequencing was performed on tumor biopsies (n = 34, 15 pairs) and peripheral CD8+ T cells (n = 36, 18 pairs) collected at baseline and during treatment (after 40 Gy radiation and 2 rounds of camrelizumab). Whole exome sequencing was applied to estimate genomic mutations and tumor mutation burden. We show that the intratumoral TCR repertoire at baseline was correlated with tumor microenvironment and presented heterogeneity inter-individually. T-cell clones inflowed mutually between tumors and peripheral blood under combination treatment, resulting in an elevation of intratumoral TCR diversity. The peripheral CD8+ TCR diversity at baseline, increased tumor-peripheral Morisita-Horn overlap during treatment, and expansion of persistent intratumoral T-cell clones during treatment predicted improved survival. While it is unclear whether radiation contributed to the TCR changes versus PD-1 therapy alone, our results firstly reveal radiotherapy combined with PD-1 blockade greatly promoted time-spatial alteration of TCR repertoire between tumor and peripheral blood, which demonstrate the peripheral CD8+ TCR diversity at baseline and dynamic alteration of intratumoral TCRs acted as potential effective biomarkers of radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy in ESCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cihui Yan
- Department of Immunology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiaoxue Ma
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Zhoubo Guo
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiaoying Wei
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Dong Han
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Tian Zhang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Xi Chen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Fuliang Cao
- Department of Endoscopy Diagnosis and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Jie Dong
- Department of Nutrition Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Gang Zhao
- Department of Pathology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Xuan Gao
- Department of Translational Medicine, GenePlus-Shenzhen Clinical Laboratory, ShenZhen, China
| | - Tao Wang
- Department of R&D, Hangzhou Repugene Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yao Jiang
- Clinical Research & Development, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd, Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China
| | - Ping Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Qingsong Pang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Wencheng Zhang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China
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23
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Schmidt J, Smith AR, Magnin M, Racle J, Devlin JR, Bobisse S, Cesbron J, Bonnet V, Carmona SJ, Huber F, Ciriello G, Speiser DE, Bassani-Sternberg M, Coukos G, Baker BM, Harari A, Gfeller D. Prediction of neo-epitope immunogenicity reveals TCR recognition determinants and provides insight into immunoediting. CELL REPORTS MEDICINE 2021; 2:100194. [PMID: 33665637 PMCID: PMC7897774 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
CD8+ T cell recognition of peptide epitopes plays a central role in immune responses against pathogens and tumors. However, the rules that govern which peptides are truly recognized by existing T cell receptors (TCRs) remain poorly understood, precluding accurate predictions of neo-epitopes for cancer immunotherapy. Here, we capitalize on recent (neo-)epitope data to train a predictor of immunogenic epitopes (PRIME), which captures molecular properties of both antigen presentation and TCR recognition. PRIME not only improves prioritization of neo-epitopes but also correlates with T cell potency and unravels biophysical determinants of TCR recognition that we experimentally validate. Analysis of cancer genomics data reveals that recurrent mutations tend to be less frequent in patients where they are predicted to be immunogenic, providing further evidence for immunoediting in human cancer. PRIME will facilitate identification of pathogen epitopes in infectious diseases and neo-epitopes in cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Schmidt
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Angela R Smith
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | - Morgane Magnin
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Julien Racle
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jason R Devlin
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | - Sara Bobisse
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Julien Cesbron
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Santiago J Carmona
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Florian Huber
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Giovanni Ciriello
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland.,Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Daniel E Speiser
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michal Bassani-Sternberg
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - George Coukos
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Brian M Baker
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | - Alexandre Harari
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - David Gfeller
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
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24
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Wu L, Zhu J, Rudqvist NP, Welsh J, Lee P, Liao Z, Xu T, Jiang M, Zhu X, Pan X, Li P, Zhou Z, He X, Yin R, Feng J. T-Cell Receptor Profiling and Prognosis After Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy For Stage I Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Front Immunol 2021; 12:719285. [PMID: 34733273 PMCID: PMC8559517 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.719285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Radiotherapy is known to influence immune function, including T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. We evaluated the TCR repertoire before and after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and explored correlations between TCR indexes and distant failure after SBRT. TCR repertoires were analyzed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected before and after SBRT from 19 patients. TCR combinational diversity in V and J genes was assessed with multiplex PCR of genomic DNA from PBMCs and tested for associations with clinical response. All patients received definitive SBRT to a biologically effective dose of >=100 Gy. The number of unique TCR clones was decreased after SBRT versus before, but clonality and the Shannon Entropy did not change. Four patients (21%) developed distant metastases after SBRT (median 7 months); those patients had lower Shannon Entropy in post-SBRT samples than patients without metastasis. Patients with a low change in Shannon Entropy from before to after SBRT [(post-SBRT Shannon Entropy minus baseline Shannon)/(baseline Shannon) * 100] had poorer metastasis-free survival than those with high change in Shannon Entropy (P<0.001). Frequencies in V/J gene fragment expression in the TCR β chain were also different for patients with or without metastases (two V fragments in baseline samples and 2 J and 9 V fragments in post-treatment samples). This comprehensive analysis of immune status before and after SBRT showed that quantitative assessments of TCRs can help evaluate prognosis in early-stage NSCLC.
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MESH Headings
- Aged
- Aged, 80 and over
- Biomarkers
- Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/diagnosis
- Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/genetics
- Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/mortality
- Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/radiotherapy
- Female
- Gene Expression Profiling
- High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
- Humans
- Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis
- Lung Neoplasms/genetics
- Lung Neoplasms/mortality
- Lung Neoplasms/radiotherapy
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Neoplasm Staging
- Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
- Prognosis
- ROC Curve
- Radiosurgery
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/genetics
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/metabolism
- Tomography, X-Ray Computed
- V(D)J Recombination
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Affiliation(s)
- Lirong Wu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jun Zhu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Nils-Petter Rudqvist
- Department of Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Immunology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - James Welsh
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Percy Lee
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Zhongxing Liao
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Ting Xu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Ming Jiang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiangzhi Zhu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xuan Pan
- Department of Medical Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Pansong Li
- Department of Scientific Research, Geneplus-Beijing Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Zhipeng Zhou
- Department of Scientific Research, Geneplus-Beijing Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Xia He
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Xia He, ; Rong Yin, ; Jifeng Feng,
| | - Rong Yin
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Biobank of Clinical Resources, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Xia He, ; Rong Yin, ; Jifeng Feng,
| | - Jifeng Feng
- Department of Medical Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Xia He, ; Rong Yin, ; Jifeng Feng,
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25
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Jost C, Darowski D, Challier J, Pulko V, Hanisch LJ, Xu W, Mössner E, Bujotzek A, Klostermann S, Umana P, Kontermann RE, Klein C. CAR-J cells for antibody discovery and lead optimization of TCR-like immunoglobulins. MAbs 2020; 12:1840709. [PMID: 33136521 PMCID: PMC7646475 DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2020.1840709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
T-cell bispecific antibodies (TCBs) are a novel class of engineered immunoglobulins that unite monovalent binding to the T-cell receptor (TCR) CD3e chain and bivalent binding to tumor-associated antigens in order to recruit and activate T-cells for tumor cell killing. In vivo, T-cell activation is usually initiated via the interaction of the TCR with the peptide-HLA complex formed by the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and peptides derived from intracellular proteins. TCR-like antibodies (TCRLs) that recognize pHLA-epitopes extend the target space of TCBs to peptides derived from intracellular proteins, such as those overexpressed during oncogenesis or created via mutations found in cancer. One challenge during lead identification of TCRL-TCBs is to identify TCRLs that specifically, and ideally exclusively, recognize the desired pHLA, but not unrelated pHLAs. In order to identify TCRLs suitable for TCRL-TCBs, large numbers of TCRLs have to be tested in the TCB format. Here, we propose a novel approach using chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to facilitate the identification of highly selective TCRLs. In this new so-called TCRL-CAR-J approach, TCRL-candidates are transduced as CARs into Jurkat reporter-cells, and subsequently assessed for their specificity profile. This work demonstrates that the CAR-J reporter-cell assay can be applied to predict the profile of TCRL-TCBs without the need to produce each candidate in the final TCB format. It is therefore useful in streamlining the identification of TCRL-TCBs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Jost
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland.,Athebio AG , Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Diana Darowski
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - John Challier
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Vesna Pulko
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Lydia J Hanisch
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Wei Xu
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Ekkehard Mössner
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Bujotzek
- Roche Innovation Center Munich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Penzberg, Germany
| | - Stefan Klostermann
- Roche Innovation Center Munich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Penzberg, Germany
| | - Pablo Umana
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland
| | | | - Christian Klein
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development , Schlieren, Switzerland
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26
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Maeda T, Nagano S, Kashima S, Terada K, Agata Y, Ichise H, Ohtaka M, Nakanishi M, Fujiki F, Sugiyama H, Kitawaki T, Kadowaki N, Takaori-Kondo A, Masuda K, Kawamoto H. Regeneration of Tumor-Antigen-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes from iPSCs Transduced with Exogenous TCR Genes. MOLECULAR THERAPY-METHODS & CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT 2020; 19:250-260. [PMID: 33102617 PMCID: PMC7566080 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2020.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
In the current adoptive T cell therapy, T cells from a patient are given back to that patient after ex vivo activation, expansion, or genetic manipulation. However, such strategy depends on the quality of the patient’s T cells, sometimes leading to treatment failure. It would therefore be ideal to use allogeneic T cells as “off-the-shelf” T cells. To this aim, we have been developing a strategy where potent tumor-antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are regenerated from T-cell-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (T-iPSCs). However, certain issues still remain that make it difficult to establish highly potent T-iPSCs: poor reprogramming efficiency of T cells into iPSCs and high variability in the differentiation capability of each T-iPSC clone. To expand the versatility of this approach, we thought of a method to produce iPSCs equivalent to T-iPSCs, namely, iPSCs transduced with exogenous T cell receptor (TCR) genes (TCR-iPSCs). To test this idea, we first cloned TCR genes from WT1-specific CTLs regenerated from T-iPSCs and then established WT1-TCR-iPSCs. We show that the regenerated CTLs from TCR-iPSCs exerted cytotoxic activity comparable to those from T-iPSCs against WT1 peptide-loaded cell line in in vitro model. These results collectively demonstrate the feasibility of the TCR-iPSC strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takuya Maeda
- Laboratory of Immunology, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.,Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Seiji Nagano
- Laboratory of Immunology, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.,Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Soki Kashima
- Laboratory of Immunology, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.,Department of Urology, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita 010-8543, Japan
| | - Koji Terada
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan
| | - Yasutoshi Agata
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Ichise
- Laboratory of Immunology, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Manami Ohtaka
- Biotechnology Research Institute for Drug Discovery, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan
| | - Mahito Nakanishi
- Biotechnology Research Institute for Drug Discovery, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan
| | - Fumihiro Fujiki
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Haruo Sugiyama
- Department of Cancer Immunology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Toshio Kitawaki
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Norimitsu Kadowaki
- Division of Hematology, Rheumatology and Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan
| | - Akifumi Takaori-Kondo
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Kyoko Masuda
- Laboratory of Immunology, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Kawamoto
- Laboratory of Immunology, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
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27
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Rath JA, Bajwa G, Carreres B, Hoyer E, Gruber I, Martínez-Paniagua MA, Yu YR, Nouraee N, Sadeghi F, Wu M, Wang T, Hebeisen M, Rufer N, Varadarajan N, Ho PC, Brenner MK, Gfeller D, Arber C. Single-cell transcriptomics identifies multiple pathways underlying antitumor function of TCR- and CD8αβ-engineered human CD4 + T cells. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaaz7809. [PMID: 32923584 PMCID: PMC7455496 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz7809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Transgenic coexpression of a class I-restricted tumor antigen-specific T cell receptor (TCR) and CD8αβ (TCR8) redirects antigen specificity of CD4+ T cells. Reinforcement of biophysical properties and early TCR signaling explain how redirected CD4+ T cells recognize target cells, but the transcriptional basis for their acquired antitumor function remains elusive. We, therefore, interrogated redirected human CD4+ and CD8+ T cells by single-cell RNA sequencing and characterized them experimentally in bulk and single-cell assays and a mouse xenograft model. TCR8 expression enhanced CD8+ T cell function and preserved less differentiated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells after tumor challenge. TCR8+CD4+ T cells were most potent by activating multiple transcriptional programs associated with enhanced antitumor function. We found sustained activation of cytotoxicity, costimulation, oxidative phosphorylation- and proliferation-related genes, and simultaneously reduced differentiation and exhaustion. Our study identifies molecular features of TCR8 expression that can guide the development of enhanced immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan A. Rath
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Gagan Bajwa
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Benoit Carreres
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Elisabeth Hoyer
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Isabelle Gruber
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Yi-Ru Yu
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nazila Nouraee
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Fatemeh Sadeghi
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mengfen Wu
- Biostatistics Shared Resource, Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Tao Wang
- Biostatistics Shared Resource, Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Michael Hebeisen
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nathalie Rufer
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Navin Varadarajan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, TX, USA
| | - Ping-Chih Ho
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Malcolm K. Brenner
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - David Gfeller
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Caroline Arber
- Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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28
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Rath JA, Arber C. Engineering Strategies to Enhance TCR-Based Adoptive T Cell Therapy. Cells 2020; 9:E1485. [PMID: 32570906 PMCID: PMC7349724 DOI: 10.3390/cells9061485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 06/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
T cell receptor (TCR)-based adoptive T cell therapies (ACT) hold great promise for the treatment of cancer, as TCRs can cover a broad range of target antigens. Here we summarize basic, translational and clinical results that provide insight into the challenges and opportunities of TCR-based ACT. We review the characteristics of target antigens and conventional αβ-TCRs, and provide a summary of published clinical trials with TCR-transgenic T cell therapies. We discuss how synthetic biology and innovative engineering strategies are poised to provide solutions for overcoming current limitations, that include functional avidity, MHC restriction, and most importantly, the tumor microenvironment. We also highlight the impact of precision genome editing on the next iteration of TCR-transgenic T cell therapies, and the discovery of novel immune engineering targets. We are convinced that some of these innovations will enable the field to move TCR gene therapy to the next level.
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MESH Headings
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cell Engineering
- Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy/adverse effects
- Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy/methods
- Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy/trends
- Gene Editing
- Genetic Therapy
- Humans
- Immunotherapy, Adoptive/adverse effects
- Immunotherapy, Adoptive/methods
- Immunotherapy, Adoptive/trends
- Lymphocyte Activation
- Molecular Targeted Therapy
- Neoplasms/genetics
- Neoplasms/immunology
- Neoplasms/therapy
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/genetics
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/immunology
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta/genetics
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta/immunology
- Safety
- Synthetic Biology
- T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes/transplantation
- Translational Research, Biomedical
- Tumor Microenvironment/genetics
- Tumor Microenvironment/immunology
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Caroline Arber
- Department of oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
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29
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Schober K, Müller TR, Busch DH. Orthotopic T-Cell Receptor Replacement-An "Enabler" for TCR-Based Therapies. Cells 2020; 9:E1367. [PMID: 32492858 PMCID: PMC7348731 DOI: 10.3390/cells9061367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural adaptive immunity co-evolved with pathogens over millions of years, and adoptive transfer of non-engineered T cells to fight infections or cancer so far exhibits an exceptionally safe and functional therapeutic profile in clinical trials. However, the personalized nature of therapies using virus-specific T cells, donor lymphocyte infusion, or tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes makes implementation in routine clinical care difficult. In principle, genetic engineering can be used to make T-cell therapies more broadly applicable, but so far it significantly alters the physiology of cells. We recently demonstrated that orthotopic T-cell receptor (TCR) replacement (OTR) by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/ CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) can be used to generate engineered T cells with preservation of near-physiological function. In this review, we present the current status of OTR technology development and discuss its potential for TCR-based therapies. By providing the means to combine the therapeutic efficacy and safety profile of physiological T cells with the versatility of cell engineering, OTR can serve as an "enabler" for TCR-based therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kilian Schober
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany;
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany
| | - Thomas R. Müller
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany;
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany
| | - Dirk H. Busch
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), 81675 Munich, Germany;
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany
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30
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Hoffmann MM, Slansky JE. T-cell receptor affinity in the age of cancer immunotherapy. Mol Carcinog 2020; 59:862-870. [PMID: 32386086 DOI: 10.1002/mc.23212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The strength of the interaction between T-cell receptors (TCRs) and their ligands, peptide/major histocompatibility complex complexes (pMHCs), is one of the most frequently discussed and investigated features of T cells in immuno-oncology today. Although there are many molecules on the surface of T cells that interact with ligands on other cells, the TCR/pMHC is the only receptor-ligand pair that offers antigen specificity and dictates the functional response of the T cell. The strength of the TCR/pMHC interaction, along with the environment in which this interaction takes place, is key to how the T cell will respond. The TCR repertoire of T cells that interact with tumor-associated antigens is vast, although typically of low affinity. Here, we focus on the low-affinity interactions between TCRs from CD8+ T cells and different models used in immuno-oncology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele M Hoffmann
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado
| | - Jill E Slansky
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado
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31
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Luo XH, Meng Q, Liu Z, Paraschoudi G. Generation of high-affinity CMV-specific T cells for adoptive immunotherapy using IL-2, IL-15, and IL-21. Clin Immunol 2020; 217:108456. [PMID: 32376504 DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2020.108456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2019] [Revised: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 04/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection remains a life-threatening condition in individuals with a suppressed immune system. CMV may also represent a clinically relevant target for immune responses in CMV-positive malignancies. We established a protocol to expand CMV-specific T cells (CMV-T) using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). PBMCs from 16 HLA-A*0201 donors were cultured with a cytokine cocktail comprising IL-2/IL-15/IL-21 along with overlapping peptides from CMV-pp65. Ten days later, T cells were stimulated with anti-CD3 (OKT3) and irradiated autologous PBMCs. CMV-T were detected by HLA-A*0201 CMV-pp65NLVPMVATV wild type and q226a mutant tetramers (for high-affinity T cells), intracellular cytokine staining, a CD107a mobilization assays as well as IFN-γ and TNF-α production in cell culture supernatants. We reliably obtained 50.25 ± 27.27% of CD8+ and 22.08 ± 21.83% of CD4+ T cells post-CMV-pp65 stimulation of PBMCs with a Th1-polarized phenotype and decreased Th2/Th17 responses. Most CD3 + CD8 + tetramer+ T cells were effector-memory cells, particularly among high-affinity CMV-T (q226a CMV-tetramer+). High-affinity CMV-T cells, compared to WT-tetramer+ cells, expressed higher IL-21R and lower FasL post-stimulation with CMV-pp65. The IL-2/IL-15/IL-21 cocktail also promoted CCR6 and CXCR3 expression necessary for T-cell migration into tissues. We have optimized methods for generating high-affinity CMV-specific T cells that can be used for adoptive cellular therapy in clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Hua Luo
- Therapeutic immunology unit, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 1 Youyi Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400016, China.
| | - Qingda Meng
- Therapeutic immunology unit, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Zhenjiang Liu
- Therapeutic immunology unit, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Georgia Paraschoudi
- Therapeutic immunology unit, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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32
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33
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Reverse TCR repertoire evolution toward dominant low-affinity clones during chronic CMV infection. Nat Immunol 2020; 21:434-441. [PMID: 32205883 DOI: 10.1038/s41590-020-0628-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Adaptive evolution is a key feature of T cell immunity. During acute immune responses, T cells harboring high-affinity T cell antigen receptors (TCRs) are preferentially expanded, but whether affinity maturation by clonal selection continues through the course of chronic infections remains unresolved. Here we investigated the evolution of the TCR repertoire and its affinity during the course of infection with cytomegalovirus, which elicits large T cell populations in humans and mice. Using single-cell and bulk TCR sequencing and structural affinity analyses of cytomegalovirus-specific T cells, and through the generation and in vivo monitoring of defined TCR repertoires, we found that the immunodominance of high-affinity T cell clones declined during the chronic infection phase, likely due to cellular senescence. These data showed that under conditions of chronic antigen exposure, low-affinity TCRs preferentially expanded within the TCR repertoire, with implications for immunotherapeutic strategies.
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34
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Abstract
T cells recognize and respond to self antigens in both cancer and autoimmunity. One strategy to influence this response is to incorporate amino acid substitutions into these T cell-specific epitopes. This strategy is being reconsidered now with the goal of increasing time to regression with checkpoint blockade therapies in cancer and antigen-specific immunotherapies in autoimmunity. We discuss how these amino acid substitutions change the interactions with the MHC class I or II molecule and the responding T cell repertoire. Amino acid substitutions in epitopes that are the most effective in therapies bind more strongly to T cell receptor and/or MHC molecules and cross-react with the same repertoire of T cells as the natural antigen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill E Slansky
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 E. 19thAvenue, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
| | - Maki Nakayama
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 E. 19thAvenue, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 1775 Aurora Court, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
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35
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Christophersen A. Peptide-MHC class I and class II tetramers: From flow to mass cytometry. HLA 2020; 95:169-178. [PMID: 31891448 DOI: 10.1111/tan.13789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
To develop better vaccines and more targeted treatments for cancer and autoimmune disorders, the disease-specific T cells and their cognate antigens need to be better characterized. For more than two decades, peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) tetramers and flow cytometry have been the gold standard for detection of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells specific to antigens in the context of MHC class I and class II, respectively. Nonetheless, more recent studies combining such reagents with mass cytometry, that is, cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF), have offered far more comprehensive profiling of antigen-specific T-cell responses. In addition, mass cytometry has enabled ex vivo screening of CD8+ T-cell reactivities against hundreds of MHC class I restricted candidate epitopes. MHC class II molecules, on the other hand, have been challenging to combine with mass cytometry as they are more complex and bind with lower affinities to cognate T-cell receptors than MHC class I molecules. In this review, I discuss how techniques originally developed to improve the staining capacity of pMHC tetramers in flow cytometry led to the successful combination of such reagents with mass cytometry. Especially, I will highlight very recent advances facilitating the combination with pMHC class II tetramers. Together, these mass cytometry-based studies can help develop more targeted treatments for cancer and autoimmune disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asbjørn Christophersen
- KG Jebsen Coeliac Disease Research Centre, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.,Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.,Department of Immunology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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36
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Li Z, Gong H, Liu Q, Wu W, Cheng J, Mei Y, Chen Y, Zheng H, Yu X, Zhong S, Li Y. Identification of an HLA-A*24:02-restricted α-fetoprotein signal peptide-derived antigen and its specific T-cell receptor for T-cell immunotherapy. Immunology 2020; 159:384-392. [PMID: 31849039 DOI: 10.1111/imm.13168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Revised: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer with limited treatments. Asia has the highest HCC incidence rates; China accounts for over 50% of all HCC cases worldwide. T-cell receptor (TCR) -engineered T-cell immunotherapies specific for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) -A*02:01-restricted α-fetoprotein (AFP) peptide have shown encouraging results in clinics. HLA-A*24:02 is more common than HLA-A*02:01 in Asian countries, including China. Here we identified a novel HLA-A*24:02-restricted peptide KWVESIFLIF (AFP2-11 ) located in AFP signal peptide domain by mass spectrometric analysis of HLA-bound peptides from HepG2 cells. A TCR (KWV3.1) specific for AFP2-11 -HLA-A*24:02 was isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a healthy donor. The binding affinity of soluble KWV3.1 to its antigen was determined to be ~55 μm, within the affinity range of native TCRs for self-antigens. KWV3.1-transfected T cells could specifically activate and kill AFP2-11 pulsed T2-A24 cells and AFP+ HLA-A*24:02+ tumor cell lines, demonstrating that AFP2-11 can be naturally presented on the surface of AFP+ tumor cell lines. The newly identified antigenic peptide can provide a novel target for immunotherapeutic strategies for patients with AFP+ HLA-A*24:02+ HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenjuan Li
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.,Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China.,State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Haiping Gong
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Qiuping Liu
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Wanli Wu
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianting Cheng
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Yingyi Mei
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Yaolong Chen
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Hongjun Zheng
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaohong Yu
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Shi Zhong
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China
| | - Yi Li
- Guangdong Xiangxue Life Sciences, Ltd., Guangzhou, China.,State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
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37
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Carretero-Iglesia L, Couturaud B, Baumgaertner P, Schmidt J, Maby-El Hajjami H, Speiser DE, Hebeisen M, Rufer N. High Peptide Dose Vaccination Promotes the Early Selection of Tumor Antigen-Specific CD8 T-Cells of Enhanced Functional Competence. Front Immunol 2020; 10:3016. [PMID: 31969886 PMCID: PMC6960191 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.03016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
CD8 T-cell response efficiency critically depends on the TCR binding strength to peptide-MHC, i.e., the TCR binding avidity. A current challenge in onco-immunology lies in the evaluation of vaccine protocols selecting for tumor-specific T-cells of highest avidity, offering maximal immune protection against tumor cells and clinical benefit. Here, we investigated the impact of peptide and CpG/adjuvant doses on the quality of vaccine-induced CD8 T-cells in relation to binding avidity and functional responses in treated melanoma patients. Using TCR-pMHC binding avidity measurements combined to phenotype and functional assays, we performed a comprehensive study on representative tumor antigen-specific CD8 T-cell clones (n = 454) from seven patients vaccinated with different doses of Melan-A/ELA peptide (0.1 mg vs. 0.5 mg) and CpG-B adjuvant (1–1.3 mg vs. 2.6 mg). Vaccination with high peptide dose favored the early and strong in vivo expansion and differentiation of Melan-A-specific CD8 T-cells. Consistently, T-cell clones generated from those patients showed increased TCR binding avidity (i.e., slow off-rates and CD8 binding independency) readily after 4 monthly vaccine injections (4v). In contrast, the use of low peptide or high CpG-B doses required 8 monthly vaccine injections (8v) for the enrichment of anti-tumor T-cells with high TCR binding avidity and low CD8 binding dependency. Importantly, the CD8 binding-independent vaccine-induced CD8 T-cells displayed enhanced functional avidity, reaching a plateau of maximal function. Thus, T-cell functional potency following peptide/CpG/IFA vaccination may not be further improved beyond a certain TCR binding avidity limit. Our results also indicate that while high peptide dose vaccination induced the early selection of Melan-A-specific CD8 T-cells of increased functional competence, continued serial vaccinations also promoted such high-avidity T-cells. Overall, the systematic assessment of T-cell binding avidity may contribute to optimize vaccine design for improving clinical efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Carretero-Iglesia
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Barbara Couturaud
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Petra Baumgaertner
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Julien Schmidt
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Hélène Maby-El Hajjami
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Daniel E Speiser
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michael Hebeisen
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nathalie Rufer
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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38
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Han J, Duan J, Bai H, Wang Y, Wan R, Wang X, Chen S, Tian Y, Wang D, Fei K, Yao Z, Wang S, Lu Z, Wang Z, Wang J. TCR Repertoire Diversity of Peripheral PD-1 +CD8 + T Cells Predicts Clinical Outcomes after Immunotherapy in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Cancer Immunol Res 2019; 8:146-154. [PMID: 31719056 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-19-0398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 150] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 11/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
T-cell receptor (TCR)-based biomarkers might predict patient response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) but need further exploration and validation for that use. We sequenced complementarity-determining region 3 of TCRβ chains isolated from PD-1+ CD8+ T cells to investigate its value for predicting the response to anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Two independent patient cohorts (cohort A, n = 25; cohort B, n = 15) were used as discovery and validation sets, respectively. Pre- and post-ICB peripheral blood samples were collected. In cohort A, patients with high PD-1+ CD8+ TCR diversity before ICB treatment showed better response to ICB and progression-free survival (PFS) compared with patients with low diversity [6.4 months vs. 2.5 months, HR, 0.39; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.17-0.94; P = 0.021]. The results were validated in cohort B. Pre-ICB PD-1+ CD8+ TCR diversity achieved an optimal Youden's index of 0.81 (sensitivity = 0.87 and specificity = 0.94) for differentiating the ICB response in the merged dataset (cohort A plus cohort B). Patients with increased PD-1+ CD8+ TCR clonality after ICB treatment had longer PFS (7.3 months vs. 2.6 months, HR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.08-0.86; P = 0.002) than those with decreased clonality. Thus, TCR diversity and clonality in peripheral blood PD-1+ CD8+ T cells may serve as noninvasive predictors of patient response to ICB and survival outcomes in NSCLC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiefei Han
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Jianchun Duan
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Hua Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Yuqi Wang
- Geneplus-Beijing Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Rui Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Xin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Si Chen
- Geneplus-Beijing Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Yanhua Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Di Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Kailun Fei
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Zhuoran Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Shuhang Wang
- GCP Center, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Zhimin Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. .,Department of Neuro-Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Zhijie Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
| | - Jie Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
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39
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Duong MN, Erdes E, Hebeisen M, Rufer N. Chronic TCR-MHC (self)-interactions limit the functional potential of TCR affinity-increased CD8 T lymphocytes. J Immunother Cancer 2019; 7:284. [PMID: 31690351 PMCID: PMC6833194 DOI: 10.1186/s40425-019-0773-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2019] [Accepted: 10/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Affinity-optimized T cell receptor (TCR)-engineered lymphocytes targeting tumor antigens can mediate potent antitumor responses in cancer patients, but also bear substantial risks for off-target toxicities. Most preclinical studies have focused on T cell responses to antigen-specific stimulation. In contrast, little is known on the regulation of T cell responsiveness through continuous TCR triggering and consequent tonic signaling. Here, we addressed the question whether increasing the TCR affinity can lead to chronic interactions occurring directly between TCRs and MHC-(self) molecules, which may modulate the overall functional potency of tumor-redirected CD8 T cells. For this purpose, we developed two complementary human CD8 T cell models (i.e. HLA-A2 knock-in and knock-out) engineered with incremental-affinity TCRs to the HLA-A2/NY-ESO-1 tumor antigen. Methods The impact of HLA-A2 recognition, depending on TCR affinity, was assessed at the levels of the TCR/CD3 complex, regulatory receptors, and signaling, under steady-state conditions and in kinetic studies. The quality of CD8 T cell responses was further evaluated by gene expression and multiplex cytokine profiling, as well as real-time quantitative cell killing, combined with co-culture assays. Results We found that HLA-A2 per se (in absence of cognate peptide) can trigger chronic activation followed by a tolerance-like state of tumor-redirected CD8 T cells with increased-affinity TCRs. HLA-A2pos but not HLA-A2neg T cells displayed an activation phenotype, associated with enhanced upregulation of c-CBL and multiple inhibitory receptors. T cell activation preceded TCR/CD3 downmodulation, impaired TCR signaling and functional hyporesponsiveness. This stepwise activation-to-hyporesponsive state was dependent on TCR affinity and already detectable at the upper end of the physiological affinity range (KD ≤ 1 μM). Similar findings were made when affinity-increased HLA-A2neg CD8 T cells were chronically exposed to HLA-A2pos-expressing target cells. Conclusions Our observations indicate that sustained interactions between affinity-increased TCR and self-MHC can directly adjust the functional potential of T cells, even in the absence of antigen-specific stimulation. The observed tolerance-like state depends on TCR affinity and has therefore potential implications for the design of affinity-improved TCRs for adoptive T cell therapy, as several engineered TCRs currently used in clinical trials share similar affinity properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minh Ngoc Duong
- Department of oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Efe Erdes
- Department of oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Michael Hebeisen
- Department of oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland.
| | - Nathalie Rufer
- Department of oncology UNIL CHUV, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland.
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40
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Hoogi S, Eisenberg V, Mayer S, Shamul A, Barliya T, Cohen CJ. A TIGIT-based chimeric co-stimulatory switch receptor improves T-cell anti-tumor function. J Immunother Cancer 2019; 7:243. [PMID: 31500665 PMCID: PMC6734436 DOI: 10.1186/s40425-019-0721-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Tumors can employ different mechanisms to evade immune surveillance and function. Overexpression of co-inhibitory ligands that bind to checkpoint molecules on the surface of T-cells can greatly impair the function of latter. TIGIT (T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains) is such a co-inhibitory receptor expressed by T and NK cells which, upon binding to its ligand (e.g., CD155), can diminish cytokine production and effector function. Additionally, the absence of positive co-stimulation at the tumor site can further dampen T-cell response. Methods As T-cell genetic engineering has become clinically-relevant in the recent years, we devised herein a strategy aimed at enhancing T-cell anti-tumor function by diverting T-cell coinhibitory signals into positive ones using a chimeric costimulatory switch receptor (CSR) composed of the TIGIT exodomain fused to the signaling domain of CD28. Results After selecting an optimized TIGIT-28 CSR, we co-transduced it along with tumor-specific TCR or CAR into human T-cells. TIGIT-28-equipped T-cells exhibited enhanced cytokine secretion and upregulation of activation markers upon co-culture with tumor cells. TIGIT-28 enhancing capability was also demonstrated in an original in vitro model of T-cell of hypofunction induction upon repetitive antigen exposure. Finally, we tested the function of this molecule in the context of a xenograft model of established human melanoma tumors and showed that TIGIT-28-engineered human T-cells demonstrated superior anti-tumor function. Conclusion Overall, we propose that TIGIT-based CSR can substantially enhance T-cell function and thus contribute to the improvement of engineered T cell-based immunotherapy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40425-019-0721-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiran Hoogi
- The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, 52900-02, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Vasyl Eisenberg
- The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, 52900-02, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Shimrit Mayer
- The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, 52900-02, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Astar Shamul
- The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, 52900-02, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Tilda Barliya
- The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, 52900-02, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Cyrille J Cohen
- The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, 52900-02, Ramat Gan, Israel.
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41
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Docta RY, Ferronha T, Sanderson JP, Weissensteiner T, Pope GR, Bennett AD, Pumphrey NJ, Ferjentsik Z, Quinn LL, Wiedermann GE, Anderson VE, Saini M, Maroto M, Norry E, Gerry AB. Tuning T-Cell Receptor Affinity to Optimize Clinical Risk-Benefit When Targeting Alpha-Fetoprotein-Positive Liver Cancer. Hepatology 2019; 69:2061-2075. [PMID: 30561769 PMCID: PMC6593660 DOI: 10.1002/hep.30477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Accepted: 12/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have a poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is often expressed at high levels in HCC and is an established clinical biomarker of the disease. Expression of AFP in nonmalignant liver can occur, particularly in a subset of progenitor cells and during chronic inflammation, at levels typically lower than in HCC. This cancer-specific overexpression indicates that AFP may be a promising target for immunotherapy. We verified expression of AFP in normal and diseased tissue and generated an affinity-optimized T-cell receptor (TCR) with specificity to AFP/HLA-A*02+ tumors. Expression of AFP was investigated using database searches, by qPCR, and by immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis of a panel of human tissue samples, including normal, diseased, and malignant liver. Using in vitro mutagenesis and screening, we generated a TCR that recognizes the HLA-A*02-restricted AFP158-166 peptide, FMNKFIYEI, with an optimum balance of potency and specificity. These properties were confirmed by an extension of the alanine scan (X-scan) and testing TCR-transduced T cells against normal and tumor cells covering a variety of tissues, cell types, and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. Conclusion: We have used a combination of physicochemical, in silico, and cell biology methods for optimizing a TCR for improved affinity and function, with properties that are expected to allow TCR-transduced T cells to differentiate between antigen levels on nonmalignant and cancer cells. T cells transduced with this TCR constitute the basis for a trial of HCC adoptive T-cell immunotherapy.
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42
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Schober K, Buchholz VR, Busch DH. TCR repertoire evolution during maintenance of CMV-specific T-cell populations. Immunol Rev 2019; 283:113-128. [PMID: 29664573 DOI: 10.1111/imr.12654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
During infections and cancer, the composition of the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells changes over time. TCR avidity is thought to be a major driver of this process, thereby interacting with several additional regulators of T-cell responses to form a composite immune response architecture. Infections with latent viruses, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), can lead to large T-cell responses characterized by an oligoclonal TCR repertoire. Here, we review the current status of experimental studies and theoretical models of TCR repertoire evolution during CMV infection. We will particularly discuss the degree to which this process may be determined through structural TCR avidity. As engineered TCR-redirected T cells have moved into the spotlight for providing more effective immunotherapies, it is essential to understand how the key features of a given TCR influence T-cell expansion and maintenance in settings of infection or malignancy. Deeper insights into these mechanisms will improve our basic understanding of T-cell immunology and help to identify optimal TCRs for immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kilian Schober
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Veit R Buchholz
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Dirk H Busch
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany.,Focus Group 'Clinical Cell Processing and Purification', Institute for Advanced Study, TUM, Munich, Germany.,National Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich, Germany
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43
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Miller AM, Bahmanof M, Zehn D, Cohen EEW, Schoenberger SP. Leveraging TCR Affinity in Adoptive Immunotherapy against Shared Tumor/Self-Antigens. Cancer Immunol Res 2018; 7:40-49. [PMID: 30482746 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-18-0371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Revised: 09/02/2018] [Accepted: 11/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) using T-cell receptor (TCR)-engineered lymphocytes holds promise for eradication of disseminated tumors but also an inherent risk of pathologic autoimmunity if targeted antigens or antigenic mimics are expressed by normal tissues. We evaluated whether modulating TCR affinity could allow CD8+ T cells to control tumor outgrowth without inducing concomitant autoimmunity in a preclinical murine model of ACT. RIP-mOVA mice express a membrane-bound form of chicken ovalbumin (mOVA) as a self-antigen in kidney and pancreas. Such mice were implanted with OVA-expressing ID8 ovarian carcinoma cells and subsequently treated with CD8+ T lymphocytes (CTL) expressing either a high-affinity (OT-I) or low-affinity (OT-3) OVA-specific TCR. The effects on tumor growth versus organ-specific autoimmunity were subsequently monitored. High-affinity OT-I CTLs underwent activation and proliferation in both tumor-draining and pancreatic lymph nodes, leading to both rapid eradication of ID8-OVA tumors and autoimmune diabetes in all treated mice. Remarkably, the low-affinity OT-3 T cells were activated only by tumor-derived antigen and mediated transient regression of ID8-OVA tumors without concomitant autoimmunity. The OT-3 cells eventually upregulated inhibitory receptors PD-1, TIM-3, and LAG-3 and became functionally unresponsive, however, allowing the tumors in treated mice to reestablish progressive growth. Antibody-mediated blockade of the inhibitory receptors prevented exhaustion and allowed tumor clearance, but these mice also developed autoimmune diabetes. The findings reveal that low-affinity TCRs can mediate tumor regression and that functional avidity can discriminate between tumor-derived and endogenous antigen, while highlighting the risks involved in immune-checkpoint blockade on endogenous self-reactive T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron M Miller
- Laboratory of Cellular Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, California.,Division of Hematology and Oncology, UCSD Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, California
| | - Milad Bahmanof
- Laboratory of Cellular Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, California
| | - Dietmar Zehn
- Division of Animal Physiology and Immunology, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Ezra E W Cohen
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, UCSD Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, California
| | - Stephen P Schoenberger
- Laboratory of Cellular Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, California. .,Division of Hematology and Oncology, UCSD Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, California
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44
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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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45
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Eby JM, Smith AR, Riley TP, Cosgrove C, Ankney CM, Henning SW, Paulos CM, Garrett-Mayer E, Luiten RM, Nishimura MI, Baker BM, Le Poole IC. Molecular properties of gp100-reactive T-cell receptors drive the cytokine profile and antitumor efficacy of transgenic host T cells. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res 2018; 32:68-78. [PMID: 30009548 DOI: 10.1111/pcmr.12724] [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: 03/14/2018] [Revised: 07/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
To study the contribution of T-cell receptors (TCR) to resulting T-cell responses, we studied three different human αβ TCRs, reactive to the same gp100-derived peptide presented in the context of HLA-A*0201. When expressed in primary CD8 T cells, all receptors elicited classic antigen-induced IFN-γ responses, which correlated with TCR affinity for peptide-MHC in the order T4H2 > R6C12 > SILv44. However, SILv44 elicited superior IL-17A release. Importantly, in vivo, SILv44-transgenic T cells mediated superior antitumor responses to 888-A2 + human melanoma tumor cells upon adoptive transfer into tumor-challenged mice while maintaining IL-17 expression. Modeling of the TCR ternary complexes suggested architectural differences between SILv44 and the other complexes, providing a potential structural basis for the observed differences. Overall, the data reveal a more prominent role for the T-cell receptor in defining host T-cell physiology than traditionally assumed, while parameters beyond IFN-γ secretion and TCR affinity ultimately determine the reactivity of tumor-reactive T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan M Eby
- Oncology Research Institute, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, Illinois
| | - Angela R Smith
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
| | - Timothy P Riley
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
| | - Cormac Cosgrove
- Department of Dermatology, Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Christian M Ankney
- Oncology Research Institute, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, Illinois
| | - Steven W Henning
- Department of Dermatology, Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Chrystal M Paulos
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
| | - Elizabeth Garrett-Mayer
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
| | - Rosalie M Luiten
- Netherlands Institute for Pigment Disorders, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Dermatology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Michael I Nishimura
- Oncology Research Institute, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, Illinois.,Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
| | - Brian M Baker
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
| | - I Caroline Le Poole
- Oncology Research Institute, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, Illinois.,Department of Dermatology, Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
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Allard M, Hebeisen M, Rufer N. Assessing T Cell Receptor Affinity and Avidity Against Tumor Antigens. Oncoimmunology 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62431-0_40] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
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47
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Presotto D, Erdes E, Duong MN, Allard M, Regamey PO, Quadroni M, Doucey MA, Rufer N, Hebeisen M. Fine-Tuning of Optimal TCR Signaling in Tumor-Redirected CD8 T Cells by Distinct TCR Affinity-Mediated Mechanisms. Front Immunol 2017; 8:1564. [PMID: 29187853 PMCID: PMC5694758 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2017] [Accepted: 10/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Redirecting CD8 T cell immunity with self/tumor-specific affinity-matured T cell receptors (TCRs) is a promising approach for clinical adoptive T cell therapy, with the aim to improve treatment efficacy. Despite numerous functional-based studies, little is known about the characteristics of TCR signaling (i.e., intensity, duration, and amplification) and the regulatory mechanisms underlying optimal therapeutic T cell responses. Using a panel of human SUP-T1 and primary CD8 T cells engineered with incremental affinity TCRs against the cancer-testis antigen NY-ESO-1, we found that upon activation, T cells with optimal-affinity TCRs generated intense and sustained proximal (CD3ζ, LCK) signals associated with distal (ERK1/2) amplification-gain and increased function. In contrast, in T cells with very high affinity TCRs, signal initiation was rapid and strong yet only transient, resulting in poor MAPK activation and low proliferation potential even at high antigen stimulation dose. Under resting conditions, the levels of surface TCR/CD3ε, CD8β, and CD28 expression and of CD3ζ phosphorylation were significantly reduced in those hyporesponsive cells, suggesting the presence of TCR affinity-related activation thresholds. We also show that SHP phosphatases were involved along the TCR affinity gradient, but displayed spatially distinct regulatory roles. While PTPN6/SHP-1 phosphatase activity controlled TCR signaling initiation and subsequent amplification by counteracting CD3ζ and ERK1/2 phosphorylation, PTPN11/SHP-2 augmented MAPK activation without affecting proximal TCR signaling. Together, our findings indicate that optimal TCR signaling can be finely tuned by TCR affinity-dependent SHP-1 and SHP-2 activity, and this may readily be determined at the TCR/CD3 complex level. We propose that these TCR affinity-associated regulations represent potential protective mechanisms preventing high affinity TCR-mediated autoimmune diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danilo Presotto
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Efe Erdes
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Minh Ngoc Duong
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Mathilde Allard
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Pierre-Olivier Regamey
- Protein Analysis Facility, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Manfredo Quadroni
- Protein Analysis Facility, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marie-Agnès Doucey
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nathalie Rufer
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michael Hebeisen
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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48
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Stockslager MA, Bagnall JS, Hecht VC, Hu K, Aranda-Michel E, Payer K, Kimmerling RJ, Manalis SR. Microfluidic platform for characterizing TCR-pMHC interactions. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2017; 11:064103. [PMID: 29204244 PMCID: PMC5685811 DOI: 10.1063/1.5002116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Accepted: 10/20/2017] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The physical characteristics of the T cell receptor (TCR)-peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) interaction are known to play a central role in determining T cell function in the initial stages of the adaptive immune response. State-of-the-art assays can probe the kinetics of this interaction with single-molecular-bond resolution, but this precision typically comes at the cost of low throughput, since the complexity of these measurements largely precludes "scaling up." Here, we explore the feasibility of detecting specific TCR-pMHC interactions by flowing T cells past immobilized pMHC and measuring the reduction in cell speed due to the mechanical force of the receptor-ligand interaction. To test this new fluidic measurement modality, we fabricated a microfluidic device in which pMHC-coated beads are immobilized in hydrodynamic traps along the length of a serpentine channel. As T cells flow past the immobilized beads, their change in speed is tracked via microscopy. We validated this approach using two model systems: primary CD8+ T cells from an OT-1 TCR transgenic mouse with beads conjugated with H-2Kb:SIINFEKL, and Jurkat T cells with beads conjugated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max A Stockslager
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Josephine Shaw Bagnall
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Vivian C Hecht
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Kevin Hu
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Edgar Aranda-Michel
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Kristofor Payer
- Microsystems Technology Laboratories, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Robert J Kimmerling
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
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Micromolar affinity CAR T cells to ICAM-1 achieves rapid tumor elimination while avoiding systemic toxicity. Sci Rep 2017; 7:14366. [PMID: 29085043 PMCID: PMC5662687 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14749-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Adoptive transfer of high-affinity chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting hematological cancers has yielded impressive clinical results. However, safety concerns regarding target expression on healthy tissue and poor efficacy have hampered application to solid tumors. Here, a panel of affinity-variant CARs were constructed targeting overexpressed ICAM-1, a broad tumor biomarker, using its physiological ligand, LFA-1. Anti-tumor T cell potency in vitro was directly proportional to CAR affinity and ICAM-1 density. In a solid tumor mouse model allowing simultaneous monitoring of anti-tumor potency and systemic off-tumor toxicity, micromolar affinity CAR T cells demonstrated superior anti-tumor efficacy and safety compared to their nanomolar counterparts. Longitudinal T cell tracking by PET/CT and concurrent cytokine measurement revealed superior expansion and contraction kinetics of micromolar affinity CAR T cells. Therefore, we developed an ICAM-1 specific CAR with broad anti-tumor applicability that utilized a reduced affinity targeting strategy to significantly boost efficacy and safety.
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50
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Taborska P, Stakheev D, Strizova Z, Vavrova K, Podrazil M, Bartunkova J, Smrz D. Personalized ex vivo multiple peptide enrichment and detection of T cells reactive to multiple tumor-associated antigens in prostate cancer patients. Med Oncol 2017; 34:173. [DOI: 10.1007/s12032-017-1035-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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