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Lima AJF, Hajdu KL, Abdo L, Batista-Silva LR, de Oliveira Andrade C, Correia EM, Aragão EAA, Bonamino MH, Lourenzoni MR. In silico and in vivo analysis reveal impact of c-Myc tag in FMC63 scFv-CD19 protein interface and CAR-T cell efficacy. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2024; 23:2375-2387. [PMID: 38873646 PMCID: PMC11170440 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2024.05.032] [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: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Anti-CD19 CAR-T cell therapy represents a breakthrough in the treatment of B-cell malignancies, and it is expected that this therapy modality will soon cover a range of solid tumors as well. Therefore, a universal cheap and sensitive method to detect CAR expression is of foremost importance. One possibility is the use of epitope tags such as c-Myc, HA or FLAG tags attached to the CAR extracellular domain, however, it is important to determine whether these tags can influence binding of the CAR with its target molecule. Here, we conducted in-silico structural modelling of an FMC63-based anti-CD19 single-chain variable fragment (scFv) with and without a c-Myc peptide tag added to the N-terminus portion and performed molecular dynamics simulation of the scFv with the CD19 target. We show that the c-Myc tag presence in the N-terminus portion does not affect the scFv's structural equilibrium and grants more stability to the scFv. However, intermolecular interaction potential (IIP) analysis reveals that the tag can approximate the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) present in the scFv and cause steric impediment, potentially disturbing interaction with the CD19 protein. We then tested this possibility with CAR-T cells generated from human donors in a Nalm-6 leukemia model, showing that CAR-T cells with the c-Myc tag have overall worse antitumor activity, which was also observed when the tag was added to the C-terminus position. Ultimately, our results suggest that tag addition is an important aspect of CAR design and can influence CAR-T cell function, therefore its use should be carefully considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Julia Ferreira Lima
- Research Group on Protein Engineering and Health Solutions (GEPeSS), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Ceará (Fiocruz-CE), São José, Precabura, 61773-270 Eusébio, Ceará, Brazil
- Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Pici campus (Building 873), 60440-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
| | - Karina Lobo Hajdu
- Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Research coordination - Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Luiza Abdo
- Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Research coordination - Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Clara de Oliveira Andrade
- Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Research coordination - Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Mannarino Correia
- Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Research coordination - Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Martín Hernán Bonamino
- Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Research coordination - Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Vice - Presidency of Research and Biological Collections (VPPCB), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marcos Roberto Lourenzoni
- Research Group on Protein Engineering and Health Solutions (GEPeSS), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Ceará (Fiocruz-CE), São José, Precabura, 61773-270 Eusébio, Ceará, Brazil
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2
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Ramapriyan R, Vykunta VS, Vandecandelaere G, Richardson LGK, Sun J, Curry WT, Choi BD. Altered cancer metabolism and implications for next-generation CAR T-cell therapies. Pharmacol Ther 2024; 259:108667. [PMID: 38763321 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2024.108667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024]
Abstract
This review critically examines the evolving landscape of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in treating solid tumors, with a particular focus on the metabolic challenges within the tumor microenvironment. CAR T-cell therapy has demonstrated remarkable success in hematologic malignancies, yet its efficacy in solid tumors remains limited. A significant barrier is the hostile milieu of the tumor microenvironment, which impairs CAR T-cell survival and function. This review delves into the metabolic adaptations of cancer cells and their impact on immune cells, highlighting the competition for nutrients and the accumulation of immunosuppressive metabolites. It also explores emerging strategies to enhance CAR T-cell metabolic fitness and persistence, including genetic engineering and metabolic reprogramming. An integrated approach, combining metabolic interventions with CAR T-cell therapy, has the potential to overcome these constraints and improve therapeutic outcomes in solid tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rishab Ramapriyan
- Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
| | - Vivasvan S Vykunta
- Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; ImmunoX Initiative, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Medical Scientist Training Program, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Gust Vandecandelaere
- Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Leland G K Richardson
- Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Jing Sun
- Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - William T Curry
- Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Bryan D Choi
- Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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3
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Kua L, Ng CH, Tan JW, Tan HC, Seh CC, Wong F, Ong R, Rooney CM, Tan J, Chen Q, Horak ID, Tan KW, Low L. Novel OX40 and 4-1BB derived spacers enhance CD30 CAR activity and safety in CD30 positive lymphoma models. Mol Ther 2024:S1525-0016(24)00454-4. [PMID: 38946142 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.06.037] [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: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/28/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) derived from the CD30 specific murine antibody, HRS-3, has produced promising clinical efficacy with a favorable safety profile in the treatment of relapsed or refractory CD30-positive lymphomas. However, persistence of the autologous CAR-T cells was brief, and many patients relapsed a year after treatment. The lack of persistence may be attributed to the use of a wild-type immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 spacer that can associate with Fc receptors. We first identified the cysteine-rich domain (CRD) 5 of CD30 as the primary binding epitope of HRS-3 and armed with this insight, attempted to improve the HRS-3 CAR functionality with a panel of novel spacer designs. We demonstrate that HRS-3 CARs with OX40 and 4-1BB derived spacers exhibited similar anti-tumor efficacy, circumvented interactions with Fc receptors, and secreted lower levels of cytokines in vitro than a CAR employing the IgG1 spacer. Humanization of the HRS-3 scFv coupled with the 4-1BB spacer preserved potent on-target, on-tumor efficacy, and on-target, off-tumor safety. In a lymphoma mouse model of high tumor burden, T cells expressing humanized HRS-3 CD30.CARs with the 4-1BB spacer potently killed tumors with low levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines, providing a promising candidate for future clinical development in the treatment of CD30-positive malignancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay Kua
- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd, Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Chee Hoe Ng
- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd, Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Jin Wei Tan
- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd, Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | | | | | - Fiona Wong
- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd, Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Richard Ong
- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd, Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Cliona M Rooney
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Joel Tan
- Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology, A∗STAR Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Qingfeng Chen
- Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology, A∗STAR Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Ivan D Horak
- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd, Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Kar Wai Tan
- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd, Singapore 138673, Singapore
| | - Lionel Low
- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd, Singapore 138673, Singapore.
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4
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Kennewick KT, Yamaguchi Y, Gibson J, Gerdts EA, Jeang B, Tilakawardane D, Murad JP, Chang WC, Wright SL, Thiel MS, Forman SJ, Stern LA, Priceman SJ. Nonsignaling extracellular spacer regulates tumor antigen selectivity of CAR T cells. MOLECULAR THERAPY. ONCOLOGY 2024; 32:200789. [PMID: 38939825 PMCID: PMC11208731 DOI: 10.1016/j.omton.2024.200789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
Advancing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells for the treatment of solid tumors is a major focus in the field of cellular immunotherapy. Several hurdles have hindered similar CAR T cell clinical responses in solid tumors as seen in hematological malignancies. These challenges include on-target off-tumor toxicities, which have inspired efforts to optimize CARs for improved tumor antigen selectivity and overall safety. We recently developed a CAR T cell therapy targeting prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) for prostate and pancreatic cancers, showing improved preclinical antitumor activity and T cell persistence by optimizing the intracellular co-stimulatory domain. Similar studies were undertaken to optimize HER2-directed CAR T cells with modifications to the intracellular co-stimulatory domain for selective targeting of breast cancer brain metastasis. In the present study, we evaluate various nonsignaling extracellular spacers in these CARs to further improve tumor antigen selectivity. Our findings suggest that length and structure of the extracellular spacer can dictate the ability of CARs to selectively target tumor cells with high antigen density, while sparing cells with low antigen density. This study contributes to CAR construct design considerations and expands our knowledge of tuning solid tumor CAR T cell therapies for improved safety and efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly T. Kennewick
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Yukiko Yamaguchi
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Jackson Gibson
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Ethan A. Gerdts
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Brook Jeang
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Dileshni Tilakawardane
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - John P. Murad
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Wen-Chung Chang
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Sarah L. Wright
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Michalina S. Thiel
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Stephen J. Forman
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Lawrence A. Stern
- Department of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Saul J. Priceman
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
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5
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Wang L, Zhang L, Dunmall LC, Wang YY, Fan Z, Cheng Z, Wang Y. The dilemmas and possible solutions for CAR-T cell therapy application in solid tumors. Cancer Lett 2024; 591:216871. [PMID: 38604310 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.216871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy, as an adoptive immunotherapy, is playing an increasingly important role in the treatment of malignant tumors. CAR-T cells are referred to as "living drugs" as they not only target tumor cells directly, but also induce long-term immune memory that has the potential to provide long-lasting protection. CD19.CAR-T cells have achieved complete response rates of over 90 % for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and over 60 % for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. However, the response rate of CAR-T cells in the treatment of solid tumors remains extremely low and the side effects potentially severe. In this review, we discuss the limitations that the solid tumor microenvironment poses for CAR-T application and the solutions that are being developed to address these limitations, in the hope that in the near future, CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors can attain the same success rates as are now being seen clinically for hematological malignancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihong Wang
- Department of Oncology, Air Force Medical Center, PLA, Beijing, China; National Centre for International Research in Cell and Gene Therapy, Sino British Research Centre for Molecular Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Lufang Zhang
- National Centre for International Research in Cell and Gene Therapy, Sino British Research Centre for Molecular Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Louisa Chard Dunmall
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers & Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yang Yang Wang
- Department of General Pediatrics, Newham General Hospital, E13 8SL, London, United Kingdom
| | - Zaiwen Fan
- Department of Oncology, Air Force Medical Center, PLA, Beijing, China
| | - Zhenguo Cheng
- National Centre for International Research in Cell and Gene Therapy, Sino British Research Centre for Molecular Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yaohe Wang
- National Centre for International Research in Cell and Gene Therapy, Sino British Research Centre for Molecular Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; Centre for Cancer Biomarkers & Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
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6
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Moaveni AK, Amiri M, Shademan B, Farhadi A, Behroozi J, Nourazarian A. Advances and challenges in gene therapy strategies for pediatric cancer: a comprehensive update. Front Mol Biosci 2024; 11:1382190. [PMID: 38836106 PMCID: PMC11149429 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2024.1382190] [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: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Pediatric cancers represent a tragic but also promising area for gene therapy. Although conventional treatments have improved survival rates, there is still a need for targeted and less toxic interventions. This article critically analyzes recent advances in gene therapy for pediatric malignancies and discusses the challenges that remain. We explore the innovative vectors and delivery systems that have emerged, such as adeno-associated viruses and non-viral platforms, which show promise in addressing the unique pathophysiology of pediatric tumors. Specifically, we examine the field of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies and their adaptation for solid tumors, which historically have been more challenging to treat than hematologic malignancies. We also discuss the genetic and epigenetic complexities inherent to pediatric cancers, such as tumor heterogeneity and the dynamic tumor microenvironment, which pose significant hurdles for gene therapy. Ethical considerations specific to pediatric populations, including consent and long-term follow-up, are also analyzed. Additionally, we scrutinize the translation of research from preclinical models that often fail to mimic pediatric cancer biology to the regulatory landscapes that can either support or hinder innovation. In summary, this article provides an up-to-date overview of gene therapy in pediatric oncology, highlighting both the rapid scientific progress and the substantial obstacles that need to be addressed. Through this lens, we propose a roadmap for future research that prioritizes the safety, efficacy, and complex ethical considerations involved in treating pediatric patients. Our ultimate goal is to move from incremental advancements to transformative therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Kian Moaveni
- Pediatric Urology and Regenerative Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Maryam Amiri
- Pediatric Urology and Regenerative Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Behrouz Shademan
- Stem Cell Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Arezoo Farhadi
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran
| | - Javad Behroozi
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Alireza Nourazarian
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Khoy University of Medical Sciences, Khoy, Iran
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7
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Lutskovich D, Meleshko A, Katsin M. State of the art and perspectives of chimeric antigen receptor T cells cell therapy for neuroblastoma. Cytotherapy 2024:S1465-3249(24)00718-7. [PMID: 38852096 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcyt.2024.05.011] [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: 02/12/2024] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024]
Abstract
Neuroblastoma (NB) is a solid, neuroendocrine pediatric solid tumor with divergent clinical behavior. Patients with high-risk diseases have poor prognoses despite complex multimodal therapy, which requires the search for new therapeutic approaches. Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) have led to dramatic improvements in the survival of cancer patients, most notably those with hematologic malignancies. Early-phase clinical trials of CAR-T cell therapy for NB have proven safe and feasible, but limited clinical efficacy. At the same time, multiple experimental and preclinical studies have shown that the most common in clinical trials single 2nd or 3rd generation CAR structure is not sufficient for a complete response in solid tumors. Here, we review the recent advances and future perspectives associated with engineered receptors, including several antigens binding, armored CAR-T of 4th and 5th generation and CAR-T cell combination strategies with other immunotherapy. We also summarize the results and shortcomings of ongoing clinical trials of CAR-T therapy for NB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dzmitry Lutskovich
- Belarusian Research Center for Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Immunology, Minsk, Belarus.
| | - Alexander Meleshko
- Belarusian Research Center for Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Immunology, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Mikalai Katsin
- Vitebsk Regional Clinical Cancer Centre, Vitebsk, Belarus
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8
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Cochrane RW, Robino RA, Granger B, Allen E, Vaena S, Romeo MJ, de Cubas AA, Berto S, Ferreira LM. High affinity chimeric antigen receptor signaling induces an inflammatory program in human regulatory T cells. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.31.587467. [PMID: 38617240 PMCID: PMC11014479 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.31.587467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are promising cellular therapies to induce immune tolerance in organ transplantation and autoimmune disease. The success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for cancer has sparked interest in using CARs to generate antigen-specific Tregs. Here, we compared CAR with endogenous T cell receptor (TCR)/CD28 activation in human Tregs. Strikingly, CAR Tregs displayed increased cytotoxicity and diminished suppression of antigen-presenting cells and effector T (Teff) cells compared with TCR/CD28 activated Tregs. RNA sequencing revealed that CAR Tregs activate Teff cell gene programs. Indeed, CAR Tregs secreted high levels of inflammatory cytokines, with a subset of FOXP3+ CAR Tregs uniquely acquiring CD40L surface expression and producing IFNγ. Interestingly, decreasing CAR antigen affinity reduced Teff cell gene expression and inflammatory cytokine production by CAR Tregs. Our findings showcase the impact of engineered receptor activation on Treg biology and support tailoring CAR constructs to Tregs for maximal therapeutic efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Russell W. Cochrane
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Rob A. Robino
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Bryan Granger
- Bioinformatics Core, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Eva Allen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Silvia Vaena
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Martin J. Romeo
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Aguirre A. de Cubas
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Stefano Berto
- Bioinformatics Core, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Leonardo M.R. Ferreira
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
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9
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Zhang T, Tai Z, Miao F, Zhang X, Li J, Zhu Q, Wei H, Chen Z. Adoptive cell therapy for solid tumors beyond CAR-T: Current challenges and emerging therapeutic advances. J Control Release 2024; 368:372-396. [PMID: 38408567 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.02.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
Adoptive cellular immunotherapy using immune cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) is a highly specific anti-tumor immunotherapy that has shown promise in the treatment of hematological malignancies. However, there has been a slow progress toward the treatment of solid tumors owing to the complex tumor microenvironment that affects the localization and killing ability of the CAR cells. Solid tumors with a strong immunosuppressive microenvironment and complex vascular system are unaffected by CAR cell infiltration and attack. To improve their efficacy toward solid tumors, CAR cells have been modified and upgraded by "decorating" and "pruning". This review focuses on the structure and function of CARs, the immune cells that can be engineered by CARs and the transformation strategies to overcome solid tumors, with a view to broadening ideas for the better application of CAR cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingrui Zhang
- Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200443, China; Medical Guarantee Center, Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China; School of Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China; Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Topical Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China
| | - Zongguang Tai
- Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200443, China; Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Topical Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China; Department of Pharmacy, First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Fengze Miao
- Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200443, China; Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Topical Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China
| | - Xinyue Zhang
- Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200443, China; Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Topical Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China
| | - Jiadong Li
- School of Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
| | - Quangang Zhu
- Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200443, China; Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Topical Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China
| | - Hua Wei
- Medical Guarantee Center, Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China.
| | - Zhongjian Chen
- Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200443, China; School of Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China; Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Topical Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China.
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10
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McComb S, Arbabi-Ghahroudi M, Hay KA, Keller BA, Faulkes S, Rutherford M, Nguyen T, Shepherd A, Wu C, Marcil A, Aubry A, Hussack G, Pinto DM, Ryan S, Raphael S, van Faassen H, Zafer A, Zhu Q, Maclean S, Chattopadhyay A, Gurnani K, Gilbert R, Gadoury C, Iqbal U, Fatehi D, Jezierski A, Huang J, Pon RA, Sigrist M, Holt RA, Nelson BH, Atkins H, Kekre N, Yung E, Webb J, Nielsen JS, Weeratna RD. Discovery and preclinical development of a therapeutically active nanobody-based chimeric antigen receptor targeting human CD22. MOLECULAR THERAPY. ONCOLOGY 2024; 32:200775. [PMID: 38596311 PMCID: PMC10914482 DOI: 10.1016/j.omton.2024.200775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies targeting B cell-restricted antigens CD19, CD20, or CD22 can produce potent clinical responses for some B cell malignancies, but relapse remains common. Camelid single-domain antibodies (sdAbs or nanobodies) are smaller, simpler, and easier to recombine than single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) used in most CARs, but fewer sdAb-CARs have been reported. Thus, we sought to identify a therapeutically active sdAb-CAR targeting human CD22. Immunization of an adult Llama glama with CD22 protein, sdAb-cDNA library construction, and phage panning yielded >20 sdAbs with diverse epitope and binding properties. Expressing CD22-sdAb-CAR in Jurkat cells drove varying CD22-specific reactivity not correlated with antibody affinity. Changing CD28- to CD8-transmembrane design increased CAR persistence and expression in vitro. CD22-sdAb-CAR candidates showed similar CD22-dependent CAR-T expansion in vitro, although only membrane-proximal epitope targeting CD22-sdAb-CARs activated direct cytolytic killing and extended survival in a lymphoma xenograft model. Based on enhanced survival in blinded xenograft studies, a lead CD22sdCAR-T was selected, achieving comparable complete responses to a benchmark short linker m971-scFv CAR-T in high-dose experiments. Finally, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry confirm tissue and cellular-level specificity of the lead CD22-sdAb. This presents a complete report on preclinical development of a novel CD22sdCAR therapeutic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott McComb
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Centre for Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Mehdi Arbabi-Ghahroudi
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Kevin A. Hay
- Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Division of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Brian A. Keller
- Division of Anatomical Pathology, The Ottawa Hospital/University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Sharlene Faulkes
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Michael Rutherford
- Division of Anatomical Pathology, The Ottawa Hospital/University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Division of Hematopathology and Transfusion Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital/University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Tina Nguyen
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Alex Shepherd
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Cunle Wu
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Anne Marcil
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Annie Aubry
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Greg Hussack
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Devanand M. Pinto
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Shannon Ryan
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Shalini Raphael
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Henk van Faassen
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Ahmed Zafer
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Qin Zhu
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Susanne Maclean
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Anindita Chattopadhyay
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Komal Gurnani
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Rénald Gilbert
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Christine Gadoury
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Umar Iqbal
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Dorothy Fatehi
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Anna Jezierski
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Jez Huang
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Robert A. Pon
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Mhairi Sigrist
- Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Robert A. Holt
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Brad H. Nelson
- Deeley Research Centre, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Victoria, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Harold Atkins
- Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Natasha Kekre
- Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Eric Yung
- Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - John Webb
- Deeley Research Centre, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Julie S. Nielsen
- Deeley Research Centre, British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Risini D. Weeratna
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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11
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Dey S, Devender M, Rani S, Pandey RK. Recent advances in CAR T-cell engineering using synthetic biology: Paving the way for next-generation cancer treatment. ADVANCES IN PROTEIN CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2024; 140:91-156. [PMID: 38762281 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2024.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2024]
Abstract
This book chapter highlights a comprehensive exploration of the transformative innovations in the field of cancer immunotherapy. CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) T-cell therapy represents a groundbreaking approach to treat cancer by reprogramming a patient immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells. This chapter underscores the critical role of synthetic biology in enhancing the safety and effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapies. It begins by emphasizing the growing importance of personalized medicine in cancer treatment, emphasizing the shift from one-size-fits-all approaches to patient-specific solutions. Synthetic biology, a multidisciplinary field, has been instrumental in customizing CAR T-cell therapies, allowing for fine-tuned precision and minimizing unwanted side effects. The chapter highlights recent advances in gene editing, synthetic gene circuits, and molecular engineering, showcasing how these technologies are optimizing CAR T-cell function. In summary, this book chapter sheds light on the remarkable progress made in the development of CAR T-cell therapies using synthetic biology, providing hope for cancer patients and hinting at a future where highly personalized and effective cancer treatments are the norm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sangita Dey
- CSO Department, Cellworks Research India Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Moodu Devender
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India
| | - Swati Rani
- ICAR, National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Rajan Kumar Pandey
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden.
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12
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Liu Z, Lei W, Wang H, Liu X, Fu R. Challenges and strategies associated with CAR-T cell therapy in blood malignancies. Exp Hematol Oncol 2024; 13:22. [PMID: 38402232 PMCID: PMC10893672 DOI: 10.1186/s40164-024-00490-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Cellular immunotherapy, particularly CAR-T cells, has shown potential in the improvement of outcomes in patients with refractory and recurrent malignancies of the blood. However, achieving sustainable long-term complete remission for blood cancer remains a challenge, with resistance and relapse being expected outcomes for many patients. Although many studies have attempted to clarify the mechanisms of CAR-T cell therapy failure, the mechanism remains unclear. In this article, we discuss and describe the current state of knowledge regarding these factors, which include elements that influence the CAR-T cell, cancer cells as a whole, and the microenvironment surrounding the tumor. In addition, we propose prospective approaches to overcome these obstacles in an effort to decrease recurrence rates and extend patient survival subsequent to CAR-T cell therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaoyun Liu
- Department of Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Street, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, PR China.
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Failure and Malignant Hemopoietic Clone46Control, Tianjin, 300052, P. R. China.
| | - Wenhui Lei
- Department of Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Street, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, PR China
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Failure and Malignant Hemopoietic Clone46Control, Tianjin, 300052, P. R. China
- Department of Nephrology, Lishui Municipal Central Hospital, Lishui, Zhejiang, 323000, People's Republic of China
| | - Hao Wang
- Department of Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Street, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, PR China
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Failure and Malignant Hemopoietic Clone46Control, Tianjin, 300052, P. R. China
| | - Xiaohan Liu
- Department of Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Street, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, PR China
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Failure and Malignant Hemopoietic Clone46Control, Tianjin, 300052, P. R. China
| | - Rong Fu
- Department of Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Street, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, PR China.
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Failure and Malignant Hemopoietic Clone46Control, Tianjin, 300052, P. R. China.
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13
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Ferrari M, Righi M, Baldan V, Wawrzyniecka P, Bulek A, Kinna A, Ma B, Bughda R, Akbar Z, Srivastava S, Gannon I, Robson M, Sillibourne J, Jha R, El-Kholy M, Amin OM, Kokalaki E, Banani MA, Hussain R, Day W, Lim WC, Ghongane P, Hopkins JR, Jungherz D, Herling M, Welin M, Surade S, Dyson M, McCafferty J, Logan D, Cordoba S, Thomas S, Sewell A, Maciocia P, Onuoha S, Pule M. Structure-guided engineering of immunotherapies targeting TRBC1 and TRBC2 in T cell malignancies. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1583. [PMID: 38383515 PMCID: PMC10881500 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45854-3] [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: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Peripheral T cell lymphomas are typically aggressive with a poor prognosis. Unlike other hematologic malignancies, the lack of target antigens to discriminate healthy from malignant cells limits the efficacy of immunotherapeutic approaches. The T cell receptor expresses one of two highly homologous chains [T cell receptor β-chain constant (TRBC) domains 1 and 2] in a mutually exclusive manner, making it a promising target. Here we demonstrate specificity redirection by rational design using structure-guided computational biology to generate a TRBC2-specific antibody (KFN), complementing the antibody previously described by our laboratory with unique TRBC1 specificity (Jovi-1) in targeting broader spectrum of T cell malignancies clonally expressing either of the two chains. This permits generation of paired reagents (chimeric antigen receptor-T cells) specific for TRBC1 and TRBC2, with preclinical evidence to support their efficacy in T cell malignancies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Biao Ma
- Autolus Therapeutics, London, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Ram Jha
- Autolus Therapeutics, London, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Jade R Hopkins
- Cardiff University School of Medicine; Heath Park, Cardiff, UK
| | - Dennis Jungherz
- Department of Hematology, Cell Therapy, Hemostaseology, and Infectious Diseases, University of Leipzig Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marco Herling
- Department of Hematology, Cell Therapy, Hemostaseology, and Infectious Diseases, University of Leipzig Medical Centre, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Andrew Sewell
- Cardiff University School of Medicine; Heath Park, Cardiff, UK
| | - Paul Maciocia
- Cancer Institute; University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Martin Pule
- Autolus Therapeutics, London, UK.
- Cancer Institute; University College London, London, UK.
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14
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Hamilton JR, Chen E, Perez BS, Sandoval Espinoza CR, Kang MH, Trinidad M, Ngo W, Doudna JA. In vivo human T cell engineering with enveloped delivery vehicles. Nat Biotechnol 2024:10.1038/s41587-023-02085-z. [PMID: 38212493 PMCID: PMC11236958 DOI: 10.1038/s41587-023-02085-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Viruses and virally derived particles have the intrinsic capacity to deliver molecules to cells, but the difficulty of readily altering cell-type selectivity has hindered their use for therapeutic delivery. Here, we show that cell surface marker recognition by antibody fragments displayed on membrane-derived particles encapsulating CRISPR-Cas9 protein and guide RNA can deliver genome editing tools to specific cells. Compared to conventional vectors like adeno-associated virus that rely on evolved capsid tropisms to deliver virally encoded cargo, these Cas9-packaging enveloped delivery vehicles (Cas9-EDVs) leverage predictable antibody-antigen interactions to transiently deliver genome editing machinery selectively to cells of interest. Antibody-targeted Cas9-EDVs preferentially confer genome editing in cognate target cells over bystander cells in mixed populations, both ex vivo and in vivo. By using multiplexed targeting molecules to direct delivery to human T cells, Cas9-EDVs enable the generation of genome-edited chimeric antigen receptor T cells in humanized mice, establishing a programmable delivery modality with the potential for widespread therapeutic utility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer R Hamilton
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Azalea Therapeutics, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Evelyn Chen
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Azalea Therapeutics, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Barbara S Perez
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Cindy R Sandoval Espinoza
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Min Hyung Kang
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Marena Trinidad
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Wayne Ngo
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
- California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Jennifer A Doudna
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, USA.
- Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
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15
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Zimmerman CM, Robino RA, Cochrane RW, Dominguez MD, Ferreira LMR. Redirecting Human Conventional and Regulatory T Cells Using Chimeric Antigen Receptors. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2748:201-241. [PMID: 38070117 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3593-3_15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
The adaptive immune system exhibits exquisite specificity and memory and is involved in virtually every process in the human body. Redirecting adaptive immune cells, in particular T cells, to desired targets has the potential to lead to the creation of powerful cell-based therapies for a wide range of maladies. While conventional effector T cells (Teff) would be targeted towards cells to be eliminated, such as cancer cells, immunosuppressive regulatory T cells (Treg) would be directed towards tissues to be protected, such as transplanted organs. Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are designer molecules comprising an extracellular recognition domain and an intracellular signaling domain that drives full T cell activation directly downstream of target binding. Here, we describe procedures to generate and evaluate human CAR CD4+ helper T cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and CD4+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Capers M Zimmerman
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Rob A Robino
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Russell W Cochrane
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Matthew D Dominguez
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Leonardo M R Ferreira
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
- Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
- Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
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16
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Eskandari SK, Daccache A, Azzi JR. Chimeric antigen receptor T reg therapy in transplantation. Trends Immunol 2024; 45:48-61. [PMID: 38123369 DOI: 10.1016/j.it.2023.11.005] [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: 10/09/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
In the quest for more precise and effective organ transplantation therapies, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies represent a potential cutting-edge advance. This review comprehensively analyses CAR Tregs and how they may address important drawbacks of polyclonal Tregs and conventional immunosuppressants. We examine a growing body of preclinical findings of CAR Treg therapy in transplantation, discuss CAR Treg design specifics, and explore established and attractive new targets in transplantation. In addition, we explore present impediments where future studies will be necessary to determine the efficacy of CAR Tregs in reshaping alloimmune responses and transplant microenvironments to reduce reliance on chemical immunosuppressants. Overall, ongoing studies and trials are crucial for understanding the full scope of CAR Treg therapy in transplantation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siawosh K Eskandari
- Transplantation Research Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Andrea Daccache
- Transplantation Research Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Bioscience Education and Research (UFR Biosciences), Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Jamil R Azzi
- Transplantation Research Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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17
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Zhai Y, Du Y, Li G, Yu M, Hu H, Pan C, Wang D, Shi Z, Yan X, Li X, Jiang T, Zhang W. Trogocytosis of CAR molecule regulates CAR-T cell dysfunction and tumor antigen escape. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2023; 8:457. [PMID: 38143263 PMCID: PMC10749292 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01708-w] [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: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has demonstrated clinical response in treating both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Although instances of rapid tumor remissions have been observed in animal models and clinical trials, tumor relapses occur with multiple therapeutic resistance mechanisms. Furthermore, while the mechanisms underlying the long-term therapeutic resistance are well-known, short-term adaptation remains less understood. However, more views shed light on short-term adaptation and hold that it provides an opportunity window for long-term resistance. In this study, we explore a previously unreported mechanism in which tumor cells employ trogocytosis to acquire CAR molecules from CAR-T cells, a reversal of previously documented processes. This mechanism results in the depletion of CAR molecules and subsequent CAR-T cell dysfunction, also leading to short-term antigen loss and antigen masking. Such type of intercellular communication is independent of CAR downstream signaling, CAR-T cell condition, target antigen, and tumor cell type. However, it is mainly dependent on antigen density and CAR sensitivity, and is associated with tumor cell cholesterol metabolism. Partial mitigation of this trogocytosis-induced CAR molecule transfer can be achieved by adaptively administering CAR-T cells with antigen density-individualized CAR sensitivities. Together, our study reveals a dynamic process of CAR molecule transfer and refining the framework of clinical CAR-T therapy for solid tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- You Zhai
- Department of Molecular Neuropathology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Yicong Du
- Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Institute of Urology, Peking University, National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing, PR China
| | - Guanzhang Li
- Department of Molecular Neuropathology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Mingchen Yu
- Department of Molecular Neuropathology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Huimin Hu
- Department of Molecular Neuropathology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Changqing Pan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Di Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Zhongfang Shi
- Department of Pathophysiology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Xu Yan
- Department of Pathophysiology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Xuesong Li
- Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Institute of Urology, Peking University, National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing, PR China
| | - Tao Jiang
- Department of Molecular Neuropathology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China.
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China.
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing, PR China.
- Center of Brain Tumor, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, PR China.
- Research Unit of Accurate Diagnosis, Treatment, and Translational Medicine of Brain Tumors, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, PR China.
- Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas Network (CGGA) and Asian Glioma Genome Atlas Network (AGGA), Beijing, PR China.
| | - Wei Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China.
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing, PR China.
- Center of Brain Tumor, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, PR China.
- Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas Network (CGGA) and Asian Glioma Genome Atlas Network (AGGA), Beijing, PR China.
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18
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Chu GJ, Bailey CG, Nagarajah R, Sagnella SM, Adelstein S, Rasko JEJ. The 4-1BBζ costimulatory domain in chimeric antigen receptors enhances CD8+ T-cell functionality following T-cell receptor stimulation. Cancer Cell Int 2023; 23:327. [PMID: 38105188 PMCID: PMC10726568 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-023-03171-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells have revolutionized the treatment of CD19- and B-cell maturation antigen-positive haematological malignancies. However, the effect of a CAR construct on the function of T-cells stimulated via their endogenous T-cell receptors (TCRs) has yet to be comprehensively investigated. METHODS Experiments were performed to systematically assess TCR signalling and function in CAR T-cells using anti-mesothelin human CAR T-cells as a model system. CAR T-cells expressing the CD28 or 4-1BB costimulatory endodomains were manufactured and compared to both untransduced T-cells and CAR T-cells with a non-functional endodomain. These cell products were treated with staphylococcal enterotoxin B to stimulate the TCR, and in vitro functional assays were performed by flow cytometry. RESULTS Increased proliferation, CD69 expression and IFNγ production were identified in CD8+ 4-1BBζ CAR T-cells compared to control untransduced CD8+ T-cells. These functional differences were associated with higher levels of phosphorylated ZAP70 after stimulation. In addition, these functional differences were associated with a differing immunophenotype, with a more than two-fold increase in central memory cells in CD8+ 4-1BBζ CAR T-cell products. CONCLUSION Our data indicate that the 4-1BBζ CAR enhances CD8+ TCR-mediated function. This could be beneficial if the TCR targets epitopes on malignant tissues or infectious agents, but detrimental if the TCR targets autoantigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerard J Chu
- Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program Centenary Institute, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
- Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Charles G Bailey
- Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program Centenary Institute, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Cancer & Gene Regulation Laboratory Centenary Institute, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Rajini Nagarajah
- Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program Centenary Institute, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Sharon M Sagnella
- Cell & Molecular Therapies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Stephen Adelstein
- Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - John E J Rasko
- Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program Centenary Institute, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Cell & Molecular Therapies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
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19
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Giordano Attianese GMP, Ash S, Irving M. Coengineering specificity, safety, and function into T cells for cancer immunotherapy. Immunol Rev 2023; 320:166-198. [PMID: 37548063 DOI: 10.1111/imr.13252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Adoptive T-cell transfer (ACT) therapies, including of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and T cells gene-modified to express either a T cell receptor (TCR) or a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), have demonstrated clinical efficacy for a proportion of patients and cancer-types. The field of ACT has been driven forward by the clinical success of CD19-CAR therapy against various advanced B-cell malignancies, including curative responses for some leukemia patients. However, relapse remains problematic, in particular for lymphoma. Moreover, for a variety of reasons, relative limited efficacy has been demonstrated for ACT of non-hematological solid tumors. Indeed, in addition to pre-infusion challenges including lymphocyte collection and manufacturing, ACT failure can be attributed to several biological processes post-transfer including, (i) inefficient tumor trafficking, infiltration, expansion and retention, (ii) chronic antigen exposure coupled with insufficient costimulation resulting in T-cell exhaustion, (iii) a range of barriers in the tumor microenvironment (TME) mediated by both tumor cells and suppressive immune infiltrate, (iv) tumor antigen heterogeneity and loss, or down-regulation of antigen presentation machinery, (v) gain of tumor intrinsic mechanisms of resistance such as to apoptosis, and (vi) various forms of toxicity and other adverse events in patients. Affinity-optimized TCRs can improve T-cell function and innovative CAR designs as well as gene-modification strategies can be used to coengineer specificity, safety, and function into T cells. Coengineering strategies can be designed not only to directly support the transferred T cells, but also to block suppressive barriers in the TME and harness endogenous innate and adaptive immunity. Here, we review a selection of the remarkable T-cell coengineering strategies, including of tools, receptors, and gene-cargo, that have been developed in recent years to augment tumor control by ACT, more and more of which are advancing to the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Maria Paola Giordano Attianese
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sarah Ash
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Melita Irving
- Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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20
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Rodríguez Gil de Montes AL, Spencer LM. Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells: Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma. Mol Cancer Ther 2023; 22:1261-1269. [PMID: 37596239 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-23-0043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2023] [Revised: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
In immunotherapy with T cells genetically modified to express chimeric antigen receptors (CAR), autologous lymphocytes are extracted from the patient, genetically modified to obtain CAR-T cells, and reintroduced into the patient to attack cancer cells. The success of this therapy has been achieved in the area of CD19-positive leukemias and lymphomas, being approved for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and multiple myeloma. CARs are proteins that combine antibody specificity with T-cell cytotoxicity. The most common toxicities associated with therapy were not predicted by preclinical testing and include cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, and cytopenias. These toxicities are usually reversible. One of the main challenges facing the field is the high economic cost that therapy entails, so the search for ways to reduce this cost must be a priority. In addition, other challenges to overcome include the situation that not all patients are supplied with the product and the existence of long waiting times for the start of therapy. The aim of this review is to present the development of the structure of CAR-T cells, the therapies approved to date, the toxicity associated with them, and the advantages and limitations that they present as immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lilian Maritza Spencer
- School of Biological Sciences and Engineering, Yachay Tech University, San Miguel de Urcuquí, Ecuador
- Cell Biology Department, Simón Bolívar University, Valle de Sartenejas, Caracas, Venezuela
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21
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Singh N, Maus MV. Synthetic manipulation of the cancer-immunity cycle: CAR-T cell therapy. Immunity 2023; 56:2296-2310. [PMID: 37820585 DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic immunity to cancer has been pioneered by the application of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineering into autologous T cells. CAR T cell therapy is highly amenable to molecular engineering to bypass barriers of the cancer immunity cycle, such as endogenous antigen presentation, immune priming, and natural checkpoints that constrain immune responses. Here, we review CAR T cell design and the mechanisms that drive sustained CAR T cell effector activity and anti-tumor function. We discuss engineering approaches aimed at improving anti-tumor function through a variety of mechanistic interventions for both hematologic and solid tumors. The ability to engineer T cells in such a variety of ways, including by modifying their trafficking, antigen recognition, costimulation, and addition of synthetic genes, circuits, knockouts and base edits to finely tune complex functions, is arguably the most powerful way to manipulate the cancer immunity cycle in patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Singh
- Division of Oncology, Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
| | - Marcela V Maus
- Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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22
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Rosado-Sánchez I, Haque M, Salim K, Speck M, Fung VC, Boardman DA, Mojibian M, Raimondi G, Levings MK. Tregs integrate native and CAR-mediated costimulatory signals for control of allograft rejection. JCI Insight 2023; 8:e167215. [PMID: 37669115 PMCID: PMC10619441 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.167215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Tregs expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CAR-Tregs) are a promising tool to promote transplant tolerance. The relationship between CAR structure and Treg function was studied in xenogeneic, immunodeficient mice, revealing advantages of CD28-encoding CARs. However, these models could underrepresent interactions between CAR-Tregs, antigen-presenting cells (APCs), and donor-specific Abs. We generated Tregs expressing HLA-A2-specific CARs with different costimulatory domains and compared their function in vitro and in vivo using an immunocompetent model of transplantation. In vitro, the CD28-encoding CAR had superior antigen-specific suppression, proliferation, and cytokine production. In contrast, in vivo, Tregs expressing CARs encoding CD28, ICOS, programmed cell death 1, and GITR, but not 4-1BB or OX40, all extended skin allograft survival. To reconcile in vitro and in vivo data, we analyzed effects of a CAR encoding CD3ζ but no costimulatory domain. These data revealed that exogenous costimulation from APCs can compensate for the lack of a CAR-encoded CD28 domain. Thus, Tregs expressing a CAR with or without CD28 are functionally equivalent in vivo, mediating similar extension of skin allograft survival and controlling the generation of anti-HLA-A2 alloantibodies. This study reveals a dimension of CAR-Treg biology and has important implications for the design of CARs for clinical use in Tregs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isaac Rosado-Sánchez
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- School of Biomedical Engineering and
| | - Manjurul Haque
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Kevin Salim
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Madeleine Speck
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Vivian C.W. Fung
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Dominic A. Boardman
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Majid Mojibian
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Giorgio Raimondi
- Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Megan K. Levings
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- School of Biomedical Engineering and
- Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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23
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Lahimchi MR, Maroufi F, Maali A. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells: The Intersection of Stem Cells and Immunotherapy. Cell Reprogram 2023; 25:195-211. [PMID: 37782910 DOI: 10.1089/cell.2023.0041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a promising cell-based immunotherapy applicable to various cancers. High cost of production, immune rejection, heterogeneity of cell product, limited cell source, limited expandability, and relatively long production time have created the need to achieve a universal allogeneic CAR-T cell product for "off-the-shelf" application. Since the innovation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by Yamanaka et al., extensive efforts have been made to prepare an unlimited cell source for regenerative medicine, that is, immunotherapy. In the autologous grafting approach, iPSCs prepare the desired cell source for generating autologous CAR-T cells through more accessible and available sources. In addition, generating iPSC-derived CAR-T cells is a promising approach to achieving a suitable source for producing an allogeneic CAR-T cell product. In brief, the first step is reprogramming somatic cells (accessible from peripheral blood, skin, etc.) to iPSCs. In the next step, CAR expression and T cell lineage differentiation should be applied in different arrangements. In addition, in an allogeneic manner, human leukocyte antigen/T cell receptor (TCR) deficiency should be applied in iPSC colonies. The allogeneic iPSC-derived CAR-T cell experiments showed that simultaneous performance of HLA/TCR deficiency, CAR expression, and T cell lineage differentiation could bring the production to the highest efficacy in generating allogeneic iPSC-derived CAR-T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Faezeh Maroufi
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Allied Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran
| | - Amirhosein Maali
- Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Allied Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran
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24
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Smith R. Bringing cell therapy to tumors: considerations for optimal CAR binder design. Antib Ther 2023; 6:225-239. [PMID: 37846297 PMCID: PMC10576856 DOI: 10.1093/abt/tbad019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells have revolutionized the immunotherapy of B-cell malignancies and are poised to expand the range of their impact across a broad range of oncology and non-oncology indications. Critical to the success of a given CAR is the choice of binding domain, as this is the key driver for specificity and plays an important role (along with the rest of the CAR structure) in determining efficacy, potency and durability of the cell therapy. While antibodies have proven to be effective sources of CAR binding domains, it has become apparent that the desired attributes for a CAR binding domain do differ from those of a recombinant antibody. This review will address key factors that need to be considered in choosing the optimal binding domain for a given CAR and how binder properties influence and are influenced by the rest of the CAR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Smith
- Department of Research, Kite, a Gilead Company, 5858 Horton Street, Suite 240, Emeryville, CA 94070, USA
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25
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Pfeifer Serrahima J, Zhang C, Oberoi P, Bodden M, Röder J, Arndt C, Feldmann A, Kiefer A, Prüfer M, Kühnel I, Tonn T, Bachmann M, Wels WS. Multivalent adaptor proteins specifically target NK cells carrying a universal chimeric antigen receptor to ErbB2 (HER2)-expressing cancers. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2023; 72:2905-2918. [PMID: 36688995 PMCID: PMC10412657 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-023-03374-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered immune effector cells constitute a promising approach for adoptive cancer immunotherapy. Nevertheless, on-target/off-tumor toxicity and immune escape due to antigen loss represent considerable challenges. These may be overcome by adaptor CARs that are selectively triggered by bispecific molecules that crosslink the CAR with a tumor-associated surface antigen. Here, we generated NK cells carrying a first- or second-generation universal CAR (UniCAR) and redirected them to tumor cells with so-called target modules (TMs) which harbor an ErbB2 (HER2)-specific antibody domain for target cell binding and the E5B9 peptide recognized by the UniCAR. To investigate differential effects of the protein design on activity, we developed homodimeric TMs with one, two or three E5B9 peptides per monomer, and binding domains either directly linked or separated by an IgG4 Fc domain. The adaptor molecules were expressed as secreted proteins in Expi293F cells, purified from culture supernatants and their bispecific binding to UniCAR and ErbB2 was confirmed by flow cytometry. In cell killing experiments, all tested TMs redirected NK cell cytotoxicity selectively to ErbB2-positive tumor cells. Nevertheless, we found considerable differences in the extent of specific cell killing depending on TM design and CAR composition, with adaptor proteins carrying two or three E5B9 epitopes being more effective when combined with NK cells expressing the first-generation UniCAR, while the second-generation UniCAR was more active in the presence of TMs with one E5B9 sequence. These results may have important implications for the further development of optimized UniCAR and target module combinations for cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Pfeifer Serrahima
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Congcong Zhang
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany
- Partner Site Frankfurt/Mainz, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Frankfurt, Germany
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Pranav Oberoi
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany
- Partner Site Frankfurt/Mainz, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Frankfurt, Germany
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Malena Bodden
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jasmin Röder
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany
- Frankfurt Cancer Institute, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Claudia Arndt
- Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
| | - Anja Feldmann
- Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
| | - Anne Kiefer
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Maren Prüfer
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Ines Kühnel
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Torsten Tonn
- Experimental Transfusion Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Partner Site Dresden, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Dresden, Germany
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine, German Red Cross Blood Donation Service North-East, Dresden, Germany
| | - Michael Bachmann
- Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany
- Partner Site Dresden, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and Tumor Immunology, University Cancer Center (UCC) Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Winfried S Wels
- Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany.
- Partner Site Frankfurt/Mainz, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Frankfurt, Germany.
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
- Frankfurt Cancer Institute, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
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26
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Moreno-Cortes E, Franco-Fuquen P, Garcia-Robledo JE, Forero J, Booth N, Castro JE. ICOS and OX40 tandem co-stimulation enhances CAR T-cell cytotoxicity and promotes T-cell persistence phenotype. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1200914. [PMID: 37719008 PMCID: PMC10502212 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1200914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have emerged as an effective and potentially curative immunotherapy for patients with relapsed or refractory malignancies. Treatment with CD19 CAR T-cells has shown unprecedented results in hematological malignancies, including heavily refractory leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma cases. Despite these encouraging results, CAR T-cell therapy faces limitations, including the lack of long-term responses in nearly 50-70% of the treated patients and low efficacy in solid tumors. Among other reasons, these restrictions are related to the lack of targetable tumor-associated antigens, limitations on the CAR design and interactions with the tumor microenvironment (TME), as well as short-term CAR T-cell persistence. Because of these reasons, we developed and tested a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) construct with an anti-ROR1 single-chain variable-fragment cassette connected to CD3ζ by second and third-generation intracellular signaling domains including 4-1BB, CD28/4-1BB, ICOS/4-1BB or ICOS/OX40. We observed that after several successive tumor-cell in vitro challenges, ROR1.ICOS.OX40ζ continued to proliferate, produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, and induce cytotoxicity against ROR1+ cell lines in vitro with enhanced potency. Additionally, in vivo ROR1.ICOS.OX40ζ T-cells showed anti-lymphoma activity, a long-lasting central memory phenotype, improved overall survival, and evidence of long-term CAR T-cell persistence. We conclude that anti-ROR1 CAR T-cells that are activated by ICOS.OX40 tandem co-stimulation show in vitro and in vivo enhanced targeted cytotoxicity associated with a phenotype that promotes T-cell persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eider Moreno-Cortes
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Cancer Research and Cellular Therapy Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
| | - Pedro Franco-Fuquen
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Cancer Research and Cellular Therapy Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
| | - Juan E. Garcia-Robledo
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Cancer Research and Cellular Therapy Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
| | - Jose Forero
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Cancer Research and Cellular Therapy Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Division of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Natalie Booth
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Cancer Research and Cellular Therapy Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, United States
| | - Januario E. Castro
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Cancer Research and Cellular Therapy Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ, United States
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27
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Zhu I, Piraner DI, Roybal KT. Synthesizing a Smarter CAR T Cell: Advanced Engineering of T-cell Immunotherapies. Cancer Immunol Res 2023; 11:1030-1043. [PMID: 37429007 PMCID: PMC10527511 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-22-0962] [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: 12/11/2022] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
The immune system includes an array of specialized cells that keep us healthy by responding to pathogenic cues. Investigations into the mechanisms behind immune cell behavior have led to the development of powerful immunotherapies, including chimeric-antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. Although CAR T cells have demonstrated efficacy in treating blood cancers, issues regarding their safety and potency have hindered the use of immunotherapies in a wider spectrum of diseases. Efforts to integrate developments in synthetic biology into immunotherapy have led to several advancements with the potential to expand the range of treatable diseases, fine-tune the desired immune response, and improve therapeutic cell potency. Here, we examine current synthetic biology advances that aim to improve on existing technologies and discuss the promise of the next generation of engineered immune cell therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iowis Zhu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Dan I. Piraner
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Kole T. Roybal
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA 8Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Gladstone UCSF Institute for Genetic Immunology, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA
- UCSF Cell Design Institute, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
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28
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Smith R, Shen R. Complexities in comparing the impact of costimulatory domains on approved CD19 CAR functionality. J Transl Med 2023; 21:515. [PMID: 37518011 PMCID: PMC10387212 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-023-04372-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are engineered to target T cells specifically to tumor cells, resulting in the engineered T cell killing the tumor cell. This technology has been developed to target a range of cancers, with the most notable successes in the treatment of B-cell malignancies where four approved therapies, all targeting CD19, are on the market. These four products differ in the costimulation domains, with axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) and brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) both utilizing the CD28 costimulation domain whilst tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) and lisocabtagene maraleucel (Breyanzi) both utilizing the 4-1BB costimulation domain. There are clearly defined differences in how the CD28 and 4-1BB domains signal, yet it is difficult to ascertain which domain affords a superior mechanism of action given many other differences between these products, including overall CAR architecture and manufacturing methods. Additionally, while in vitro and preclinical in vivo studies have compared CARs with different costimulation domains, it remains a challenge to extrapolate differences observed in this biology across different experimental systems to the overall product performance. While there has been extensive preclinical and clinical work looking at CARs with a variety of targeting domains and architectures, this review will focus on the differences between the four marketed anti-CD19 CAR-Ts, with an additional focus on the impact of hinge and transmembrane domain on CAR activity and interaction with the target cell as well as other proteins on the surface of the T-cell.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rhine Shen
- Kite Pharma Inc, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, USA
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29
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Zheng Z, Li S, Liu M, Chen C, Zhang L, Zhou D. Fine-Tuning through Generations: Advances in Structure and Production of CAR-T Therapy. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:3476. [PMID: 37444586 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15133476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is a promising form of immunotherapy that has seen significant advancements in the past few decades. It involves genetically modifying T cells to target cancer cells expressing specific antigens, providing a novel approach to treating various types of cancer. However, the initial success of first-generation CAR-T cells was limited due to inadequate proliferation and undesirable outcomes. Nonetheless, significant progress has been made in CAR-T cell engineering, leading to the development of the latest fifth-generation CAR-T cells that can target multiple antigens and overcome individual limitations. Despite these advancements, some shortcomings prevent the widespread use of CAR-T therapy, including life-threatening toxicities, T-cell exhaustion, and inadequate infiltration for solid tumors. Researchers have made considerable efforts to address these issues by developing new strategies for improving CAR-T cell function and reducing toxicities. This review provides an overview of the path of CAR-T cell development and highlights some of the prominent advances in its structure and manufacturing process, which include the strategies to improve antigen recognition, enhance T-cell activation and persistence, and overcome immune escape. Finally, the review briefly covers other immune cells for cancer therapy and ends with the discussion on the broad prospects of CAR-T in the treatment of various diseases, not just hematological tumors, and the challenges that need to be addressed for the widespread clinical application of CAR-T cell therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhibo Zheng
- Department of International Medical Services, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
| | - Siyuan Li
- Department of Hematology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
| | - Mohan Liu
- Department of Breast Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
| | - Chuyan Chen
- Department of Gastroenterology, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Disease, Beijing Digestive Disease Center, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100730, China
| | - Lu Zhang
- Department of Hematology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
| | - Daobin Zhou
- Department of Hematology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
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30
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Ye X, Wu Y, Zhang H, Zhou Y, Dong J, Cai J. Rapid generation of CD19 CAR-T cells by minicircle DNA enables anti-tumor activity and prevents fatal CAR-B leukemia. Cancer Lett 2023:216278. [PMID: 37354981 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2023.216278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
Manufacturing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cellsusing viral vectors is expensive and time-consuming. In addition, during viral transduction, genes encoding CARs are randomly integrated into the genome, which can cause oncogenesis or produce devastating CARtumor cells. Here, using a virus-free and non-transgenic minicircle DNA (mcDNA) vector, we enabledthe rapid generation of CD19 CAR-T cells within two days. Furthermore, we demonstrated in vitro and in xenograft models that the antitumor effects of CD19 CAR-T cells produced by mcDNA are as effective as those produced by viral vectors. Finally, we showed that our manufacturing process avoids the production of fatal CARtumor cells. Taken together, we have provided a fast, effective, and therapeutically safe method for generating CD19 CAR-T cells for the treatment of leukemia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueshuai Ye
- Department of Surgery, Hebei Medical University, 361 East Zhongshan Road, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China
| | - Yongqiang Wu
- Gene Editing Research Center, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang, 050000, China
| | - Haiqiang Zhang
- Department of Surgery, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, 215 West Heping Road, Shijiazhuang, 050051, China
| | - Ye Zhou
- Department of Surgery, Hebei Medical University, 361 East Zhongshan Road, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China; Department of Oncology & Surgery, Hebei General Hospital, 348 West Heping Road, Shijiazhuang, 050051, China
| | - Jiantao Dong
- Department of Surgery, Hebei Medical University, 361 East Zhongshan Road, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China; Department of Oncology & Surgery, Hebei General Hospital, 348 West Heping Road, Shijiazhuang, 050051, China
| | - Jianhui Cai
- Department of Surgery, Hebei Medical University, 361 East Zhongshan Road, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China; Department of Oncology & Surgery, Hebei General Hospital, 348 West Heping Road, Shijiazhuang, 050051, China.
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Gu A, Bai Y, Zhang C, Xu C, An Z, Zhang Y, Zhong SH, Hu Y, Zhong X. IL13Rα2-targeted third-generation CAR-T cells with CD28 transmembrane domain mediate the best anti-glioblastoma efficacy. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2023:10.1007/s00262-023-03423-5. [PMID: 36991262 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-023-03423-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/12/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T (CAR-T) cell therapy has been proven to be a powerful tool for the treatment of cancer, however, the limits are obvious, especially for solid tumors. Therefore, constantly optimizing the structure of CAR to improve its therapeutic effect is necessary. In this study, we generated three different third-generation CARs targeting IL13Rα2, with the same scFv, but different transmembrane domains (TMDs) from CD4, CD8 or CD28 (IL13-CD4TM-28.BB.ζ, IL13-CD8TM-28.BB.ζ and IL13-CD28TM-28.BB.ζ). CARs were transduced into primary T cells using retroviruses. The anti-GBM efficacy of CAR-T cells was monitored by flow cytometry and real-time cell analysis (RTCA) in vitro and examined in two xenograft mouse models. The differentially expressed genes related to different anti-GBM activity were screened by high throughput RNA sequencing. We observed that T cells transduced with these three CARs have similar anti-tumor activity when co-cultured with U373 cells which expressed higher IL13Rα2 but exhibited different anti-tumor activity when co-cultured with U251 cells that expressed lower IL13Rα2. All the three groups of CAR-T cells can be activated by U373 cells, but only IL13-CD28TM-28.BB.ζ CAR-T cells could be activated and expressed increased IFN-γ after co-culturing with U251 cells. IL13-CD28TM-28.BB.ζ CAR-T cells exhibited the best anti-tumor activity in xenograft mouse models which can infiltrate into the tumors. The superior anti-tumor efficacy of IL13-CD28TM-28.BB.ζ CAR-T cells was partially owing to differentially expressed extracellular assembly, extracellular matrix, cell migration and adhesion-related genes which contribute to the lower activation threshold, increased cell proliferation, and elevated migration capacity.
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Li S, Wang CS, Montel-Hagen A, Chen HC, Lopez S, Zhou O, Dai K, Tsai S, Satyadi W, Botero C, Wong C, Casero D, Crooks GM, Seet CS. Strength of CAR signaling determines T cell versus ILC differentiation from pluripotent stem cells. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112241. [PMID: 36906850 PMCID: PMC10315155 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Generation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) will enable advances in cancer immunotherapy. Understanding how CARs affect T cell differentiation from PSCs is important for this effort. The recently described artificial thymic organoid (ATO) system supports in vitro differentiation of PSCs to T cells. Unexpectedly, PSCs transduced with a CD19-targeted CAR resulted in diversion of T cell differentiation to the innate lymphoid cell 2 (ILC2) lineage in ATOs. T cells and ILC2s are closely related lymphoid lineages with shared developmental and transcriptional programs. Mechanistically, we show that antigen-independent CAR signaling during lymphoid development enriched for ILC2-primed precursors at the expense of T cell precursors. We applied this understanding to modulate CAR signaling strength through expression level, structure, and presentation of cognate antigen to demonstrate that the T cell-versus-ILC lineage decision can be rationally controlled in either direction, providing a framework for achieving CAR-T cell development from PSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suwen Li
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Chloe S Wang
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Amélie Montel-Hagen
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Ho-Chung Chen
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Shawn Lopez
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Olivia Zhou
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Kristy Dai
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Steven Tsai
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - William Satyadi
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Carlos Botero
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Claudia Wong
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - David Casero
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Gay M Crooks
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Broad Stem Cell Research Center (BSCRC), David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC), David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Christopher S Seet
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Broad Stem Cell Research Center (BSCRC), David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC), David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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Barden M, Holzinger A, Velas L, Mezősi-Csaplár M, Szöőr Á, Vereb G, Schütz GJ, Hombach AA, Abken H. CAR and TCR form individual signaling synapses and do not cross-activate, however, can co-operate in T cell activation. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1110482. [PMID: 36817444 PMCID: PMC9929185 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1110482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In engineered T cells the CAR is co-expressed along with the physiological TCR/CD3 complex, both utilizing the same downstream signaling machinery for T cell activation. It is unresolved whether CAR-mediated T cell activation depends on the presence of the TCR and whether CAR and TCR mutually cross-activate upon engaging their respective antigen. Here we demonstrate that the CD3ζ CAR level was independent of the TCR associated CD3ζ and could not replace CD3ζ to rescue the TCR complex in CD3ζ KO T cells. Upon activation, the CAR did not induce phosphorylation of TCR associated CD3ζ and, vice versa, TCR activation did not induce CAR CD3ζ phosphorylation. Consequently, CAR and TCR did not cross-signal to trigger T cell effector functions. On the membrane level, TCR and CAR formed separate synapses upon antigen engagement as revealed by total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) and fast AiryScan microscopy. Upon engaging their respective antigen, however, CAR and TCR could co-operate in triggering effector functions through combinatorial signaling allowing logic "AND" gating in target recognition. Data also imply that tonic TCR signaling can support CAR-mediated T cell activation emphasizing the potential relevance of the endogenous TCR for maintaining T cell capacities in the long-term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Barden
- Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT), Division of Genetic Immunotherapy, University Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Astrid Holzinger
- Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT), Division of Genetic Immunotherapy, University Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Lukas Velas
- Institute of Applied Physics, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marianna Mezősi-Csaplár
- Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Árpád Szöőr
- Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - György Vereb
- Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary,ELKH-DE Cell Biology and Signaling Research Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | | | - Andreas A. Hombach
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany,Department I Internal Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Hinrich Abken
- Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT), Division of Genetic Immunotherapy, University Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany,*Correspondence: Hinrich Abken,
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Oh BLZ, Chan LWY, Chai LYA. Manipulating NK cellular therapy from cancer to invasive fungal infection: promises and challenges. Front Immunol 2023; 13:1044946. [PMID: 36969979 PMCID: PMC10034767 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1044946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The ideal strategy to fight an infection involves both (i) weakening the invading pathogen through conventional antimicrobial therapy, and (ii) strengthening defense through the augmentation of host immunity. This is even more pertinent in the context of invasive fungal infections whereby the majority of patients have altered immunity and are unable to mount an appropriate host response against the pathogen. Natural killer (NK) cells fit the requirement of an efficient, innate executioner of both tumour cells and pathogens – their unique, targeted cell killing mechanism, combined with other arms of the immune system, make them potent effectors. These characteristics, together with their ready availability (given the various sources of extrinsic NK cells available for harvesting), make NK cells an attractive choice as adoptive cellular therapy against fungi in invasive infections. Improved techniques in ex vivo NK cell activation with expansion, and more importantly, recent advances in genetic engineering including state-of-the-art chimeric antigen receptor platform development, have presented an opportune moment to harness this novel therapeutic as a key component of a multipronged strategy against invasive fungal infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernice Ling Zhi Oh
- VIVA-University Children’s Cancer Centre, Khoo-Teck Puat-National University Children’s Medical Institute, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Paediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Louis Wei Yong Chan
- Clinician Scientist Academy, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Louis Yi Ann Chai
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- *Correspondence: Louis Yi Ann Chai,
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Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy: Current Perspective on T Cell-Intrinsic, T Cell-Extrinsic, and Therapeutic Limitations. Cancer J 2023; 29:28-33. [PMID: 36693155 DOI: 10.1097/ppo.0000000000000636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Genetically engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy leverages the ability of the immune system to eliminate tumors and redirects cytotoxic functions toward cells expressing specified tumor-restricted antigens. Although 6 CAR T-cell therapies have received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of many hematological malignancies, limitations involving T cell-intrinsic, T cell-extrinsic, and therapeutic factors remain in the treatment of both liquid and solid tumors. Chimeric antigen receptor design, signals from the tumor microenvironment, tumor antigen escape mechanisms, and systemic inflammatory consequences of CAR T-cell infusion all influence the efficacy and feasibility of CAR T-cell therapy in different malignancies. Here, we review the core structure of the CAR, the evolution of different CAR generations, CAR T-cell therapy limitations, and current strategies being investigated to overcome the T cell-intrinsic, T cell-independent, and therapeutic barriers to successful CAR T-cell therapy.
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Cancer immunotherapy with CAR T cells: well-trodden paths and journey along lesser-known routes. Radiol Oncol 2022; 56:409-419. [PMID: 36503716 PMCID: PMC9784369 DOI: 10.2478/raon-2022-0049] [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: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a clinically approved cancer immunotherapy approach using genetically engineered T cells. The success of CAR T cells has been met with challenges regarding efficacy and safety. Although a broad spectrum of CAR T cell variants and applications is emerging, this review focuses on CAR T cells for the treatment of cancer. In the first part, the general principles of adoptive cell transfer, the architecture of the CAR molecule, and the effects of design on function are presented. The second part describes five conceptual challenges that hinder the success of CAR T cells; immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, T cell intrinsic properties, tumour targeting, manufacturing cellular product, and immune-related adverse events. Throughout the review, selected current approaches to address these issues are presented. CONCLUSIONS Cancer immunotherapy with CAR T cells represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of certain blood cancers that do not respond to other available treatment options. Well-trodden paths taken by pioneers led to the first clinical approval, and now the journey continues down lesser-known paths to treat a variety of cancers and other serious diseases with CAR T cells.
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B7-1 mediates podocyte injury and glomerulosclerosis through communication with Hsp90ab1-LRP5-β-catenin pathway. Cell Death Differ 2022; 29:2399-2416. [PMID: 35710882 PMCID: PMC9750974 DOI: 10.1038/s41418-022-01026-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Podocyte injury is a hallmark of glomerular diseases; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. B7-1 is increased in injured podocytes, but its intrinsic role is controversial. The clinical data here revealed the intimate correlation of urinary B7-1 with severity of glomerular injury. Through transcriptomic and biological assays in B7-1 transgenic and adriamycin nephropathy models, we identified B7-1 is a key mediator in podocyte injury and glomerulosclerosis through a series of signal transmission to β-catenin. Using LC-MS/MS, Hsp90ab1, a conserved molecular chaperone, was distinguished to be an anchor for transmitting signals from B7-1 to β-catenin. Molecular docking and subsequent mutant analysis further identified the residue K69 in the N terminal domain of Hsp90ab1 was the key binding site for B7-1 to activate LRP5/β-catenin pathway. The interaction and biological functions of B7-1-Hsp90ab1-LRP5 complex were further demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. We also found B7-1 is a novel downstream target of β-catenin. Our results indicate an intercrossed network of B7-1, which collectively induces podocyte injury and glomerulosclerosis. Our study provides an important clue to improve the therapeutic strategies to target B7-1.
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T cell and B cell antigen receptors share a conserved core transmembrane structure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2208058119. [PMID: 36409917 PMCID: PMC9860311 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2208058119] [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: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The B cell and T cell antigen receptors (BCR and TCR) share a common architecture in which variable dimeric antigen-binding modules assemble with invariant dimeric signaling modules to form functional receptor complexes. In the TCR, a highly conserved T cell receptor αβ (TCRαβ) transmembrane (TM) interface forms a rigid structure around which its three dimeric signaling modules assemble through well-characterized polar interactions. Noting that the key features stabilizing this TCRαβ TM interface also appear with high evolutionary conservation in the TM sequences of the membrane immunoglobulin (mIg) heavy chains that form the BCR's homodimeric antigen-binding module, we asked whether the BCR contained an analogous TM structure. Using an unbiased biochemical and computational modeling approach, we found that the mouse IgM BCR forms a core TM structure that is remarkably similar to that of the TCR. This structure is reinforced by a network of interhelical hydrogen bonds, and our model is nearly identical to the arrangement observed in the just-released cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of intact human BCRs. Our biochemical analysis shows that the integrity of this TM structure is vital for stable assembly with the BCR signaling module CD79AB in the B cell endoplasmic reticulum, and molecular dynamics simulations indicate that BCRs of all five isotypes can form comparable structures. These results demonstrate that, despite their many differences in composition, complexity, and ligand type, TCRs and BCRs rely on a common core TM structure that has been shaped by evolution for optimal receptor assembly and stability in the cell membrane.
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Nasiri F, Kazemi M, Mirarefin SMJ, Mahboubi Kancha M, Ahmadi Najafabadi M, Salem F, Dashti Shokoohi S, Evazi Bakhshi S, Safarzadeh Kozani P, Safarzadeh Kozani P. CAR-T cell therapy in triple-negative breast cancer: Hunting the invisible devil. Front Immunol 2022; 13. [DOI: https:/doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1018786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is known as the most intricate and hard-to-treat subtype of breast cancer. TNBC cells do not express the well-known estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expressed by other breast cancer subtypes. This phenomenon leaves no room for novel treatment approaches including endocrine and HER2-specific antibody therapies. To date, surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic chemotherapy remain the principal therapy options for TNBC treatment. However, in numerous cases, these approaches either result in minimal clinical benefit or are nonfunctional, resulting in disease recurrence and poor prognosis. Nowadays, chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy is becoming more established as an option for the treatment of various types of hematologic malignancies. CAR-Ts are genetically engineered T lymphocytes that employ the body’s immune system mechanisms to selectively recognize cancer cells expressing tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) of interest and efficiently eliminate them. However, despite the clinical triumph of CAR-T therapy in hematologic neoplasms, CAR-T therapy of solid tumors, including TNBC, has been much more challenging. In this review, we will discuss the success of CAR-T therapy in hematological neoplasms and its caveats in solid tumors, and then we summarize the potential CAR-T targetable TAAs in TNBC studied in different investigational stages.
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Nasiri F, Kazemi M, Mirarefin SMJ, Mahboubi Kancha M, Ahmadi Najafabadi M, Salem F, Dashti Shokoohi S, Evazi Bakhshi S, Safarzadeh Kozani P, Safarzadeh Kozani P. CAR-T cell therapy in triple-negative breast cancer: Hunting the invisible devil. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1018786. [PMID: 36483567 PMCID: PMC9722775 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1018786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is known as the most intricate and hard-to-treat subtype of breast cancer. TNBC cells do not express the well-known estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expressed by other breast cancer subtypes. This phenomenon leaves no room for novel treatment approaches including endocrine and HER2-specific antibody therapies. To date, surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic chemotherapy remain the principal therapy options for TNBC treatment. However, in numerous cases, these approaches either result in minimal clinical benefit or are nonfunctional, resulting in disease recurrence and poor prognosis. Nowadays, chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy is becoming more established as an option for the treatment of various types of hematologic malignancies. CAR-Ts are genetically engineered T lymphocytes that employ the body's immune system mechanisms to selectively recognize cancer cells expressing tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) of interest and efficiently eliminate them. However, despite the clinical triumph of CAR-T therapy in hematologic neoplasms, CAR-T therapy of solid tumors, including TNBC, has been much more challenging. In this review, we will discuss the success of CAR-T therapy in hematological neoplasms and its caveats in solid tumors, and then we summarize the potential CAR-T targetable TAAs in TNBC studied in different investigational stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatemeh Nasiri
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Production Platforms & Analytics, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Mehrasa Kazemi
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Thalassemia Research Center, Hemoglobinopathy Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | | | - Maral Mahboubi Kancha
- Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
| | - Milad Ahmadi Najafabadi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Faeze Salem
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Setareh Dashti Shokoohi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sahar Evazi Bakhshi
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
| | - Pouya Safarzadeh Kozani
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Paramedicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
| | - Pooria Safarzadeh Kozani
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
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Cassioli C, Patrussi L, Valitutti S, Baldari CT. Learning from TCR Signaling and Immunological Synapse Assembly to Build New Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs). Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:14255. [PMID: 36430728 PMCID: PMC9694822 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232214255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy is a revolutionary pillar in cancer treatment. Clinical experience has shown remarkable successes in the treatment of certain hematological malignancies but only limited efficacy against B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and other cancer types, especially solid tumors. A wide range of engineering strategies have been employed to overcome the limitations of CAR T cell therapy. However, it has become increasingly clear that CARs have unique, unexpected features; hence, a deep understanding of how CARs signal and trigger the formation of a non-conventional immunological synapse (IS), the signaling platform required for T cell activation and execution of effector functions, would lead a shift from empirical testing to the rational design of new CAR constructs. Here, we review current knowledge of CARs, focusing on their structure, signaling and role in CAR T cell IS assembly. We, moreover, discuss the molecular features accounting for poor responses in CLL patients treated with anti-CD19 CAR T cells and propose CLL as a paradigm for diseases connected to IS dysfunctions that could significantly benefit from the development of novel CARs to generate a productive anti-tumor response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Cassioli
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Laura Patrussi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Salvatore Valitutti
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U1037, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Toulouse (CRCT), Université de Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, 31037 Toulouse, France
- Department of Pathology, Institut Universitaire du Cancer-Oncopole de Toulouse, 31059 Toulouse, France
| | - Cosima T. Baldari
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
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Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells comprise a unique population of innate lymphoid cells endowed with intrinsic abilities to identify and eliminate virally infected cells and tumour cells. Possessing multiple cytotoxicity mechanisms and the ability to modulate the immune response through cytokine production, NK cells play a pivotal role in anticancer immunity. This role was elucidated nearly two decades ago, when NK cells, used as immunotherapeutic agents, showed safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with advanced-stage leukaemia. In recent years, following the paradigm-shifting successes of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered adoptive T cell therapy and the advancement in technologies that can turn cells into powerful antitumour weapons, the interest in NK cells as a candidate for immunotherapy has grown exponentially. Strategies for the development of NK cell-based therapies focus on enhancing NK cell potency and persistence through co-stimulatory signalling, checkpoint inhibition and cytokine armouring, and aim to redirect NK cell specificity to the tumour through expression of CAR or the use of engager molecules. In the clinic, the first generation of NK cell therapies have delivered promising results, showing encouraging efficacy and remarkable safety, thus driving great enthusiasm for continued innovation. In this Review, we describe the various approaches to augment NK cell cytotoxicity and longevity, evaluate challenges and opportunities, and reflect on how lessons learned from the clinic will guide the design of next-generation NK cell products that will address the unique complexities of each cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara J Laskowski
- Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Alexander Biederstädt
- Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Medicine III: Hematology and Oncology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Katayoun Rezvani
- Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
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Rodriguez-Marquez P, Calleja-Cervantes ME, Serrano G, Oliver-Caldes A, Palacios-Berraquero ML, Martin-Mallo A, Calviño C, Español-Rego M, Ceballos C, Lozano T, San Martin-Uriz P, Vilas-Zornoza A, Rodriguez-Diaz S, Martinez-Turrillas R, Jauregui P, Alignani D, Viguria MC, Redondo M, Pascal M, Martin-Antonio B, Juan M, Urbano-Ispizua A, Rodriguez-Otero P, Alfonso-Pierola A, Paiva B, Lasarte JJ, Inoges S, Lopez-Diaz de Cerio A, San-Miguel J, Fernandez de Larrea C, Hernaez M, Rodriguez-Madoz JR, Prosper F. CAR density influences antitumoral efficacy of BCMA CAR T cells and correlates with clinical outcome. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo0514. [PMID: 36179026 PMCID: PMC9524842 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo0514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Identification of new markers associated with long-term efficacy in patients treated with CAR T cells is a current medical need, particularly in diseases such as multiple myeloma. In this study, we address the impact of CAR density on the functionality of BCMA CAR T cells. Functional and transcriptional studies demonstrate that CAR T cells with high expression of the CAR construct show an increased tonic signaling with up-regulation of exhaustion markers and increased in vitro cytotoxicity but a decrease in in vivo BM infiltration. Characterization of gene regulatory networks using scRNA-seq identified regulons associated to activation and exhaustion up-regulated in CARHigh T cells, providing mechanistic insights behind differential functionality of these cells. Last, we demonstrate that patients treated with CAR T cell products enriched in CARHigh T cells show a significantly worse clinical response in several hematological malignancies. In summary, our work demonstrates that CAR density plays an important role in CAR T activity with notable impact on clinical response.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria E. Calleja-Cervantes
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
- Computational Biology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Guillermo Serrano
- Computational Biology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Aina Oliver-Caldes
- Department of Hematology, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Angel Martin-Mallo
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Cristina Calviño
- Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Marta Español-Rego
- Department of Immunology, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Candela Ceballos
- Hematology Service, Hospital Universitario de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Teresa Lozano
- Immunology and Immunotherapy Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | | | - Amaia Vilas-Zornoza
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Rebeca Martinez-Turrillas
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Patricia Jauregui
- Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Diego Alignani
- Flow Cytometry Core, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Maria C. Viguria
- Hematology Service, Hospital Universitario de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Margarita Redondo
- Hematology Service, Hospital Universitario de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Mariona Pascal
- Department of Immunology, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Beatriz Martin-Antonio
- Department of Hematology, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Manel Juan
- Department of Immunology, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Immunotherapy platform Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alvaro Urbano-Ispizua
- Department of Hematology, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Paula Rodriguez-Otero
- Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Ana Alfonso-Pierola
- Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Bruno Paiva
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
- Flow Cytometry Core, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Juan J. Lasarte
- Immunology and Immunotherapy Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Susana Inoges
- Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
- Immunology and Immunotherapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Ascension Lopez-Diaz de Cerio
- Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
- Immunology and Immunotherapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Jesus San-Miguel
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
- Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
- Cancer Center Universidad de Navarra (CCUN), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Carlos Fernandez de Larrea
- Department of Hematology, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mikel Hernaez
- Computational Biology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
- Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Institute (DATAI), Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Juan R. Rodriguez-Madoz
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Felipe Prosper
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Cima Universidad de Navarra, IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain
- Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
- Cancer Center Universidad de Navarra (CCUN), Pamplona, Spain
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44
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Mazinani M, Rahbarizadeh F. CAR-T cell potency: from structural elements to vector backbone components. Biomark Res 2022; 10:70. [PMID: 36123710 PMCID: PMC9487061 DOI: 10.1186/s40364-022-00417-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, in which a patient’s own T lymphocytes are engineered to recognize and kill cancer cells, has achieved remarkable success in some hematological malignancies in preclinical and clinical trials, resulting in six FDA-approved CAR-T products currently available in the market. Once equipped with a CAR construct, T cells act as living drugs and recognize and eliminate the target tumor cells in an MHC-independent manner. In this review, we first described all structural modular of CAR in detail, focusing on more recent findings. We then pointed out behind-the-scene elements contributing to CAR expression and reviewed how CAR expression can be drastically affected by the elements embedded in the viral vector backbone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marzieh Mazinani
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14115-111, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Rahbarizadeh
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14115-111, Tehran, Iran. .,Research and Development Center of Biotechnology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
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45
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Honikel MM, Olejniczak SH. Co-Stimulatory Receptor Signaling in CAR-T Cells. Biomolecules 2022; 12:biom12091303. [PMID: 36139142 PMCID: PMC9496564 DOI: 10.3390/biom12091303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
T cell engineering strategies have emerged as successful immunotherapeutic approaches for the treatment of human cancer. Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy represents a prominent synthetic biology approach to re-direct the specificity of a patient's autologous T cells toward a desired tumor antigen. CAR-T therapy is currently FDA approved for the treatment of hematological malignancies, including subsets of B cell lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and multiple myeloma. Mechanistically, CAR-mediated recognition of a tumor antigen results in propagation of T cell activation signals, including a co-stimulatory signal, resulting in CAR-T cell activation, proliferation, evasion of apoptosis, and acquisition of effector functions. The importance of including a co-stimulatory domain in CARs was recognized following limited success of early iteration CAR-T cell designs lacking co-stimulation. Today, all CAR-T cells in clinical use contain either a CD28 or 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain. Preclinical investigations are exploring utility of including additional co-stimulatory molecules such as ICOS, OX40 and CD27 or various combinations of multiple co-stimulatory domains. Clinical and preclinical evidence implicates the co-stimulatory signal in several aspects of CAR-T cell therapy including response kinetics, persistence and durability, and toxicity profiles each of which impact the safety and anti-tumor efficacy of this immunotherapy. Herein we provide an overview of CAR-T cell co-stimulation by the prototypical receptors and discuss current and emerging strategies to modulate co-stimulatory signals to enhance CAR-T cell function.
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46
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Birley K, Leboreiro-Babe C, Rota EM, Buschhaus M, Gavriil A, Vitali A, Alonso-Ferrero M, Hopwood L, Parienti L, Ferry G, Flutter B, Himoudi N, Chester K, Anderson J. A novel anti-B7-H3 chimeric antigen receptor from a single-chain antibody library for immunotherapy of solid cancers. Mol Ther Oncolytics 2022; 26:429-443. [PMID: 36159778 PMCID: PMC9467911 DOI: 10.1016/j.omto.2022.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
B7-H3 (CD276) has emerged as a target for cancer immunotherapy by virtue of consistent expression in many malignancies, relative absence from healthy tissues, and an emerging role as a driver of tumor immune inhibition. Recent studies have reported B7-H3 to be a suitable target for chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cell (CAR-T) therapy using CARs constructed from established anti-B7-H3 antibodies converted into single-chain Fv format (scFv). We constructed and screened binders in an scFv library to generate a new anti-B7-H3 CAR-T with favorable properties. This allowed access to numerous specificities ready formatted for CAR evaluation. Selected anti-human B7-H3 scFvs were readily cloned into CAR-T and evaluated for anti-tumor reactivity in cytotoxicity, cytokine, and proliferation assays. Two binders with divergent complementarity determining regions were found to show optimal antigen-specific cytotoxicity and cytokine secretion. One binder in second-generation CD28-CD3ζ CAR format induced sustained in vitro proliferation on repeat antigen challenge. The lead candidate CAR-T also demonstrated in vivo activity in a resistant neuroblastoma model. An empirical approach to B7-H3 CAR-T discovery through screening of novel scFv sequences in CAR-T format has led to the identification of a new construct with sustained proliferative capacity warranting further evaluation.
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47
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Cribioli E, Giordano Attianese GMP, Coukos G, Irving M. CAR T cells targeting the ganglioside NGcGM3 control ovarian tumors in the absence of toxicity against healthy tissues. Front Immunol 2022; 13:951143. [PMID: 35990626 PMCID: PMC9389107 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.951143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have emerged as a powerful immunotherapeutic tool against certain hematological malignancies but a significant proportion of patients either do not respond or they relapse, sometimes as a result of target antigen loss. Moreover, limited clinical benefit has been reported for CAR therapy against epithelial derived solid tumors. A major reason for this is the paucity of solid tumor antigens identified to date that are broadly, homogeneously and stably expressed but not found on healthy tissues. To address this, here we describe the development and evaluation of CAR T cells directed against N-glycoslylated ganglioside monosialic 3 (NGcGM3). NGcGM3 derives from the enzymatic hydroxylation of N-acetylneuraminic acid (NAc) GM3 (NAcGM3) and it is present on the surface of a range of cancers including ovarian, breast, melanoma and lymphoma. However, while NAcGM3 is found on healthy human cells, NGcGM3 is not due to the 7deletion of an exon in the gene encoding for the enzyme cytidine monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (CMAH). Indeed, unlike for most mammals, in humans NGcGM3 is considered a neoantigen as its presence on tumors is the result of metabolic incorporation from dietary sources. Here, we have generated 3 CARs comprising different single chain variable fragments (scFvs) originating from the well-characterized monoclonal antibody (mAb) 14F7. We show reactivity of the CAR T cells against a range of patient tumor fragments and we demonstrate control of NGcGM3+ SKOV3 ovarian tumors in the absence of toxicity despite the expression of CMAH and presence of NGcGM3+ on healthy tissues in NSG mice. Taken together, our data indicate clinical potential for 14F7-based CAR T cells against a range of cancers, both in terms of efficacy and of patient safety.
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48
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Li G, Wang H, Wu H, Chen J. B7-H3-targeted CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors. Int Rev Immunol 2022; 41:625-637. [PMID: 35855615 DOI: 10.1080/08830185.2022.2102619] [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: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Since B7-H3 is overexpressed or amplified in many types of solid tumors with a restricted expression in the normal tissues, it has been an emerging immunotherapeutic target for solid tumors. This review will focus on the structural designs of developing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeting B7-H3. The expression, receptor, and function of the B7-H3, as well as a short overview of B7-H3-targeted monoclonal antibody therapy, are discussed. Finally, a detailed summary of B7-H3 redirected CAR-T and CAR-NK cell approaches utilized in preclinical models and currently ongoing or completed clinical trials are presented. It has been demonstrated that B7-H3-targeted CAR-based cell therapies were safe in initial trials, but their efficacy was limited. Employing the local delivery routes, the introduction of novel modifications promoting CAR-T persistence, and combined treatment with other standard therapies could improve the efficacy of B7-H3-targeted CAR-T cell therapy against solid tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangfei Li
- ENT institute and Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Haopeng Wang
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Haitao Wu
- ENT institute and Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jian Chen
- ENT institute and Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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49
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Chen X, Mirazee JM, Skorupka KA, Matsuo H, Youkharibache P, Taylor N, Walters KJ. The CD8α hinge is intrinsically disordered with a dynamic exchange that includes proline cis-trans isomerization. JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE (SAN DIEGO, CALIF. : 1997) 2022; 340:107234. [PMID: 35617919 PMCID: PMC9237829 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2022.107234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
T cells engineered to express artificial chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that selectively target tumor-specific antigens or deleterious cell types offer transformative therapeutic possibilities. CARs contain an N-terminal extracellular antigen recognition domain, C-terminal intracellular signal transduction domains, and connecting hinge and transmembrane regions, each of which have been varied to optimize targeting and minimize toxicity. We find that a CD22-targeting CAR harboring a CD8α hinge (H) exhibits greater cytotoxicity against a low antigen density CD22+ leukemia as compared to an equivalent CAR with a CD28 H. We therefore studied the biophysical and dynamic properties of the CD8α H by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. We find that a large region of the CD8α H undergoes dynamic chemical exchange between distinct and observable states. This exchanging region contains proline residues dispersed throughout the sequence that undergo cis-trans isomerization. Up to four signals of differing intensity are observed, with the most abundantly populated being intrinsically disordered and with all prolines in the trans isomerization state. The lesser populated states all contain cis prolines and evidence of local structural motifs. Altogether, our data suggest that the CD8α H lacks long-range structural order but has local structural motifs that transiently exchange with a dominant disordered state. We propose that structural plasticity and local structural motifs promoted by cis proline states within the CD8α H are important for relaying and amplifying antigen-binding effects to the transmembrane and signal transduction domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Chen
- Center for Structural Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Justin M Mirazee
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA; Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA; Johns Hopkins University Department of Biology, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Katarzyna A Skorupka
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Hiroshi Matsuo
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Philippe Youkharibache
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA.
| | - Naomi Taylor
- Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
| | - Kylie J Walters
- Center for Structural Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
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50
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Elazar A, Chandler NJ, Davey AS, Weinstein JY, Nguyen JV, Trenker R, Cross RS, Jenkins MR, Call MJ, Call ME, Fleishman SJ. De novo-designed transmembrane domains tune engineered receptor functions. eLife 2022; 11:75660. [PMID: 35506657 PMCID: PMC9068223 DOI: 10.7554/elife.75660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
De novo-designed receptor transmembrane domains (TMDs) present opportunities for precise control of cellular receptor functions. We developed a de novo design strategy for generating programmed membrane proteins (proMPs): single-pass α-helical TMDs that self-assemble through computationally defined and crystallographically validated interfaces. We used these proMPs to program specific oligomeric interactions into a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that we expressed in mouse primary T cells and found that both in vitro CAR T cell cytokine release and in vivo antitumor activity scaled linearly with the oligomeric state encoded by the receptor TMD, from monomers up to tetramers. All programmed CARs stimulated substantially lower T cell cytokine release relative to the commonly used CD28 TMD, which we show elevated cytokine release through lateral recruitment of the endogenous T cell costimulatory receptor CD28. Precise design using orthogonal and modular TMDs thus provides a new way to program receptor structure and predictably tune activity for basic or applied synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Assaf Elazar
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Nicholas J Chandler
- Structural Biology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ashleigh S Davey
- Structural Biology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jonathan Y Weinstein
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Julie V Nguyen
- Structural Biology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Raphael Trenker
- Structural Biology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ryan S Cross
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Immunology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Misty R Jenkins
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Immunology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,La Trobe Institute of Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Melissa J Call
- Structural Biology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Matthew E Call
- Structural Biology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sarel J Fleishman
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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