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Volkmar M, Fakhr E, Zens S, Bury A, Offringa R, Gordon J, Huduti E, Wölfel T, Wölfel C. Identification of TRDV-TRAJ V domains in human and mouse T-cell receptor repertoires. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1286688. [PMID: 38077312 PMCID: PMC10702483 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1286688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Here, we describe the identification of two T-cell receptors (TRs) containing TRDV genes in their TRA chains, the first one in human and the second one in mouse. First, using 5'RACE on a mixed lymphocyte-tumor cell culture (MLTC), we identified TRDV1 5'-untranslated region (UTR) and complete coding sequence rearranged productively to TRAJ24. Single-cell TR RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of the MLTC, conducted to identify additional clonotypes, revealed that the analysis software detected the hybrid TRDV-TRAJ TRA (TRA) chain but excluded it from the final results. In a separate project, we performed TR sequencing of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in a murine tumor model. Here, the predominant clonotype contained a TRA chain with a TRDV2-2-TRAJ49 rearrangement. Again, the hybrid TRA chain was not reported in the final results. Transfection of both TR cDNAs resulted in cell surface localization of TR together with CD3, suggesting a productive protein in both cases. Tumor recognition of the Homo sapiens (Homsap) TRDV1-containing TR could be demonstrated by IFN Gamma ELISA ELISpot kit, whereas the Mus musculus (Musmus) TR did not recognize a tumor-derived cell line. To determine whether the TRDV-containing TRA chains we detected were rare events or whether TRDV genes are commonly incorporated into TRA chains, we queried the NCBI Sequence Read Archive for TR single-cell RNA-seq data and analyzed 21 human and 23 murine datasets. We found that especially Homsap TRDV1, Musmus TRDV1, and to some extent Musmus TRDV2-2 are more commonly incorporated into TRA chains than several TRAV genes, making those TRDV genes a relevant contribution to TRA diversity. TRDV-containing TRA chains are currently excluded from the final results of V-(D)-J dataset analyses with the CellRanger software. We provide a work-around to avoid exclusion of those hybrid TRA chains from the final analysis results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Volkmar
- TCR Discovery Platform, Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON) Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Elham Fakhr
- TCR Discovery Platform, Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON) Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Stefan Zens
- Department D200, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Alice Bury
- Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON) Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Rienk Offringa
- Department D200, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jessica Gordon
- BioNtech, Deptartment Immunotherapies & Preclinical Research, Cellular Biomarker and Immunology Research Team, Mainz, Germany
| | - Enes Huduti
- Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON) Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Thomas Wölfel
- Internal Medicine III, University Cancer Center (UCT), Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center (UMC) of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Frankfurt/Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Catherine Wölfel
- Internal Medicine III, University Cancer Center (UCT), Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center (UMC) of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Frankfurt/Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Abstract
Cancer immunotherapy is nowadays largely focused on the development of therapeutic antibodies and chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). Two CARs targeting CD19 have been approved recently for the treatment of some hematological malignancies. This demonstrates the capability of engineered CAR T cells in generating effective tumor responses. Furthermore, several hundred ongoing clinical trials are exploring the feasibility of CAR-based approaches to target tumor-associated antigens in solid tumors. However, there still remain significant challenges and limitations in the design and production of CAR-modified T cells that need to be addressed, such as more effective transduction methods, expression and exhaustion issues, reliable in vitro and in vivo characterization methods, etc. Here we describe current techniques for generating CAR T cells using lentiviral vectors as well as detailed protocols for their functional characterization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mansour Poorebrahim
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Isaac Quiros-Fernandez
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Elham Fakhr
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angel Cid-Arregui
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
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Quiros-Fernandez I, Poorebrahim M, Fakhr E, Cid-Arregui A. Immunogenic T cell epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 are recognized by circulating memory and naïve CD8 T cells of unexposed individuals. EBioMedicine 2021; 72:103610. [PMID: 34627082 PMCID: PMC8493415 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Recent studies have provided evidence of T cell reactivity to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in significant numbers of non-infected individuals, which has been attributed to cross-reactive CD4 memory T cells from previous exposure to seasonal coronaviruses. Less evidence of cross-reactive memory CD8 T cells has been documented to date. Methods We used the NetCTLPan neural network of the Epitope Database and Analysis Resource to select a series of 27 HLA-A*02:01 epitopes derived from the proteome of SARS-CoV-2. Their binding capacity was assessed by a HLA-A*02:01 stabilization assay and by quantifying their binding to HLA-A*02:01 monomers for the generation of tetramers. Their ability to stimulate and induce expansion of SARS-CoV-2 reactive CD8 T cells was measured by flow cytometry. The TCR repertoire of COVID convalescent and healthy unexposed donors was analysed using the MIRA database. Findings The HLA-A*02:01 epitopes tested were able to stabilise HLA molecules and induce activation of CD8 T cells of healthy unexposed donors. Our results, based on specific tetramer binding, provide evidence supporting the presence of frequent cross-reactive CD8 T cells to SARS-CoV-2 antigens in non-exposed individuals. Interestingly, the reactive cells were distributed into naïve, memory and effector subsets. Interpretation Our data are consistent with a significant proportion of the reactive CD8 T clones belonging to the public shared repertoire, readily available in absence of previous contact with closely related coronaviruses. Furthermore, we demonstrate the immunogenic capacity of long peptides carrying T cell epitopes, which can serve to isolate virus-specific T cell receptors among the ample repertoire of healthy unexposed subjects and could have application in COVID-19 immunotherapy. Limitations of our study are that it concentrated on one MHC I allele (HLA-A*02:01) and the low numbers of samples and epitopes tested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isaac Quiros-Fernandez
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mansour Poorebrahim
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Elham Fakhr
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angel Cid-Arregui
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
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Poorebrahim M, Mohammadkhani N, Mahmoudi R, Gholizadeh M, Fakhr E, Cid-Arregui A. TCR-like CARs and TCR-CARs targeting neoepitopes: an emerging potential. Cancer Gene Ther 2021; 28:581-589. [PMID: 33654227 PMCID: PMC8203496 DOI: 10.1038/s41417-021-00307-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Neoepitopes or neoantigens are a spectrum of unique mutations presented in a particular patient's tumor. Neoepitope-based adoptive therapies have the potential of tumor eradication without undue damaging effect on normal tissues. In this context, methods based on the T cell receptor (TCR) engineering or chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have shown great promise. This review focuses on the TCR-like CARs and TCR-CARs directed against tumor-derived epitopes, with a concerted view on neoepitopes. We also address the current limitations of the field to know how to harness the full benefits of this approach and thereby design a sustained and specific antitumor therapy.
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MESH Headings
- Antigens, Neoplasm/immunology
- Antigens, Neoplasm/therapeutic use
- Humans
- Immunotherapy, Adoptive
- Neoplasms/genetics
- Neoplasms/immunology
- Neoplasms/therapy
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/genetics
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/immunology
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/therapeutic use
- Receptors, Chimeric Antigen/genetics
- T-Lymphocytes/immunology
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Affiliation(s)
- Mansour Poorebrahim
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Niloufar Mohammadkhani
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Cancer Immunology Project (CIP), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Mahmoudi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Monireh Gholizadeh
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
- Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Elham Fakhr
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angel Cid-Arregui
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
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Poorebrahim M, Mohammadkhani N, Mahmoudi R, Gholizadeh M, Fakhr E, Cid-Arregui A. Correction: TCR-like CARs and TCR-CARs targeting neoepitopes: an emerging potential. Cancer Gene Ther 2021; 28:738. [PMID: 33762680 DOI: 10.1038/s41417-021-00323-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mansour Poorebrahim
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Niloufar Mohammadkhani
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.,Cancer Immunology Project (CIP), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Mahmoudi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Monireh Gholizadeh
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.,Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Elham Fakhr
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.,Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angel Cid-Arregui
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
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Fakhr E, Modic Ž, Cid-Arregui A. Recent developments in immunotherapy of cancers caused by human papillomaviruses. Immunology 2020; 163:33-45. [PMID: 33205441 PMCID: PMC8044335 DOI: 10.1111/imm.13285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2020] [Revised: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A subset of oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is the main cause of genital cancers, most importantly cervical cancer and an increasing number of head and neck cancers. Despite the availability of prophylactic vaccines against the most prevalent oncogenic HPV types, HPV‐induced malignancies are still a major health and economic burden. Besides conventional treatment with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, immunotherapy is emerging as an efficient adjuvant option. Here, we review relevant studies and ongoing clinical trials using immune checkpoint inhibitors, therapeutic vaccines, gene editing approaches and adoptive T cell therapies, with special focus on engineered TCR T cells, which are showing encouraging results and could lead to significant improvement in the treatment of HPV+‐infected cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elham Fakhr
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.,Registered at Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Živa Modic
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angel Cid-Arregui
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
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Poorebrahim M, Sadeghi S, Fakhr E, Abazari MF, Poortahmasebi V, Kheirollahi A, Askari H, Rajabzadeh A, Rastegarpanah M, Linē A, Cid-Arregui A. Production of CAR T-cells by GMP-grade lentiviral vectors: latest advances and future prospects. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci 2019; 56:393-419. [PMID: 31314617 DOI: 10.1080/10408363.2019.1633512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells represent a paradigm shift in cancer immunotherapy and a new milestone in the history of oncology. In 2017, the Food and Drug Administration approved two CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapies (Kymriah™, Novartis, and Yescarta™, Kite Pharma/Gilead Sciences) that have remarkable efficacy in some B-cell malignancies. The CAR approach is currently being evaluated in multiple pivotal trials designed for the immunotherapy of hematological malignancies as well as solid tumors. To generate CAR T-cells ex vivo, lentiviral vectors (LVs) are particularly appealing due to their ability to stably integrate relatively large DNA inserts, and to efficiently transduce both dividing and nondividing cells. This review discusses the latest advances and challenges in the design and production of CAR T-cells, and the good manufacturing practices (GMP)-grade production process of LVs used as a gene transfer vehicle. New developments in the application of CAR T-cell therapy are also outlined with particular emphasis on next-generation allogeneic CAR T-cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mansour Poorebrahim
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Solmaz Sadeghi
- Recombinant Proteins Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, ACECR , Tehran , Iran
| | - Elham Fakhr
- Department of Translational Immunology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) , Heidelberg , Germany
| | - Mohammad Foad Abazari
- Research Center for Clinical Virology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Vahdat Poortahmasebi
- Liver and Gastrointestinal Disease Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.,Infectious and Tropical Disease Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran.,Faculty of Medicine, Department of Bacteriology and Virology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz , Iran
| | - Asma Kheirollahi
- Department of Comparative Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran , Tehran , Iran
| | - Hassan Askari
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Alireza Rajabzadeh
- Applied Cell Sciences and Tissue Engineering Department, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Malihe Rastegarpanah
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran
| | - Aija Linē
- Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre , Riga , Latvia
| | - Angel Cid-Arregui
- Recombinant Proteins Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, ACECR , Tehran , Iran.,Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) , Heidelberg , Germany
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Teimoori-Toolabi L, Fakhr E, Zare F. Abstract A19: Silencing LEF1 decreases the resistance of colorectal cancer cell lines to 5-FU as common chemotherapeutic drug. Cancer Res 2017. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.crc16-a19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Wnt signaling pathway is assumed to be the most important pathway activated in colorectal cancer. As this pathway in addition to Notch and hedgehog signaling pathway is responsible for the maintenance of stem cells in the population of cancerous cells, it could be predicted that by silencing this pathway the resistance of cancerous cells to chemotherapeutic drugs would be decreased. In this regard we tried to silence LEF1 as an important component of this pathway in two colorectal cancer cell lines and see the response of transfected cells to 5-flurouracil.
Oligonucleotide for silencing LEF1 was constructed and inserted into pSilencer Neo2.1 (Invitrogen). Thereafter these constructed were stably transfected to HCT116 and SW480 as colorectal cancer cell lines after treating the transfected cells with G418 for 21 days. Response of these cells to 5-flurouracil as a common chemotherapeutic drug was studied by MTT proliferation assay. The expression of LEF1 in transfected and non-transfected cells was also studied by Quantitative PCR. Cell cycle analysis was done by staining the cells with PI and analyzing them by flowcytometry instrument.
While the expression of LEF1 in SW480 transfected with pSilencer-antiLEF1 reduced to 0.004 in comparison to non-transfected cells in HCT116 cells transfected with pSilencer-anti LEF1 this value was 0.000002 in comparison to non-transfected cells.
Whereas the LC50 of 5-Flurouracil on non-transfected HCT116 and SW480 for 5-FU were 0.55 ng/µl and 1.45 ng/µl respectively. These values in transfected cells reduced to 0.18 and 0.1 ng/µl respectively. The percentages of proliferating cells (G2+S) stably transfected cells reduced to 30% and 32% in comparison to 39% and 45% in SW480 and HCT116 cell lines respectively.
These findings showed that silencing LEF1 as a main component of wnt signaling pathway sensitizes HCT116 and SW480 cells to 5-flurouracil. The difference between sensitizing strength may be due to mutations in other components of wnt signaling pathway or mutations in other genes like p53 and k-ras which is dissimilar between HCT116 and SW480 cells. This modality can be considered as sensitizing agents adjuvant to other chemotherapeutic drugs like 5-FU.
Note: This abstract was not presented at the conference.
Citation Format: Ladan Teimoori-Toolabi, Elham Fakhr, Fatemeh Zare. Silencing LEF1 decreases the resistance of colorectal cancer cell lines to 5-FU as common chemotherapeutic drug. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Colorectal Cancer: From Initiation to Outcomes; 2016 Sep 17-20; Tampa, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(3 Suppl):Abstract nr A19.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elham Fakhr
- Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic Of
| | - Fatemeh Zare
- Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic Of
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Fakhr E, Zare F, Teimoori-Toolabi L. Precise and efficient siRNA design: a key point in competent gene silencing. Cancer Gene Ther 2016; 23:73-82. [DOI: 10.1038/cgt.2016.4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2015] [Revised: 02/01/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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