Work

A Novel Approach to Manufacture CAR-T Cells for Clinical Applications

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are artificial molecules that can be used to redirect T cell immune response against antigens expressed on the surface of tumor cells. Although promising, most current protocols expand engineered T cells non-specifically using IL-2 and OKT3, which decreases the frequency of transgenic populations over time. Additionally, cell expansion using conventional cultureware is complicated and labor intensive, which limits the broader application of this therapy. With the grant support from Production Assistance for Cell Therapy (PACT), we assessed whether CAR T cell manufacture could be optimized and streamlined by: (i) supplementing non-specific stimuli (IL-2) with an artificial antigen presenting cell (a-APC) engineered to express cognate antigen and co-stimulatory molecules, and (ii) efficiently and rapidly expanding cells in a simple and scalable gas permeable culture device (G-Rex).

Source: Transplantation and Cellular Therapy

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2012.11.204