Cell-based artificial APC resistant to lentiviral transduction for efficient generation of CAR-T cells from various cell sources
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Adoptive cell therapy with chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) has become a standard treatment for patients with certain aggressive B cell malignancies and holds promise to improve the care of patients suffering from numerous other cancers in the future. However, the high manufacturing cost of CAR-T cell therapies poses a major barrier to their broader clinical application. Among the key cost drivers of CAR-T production are single-use reagents for T cell activation and clinical-grade viral vector. The presence of variable amounts of contaminating monocytes in the starting material poses an additional challenge to CAR-T manufacturing, since they can impede T cell stimulation and transduction, resulting in manufacturing failure. METHODS: We created K562-based artificial antigen-presenting cells (aAPC) with genetically encoded T cell stimulation and costimulation that represent an inexhaustible source for T cell activation. We additionally disrupted endogenous expression of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) on these aAPC (aAPC-ΔLDLR) using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing nucleases to prevent inadvertent lentiviral transduction and avoid the sink effect on viral vector during transduction. Using various T cell sources, we produced CD19-directed CAR-T cells via aAPC-ΔLDLR-based activation and tested their in vitro and in vivo antitumor potency against B cell malignancies. RESULTS: We found that lack of LDLR expression on our aAPC-ΔLDLR conferred resistance to lentiviral transduction during CAR-T production. Using aAPC-ΔLDLR, we achieved efficient expansion of CAR-T cells even from unpurified starting material like peripheral blood mononuclear cells or unmanipulated leukapheresis product, containing substantial proportions of monocytes. CD19-directed CAR-T cells that we produced via aAPC-ΔLDLR-based expansion demonstrated potent antitumor responses in preclinical models of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and B-cell lymphoma. CONCLUSIONS: Our aAPC-ΔLDLR represent an attractive approach for manufacturing of lentivirally transduced T cells that may be simpler and more cost efficient than currently available methods.
Authors: Andrea Schmidts, Leah C Marsh, Ambike A Srivastava, Amanda A Bouffard, Angela C Boroughs, Irene Scarfò, Rebecca C Larson, Felipe Bedoya, Bryan D Choi, Matthew J Frigault, Stefanie R Bailey, Mark B Leick, Sonika Vatsa, Michael C Kann, Michelle S Prew, Benjamin P Kleinstiver, J Keith Joung, Marcela V Maus
Institutions: Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital
Language: English
Topic: CAR-T cell therapy research
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,490
Awards: Training in Transplantation Biology, Evolution, Optimization, and Application of Genome Editing Technologies, Optimizing Cancer Immunotherapy Safety and Efficacy using Genome Editing, Molecular Immunology and Tumor Biology, Novel CAR T cell engineering strategies for effective eradication of solid and liquid tumors, Training Program in Cancer Biology and Therapeutics
OpenAlex ID: W3084383812