RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Development of a CD8 co-receptor independent T-cell receptor specific for tumor-associated antigen MAGE-A4 for next generation T-cell-based immunotherapy
JF Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
JO J Immunother Cancer
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e002035
DO 10.1136/jitc-2020-002035
VO 9
IS 3
A1 Kathrin Davari
A1 Tristan Holland
A1 Laura Prassmayer
A1 Giulia Longinotti
A1 Kenneth P Ganley
A1 Lisa J Pechilis
A1 Iulia Diaconu
A1 Prashant R Nambiar
A1 Michael S Magee
A1 Dolores J Schendel
A1 Daniel Sommermeyer
A1 Christian Ellinger
YR 2021
UL http://jitc.bmj.com/content/9/3/e002035.abstract
AB Background The cancer-testis antigen MAGE-A4 is an attractive target for T-cell-based immunotherapy, especially for indications with unmet clinical need like non-small cell lung or triple-negative breast cancer.Methods An unbiased CD137-based sorting approach was first used to identify an immunogenic MAGE-A4-derived epitope (GVYDGREHTV) that was properly processed and presented on human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2 molecules encoded by the HLA-A*02:01 allele. To isolate high-avidity T cells via subsequent multimer sorting, an in vitro priming approach using HLA-A2-negative donors was conducted to bypass central tolerance to this self-antigen. Pre-clinical parameters of safety and activity were assessed in a comprehensive set of in vitro and in vivo studies.Results A MAGE-A4-reactive, HLA-A2-restricted T-cell receptor (TCR) was isolated from primed T cells of an HLA-A2-negative donor. The respective TCR-T-cell (TCR-T) product bbT485 was demonstrated pre-clinically to have a favorable safety profile and superior in vivo potency compared with TCR-Ts expressing a TCR derived from a tolerized T-cell repertoire to self-antigens. This natural high-avidity TCR was found to be CD8 co-receptor independent, allowing effector functions to be elicited in transgenic CD4+ T helper cells. These CD4+ TCR-Ts supported an anti-tumor response by direct killing of MAGE-A4-positive tumor cells and upregulated hallmarks associated with helper function, such as CD154 expression and release of key cytokines on tumor-specific stimulation.Conclusion The extensive pre-clinical assessment of safety and in vivo potency of bbT485 provide the basis for its use in TCR-T immunotherapy studies. The ability of this non-mutated high-avidity, co-receptor-independent TCR to activate CD8+ and CD4+ T cells could potentially provide enhanced cellular responses in the clinical setting through the induction of functionally diverse T-cell subsets that goes beyond what is currently tested in the clinic.