Cell-based artificial APC resistant to lentiviral transduction for efficient generation of CAR-T cells from various cell sources
Open Access
- 1 January 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by BMJ in Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
- Vol. 8 (2), e000990
- https://doi.org/10.1136/jitc-2020-000990
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-Delta LDLR) 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-Delta LDLR-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-Delta LDLR conferred resistance to lentiviral transduction during CAR-T production. Using aAPC-Delta LDLR, 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-Delta LDLR-based expansion demonstrated potent antitumor responses in preclinical models of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and B-cell lymphoma. Conclusions Our aAPC-Delta LDLR represent an attractive approach for manufacturing of lentivirally transduced T cells that may be simpler and more cost efficient than currently available methods.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Institutes of Health (1R01CA238268, 2T32CA071345-21A1, 5T32CA009216-39, R00-CA218870, R35 GM118158)
- Deutsche Krebshilfe (Mildred-Scheel Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship t)
- Lymphoma Research Foundation (Research Fellowship to IS)
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