CAR T Cell Cytotoxicity Is Dependent on Death Receptor-Driven Apoptosis

Abstract Background: T cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors targeting the B-cell antigen CD19 (CART19) have demonstrated impressive results in the treatment of lymphoid cancers. Despite these promising outcomes, a significant subset of patients relapse after initial response. To investigate the molecular pathways that drive relapse, we performed an unbiased, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome-wide knockout screen in the acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cell line Nalm6, and found that loss of CD19 was the primary driver of relapse after initial response. This finding is consistent with clinical observations that antigen loss is a primary driver of late disease recurrence, however it fails to address the molecular etiology of intrinsic resistance, which affects ~50% of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and ~20% of patients with ALL, or of late antigen-independent relapse, which accounts for ~40% of relapses in ALL. Identification of the mechanisms regulating CART19 susceptibility is an essential first step in overcoming resistance to this powerful therapy. We hypothesized that genetic alteration in ALL cells were responsible for mediating intrinsic, CD19-independent resistance. To investigate this, we conducted a genome-wide loss of function screen in a model designed to evaluate intrinsic resistance to CART19. Methods: Using a lentiviral guide RNA (gRNA) library containing four distinct gRNAs targeting each human gene (~80,000 gRNAs total), we enabled genome-wide knockout in Nalm6, whereby each target cell lost function of only one gene. This gene-modified cell pool was then exposed to either CART19 or control T cells at a low effector:target ratio (0.25:1) to model the expected in vivo E:T ratio. At 24h, surviving Nalm6 cells were collected and gRNA from these cells underwent next-generation sequencing. Sequenced samples were processed using three distinct genome-scale knockout screen algorithms (MAGeCK, permutation-based non-parametric analysis and ScreenBeam). This pipeline allowed identification of (i) significantly enriched gRNA, postulated to mediate loss of gene function that confers resistance to CART19, and (ii) significantly depleted guides, postulated to mediate loss of gene function that confers sensitivity to CART19. The role of identified genes was then validated in in vitro and in vivo studies. Results: Analysis of gRNA sequencing data from our screen (Figure 1) revealed that the three genes whose loss of function most significantly promoted resistance to CART19 were BID, FADD and CASP8, all of which are key regulators of death receptor-driven apoptosis. TNFRSF10B, encoding the death receptor TRAIL-R2, was also significantly enriched. Interestingly, amongst the 10 genes whose loss most significantly sensitized to CART19 were TRAF2, BIRC2 and CFLAR, all negative regulators of death receptor activity. Pathway analysis of the top 50 genes (25 enriched, 25 depleted) demonstrated significant enrichment in the death receptor pathway, with a false discovery rate of 3.79x10-7. We proceeded to functionally validate the role of BID and FADD in mediating resistance to CART19 by deleting these genes in Nalm6 using de novo designed gRNAs. Strikingly, BIDKO and FADDKO cells were highly resistant to CART19 cytotoxicity in vitro as compared to wild-type Nalm6. Resistance was evident as early as 6 hours after co-culture and was maintained for at least 7 days. Observed resistance to CART19 directly correlated to fraction of KO cells present, suggesting that gene loss was mechanistically responsible for failed CART19 cytotoxicity. We further evaluated the impact of BID or FADD loss on anti-leukemic activity of CART19 in our Nalm6 xenograft model. We observed that BIDKO or FADDKO significantly impaired the anti-leukemic activity of CART19 in vivo. Conclusions: CART19 can cure select patients with B-cell cancers, while others experience transient or no clinical benefit. Using a genome-wide loss of function screen, we identified that death receptor-associated proteins are centrally involved in regulating CART19 cytotoxicity, and that loss of these molecules leads to intrinsic resistance to CART19. These findings are, to our knowledge, the first to characterize the role of death receptors as critical regulators of CART19 cytotoxicity, and suggest that tumor cell modulation of death receptor signaling may drive both inherent resistance and antigen-independent relapse. Disclosures June: Celldex: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Immune Design: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Tmunity Therapeutics: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Immune Design: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Tmunity Therapeutics: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding. Gill:Novartis: Research Funding; Carisma Therapeutics: Equity Ownership; Extellia: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Ruella:University of Pennsylvania: Patents & Royalties.

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Targeting of JAK/STAT Signaling to Reverse Stroma-Induced Cytoprotection Against BCL2 Antagonist Venetoclax in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v128.22.32.32 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 128 (22) ◽

pp. 32-32

Author(s):

Riikka Karjalainen ◽

Mihaela Popa ◽

Minxia Liu ◽

Mika Kontro ◽

Mireia Mayoral Safont ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Board Of Directors ◽

Stromal Cells ◽

Research Funding ◽

Stromal Cell ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Intrinsic Resistance ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Equity Ownership ◽

Refractory Aml

Abstract Several promising new, targeted agents are being developed for the treatment of AML. The BH3 mimetic venetoclax (ABT-199) is a specific inhibitor of BCL2, with results from a phase 2 study showing transient activity of venetoclax in relapsed/refractory AML (Konopleva et al, 2014). The bone marrow (BM) microenvironment is known to protect AML cells from drug therapy and we showed earlier that conditioned medium (CM) from BM stromal cells applied to AML patient cells conferred resistance to venetoclax, which could be reversed by the addition of the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib (Karjalainen et al, 2015). Here, we investigated the mechanisms mediating the BM stromal cell induced resistance to venetoclax and its reversal by ruxolitinib. To identify the soluble factor(s) contributing to stroma-induced protection of BCL2 inhibition, we analyzed the cytokine content of 1) CM from the human BM stromal cell line HS-5, 2) CM from BM mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) isolated from AML patients, 3) supernatants from BM aspirates collected from AML patients, and 4) supernatants from BM aspirates collected from healthy donors. Although expression levels varied, the cytokines detected were similar among the different samples. In HS-5 CM, IL-6, IL-8 and MIP-3α were among the most abundant cytokines. In addition, gene expression analysis showed the receptors for these cytokines were expressed in AML patient samples. IL-6, IL-8 and MIP-3α were added individually to mononuclear cells collected from AML patients, which were then treated with venetoclax. However, none of the cytokines alone could mimic the reduced sensitivity to venetoclax conferred by the HS-5 CM suggesting that stromal cell induced cytoprotection is likely multi-factorial. Next we tested the effect of AML-derived BM MSCs on the ex vivo response of AML patient samples (n=8) to ruxolitinib or venetoclax alone or in combination in a co-culture setting. Apoptosis assays showed negligible effects of ruxolitinib at a concentration of 300 nM, while venetoclax at a dose of 100 nM induced reduction in the percentage of CD34+ AML cells. Co-treatment with venetoclax and ruxolitinib demonstrated synergistic effects in 6 out of 8 samples and significantly reduced the number of CD34+ AML cells. Mechanistic studies showed that ruxolitinib treatment inhibited the BM stromal medium-induced expression of BCL-XL mRNA on AML cells and the drugs in combination down-regulated BCL2, MCL1 and BCL-XL protein expression, which was in correlation with sensitivity to the drugs. To further evaluate the ability of the venetoclax and ruxolitinib combination to eradicate leukemic cells in vivo we used an orthotopic xenograft model of AML. NSG mice were injected with genetically engineered MOLM-13luc cells and after engraftment treated with venetoclax (25 mg/kg, i.p.), ruxolitinib (50 mg/kg BID, p.o) or both and imaged once per week for 4 weeks. At the end of the treatment period bioluminescent imaging showed significantly reduced leukemia burden in the ruxolitinib and venetoclax co-treated mice compared to controls demonstrating superior anti-tumor efficacy than either agent alone (Figure 1). In summary, our data demonstrate that the combined blockade of JAK/STAT and BCL2 pathways with ruxolitinib and ventoclax is synergistic in ex vivo co-culture models and in vivo in an AML mouse model. The addition of ruxolitinib was able to overcome intrinsic resistance to venetoclax by reducing expression of MCL1, a known escape mechanism of BCL2 inhibition. These results support further clinical investigation of this combination, particularly for relapsed/refractory AML. Disclosures Porkka: Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria, Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Research Funding. Wennerberg:Pfizer: Research Funding. Gjertsen:BerGenBio AS: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Boehringer Ingelheim: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Kinn Therapeutics AS: Equity Ownership. Heckman:Celgene: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding.

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Role of Remission Status and Prior Transplant in Optimizing Survival Outcomes Following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Transplantation (HSCT) in Patients Who Received Inotuzumab Ozogamicin (INO) for Relapsed / Refractory (R/R) Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v130.suppl_1.886.886 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 130 (Suppl_1) ◽

pp. 886-886

Author(s):

Partow Kebriaei ◽

Matthias Stelljes ◽

Daniel J. DeAngelo ◽

Nicola Goekbuget ◽

Hagop M. Kantarjian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Board Of Directors ◽

Survival Probability ◽

Research Funding ◽

Employment Equity ◽

Inotuzumab Ozogamicin ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Allogeneic Hsct ◽

Post Transplant ◽

Equity Ownership

Abstract Introduction: Attaining complete remission (CR) prior to HSCT is associated with better outcomes post-HSCT. Inotuzumab ozogamicin (INO), an anti-CD22 antibody conjugated to calicheamicin, has shown significantly higher remission rates (CR/CRi and MRD negativity) compared with standard chemotherapy (SC) in patients (pts) with R/R ALL (Kantarjian et al. N Engl J Med. 2016). Pts treated with INO were more likely to proceed to HSCT than SC, which allowed for a higher 2-yr probability of overall survival (OS) than patients receiving SC (39% vs 29%). We investigated the role of prior transplant and proceeding directly to HSCT after attaining remission from INO administration as potential factors in determining post-HSCT survival to inform when best to use INO in R/R ALL patients. Methods: The analysis population consisted of R/R ALL pts who were enrolled and treated with INO and proceeded to allogeneic HSCT as part of two clinical trials: Study 1010 is a Phase 1/2 trial (NCT01363297), while Study 1022 is the pivotal randomized Phase 3 (NCT01564784) trial. Full details of methods for both studies have been previously published (DeAngelo et al. Blood Adv. 2017). All reference to OS pertains to post-HSCT survival defined as time from HSCT to death from any cause. Results: As of March 2016, out of 236 pts administered INO in the two studies (Study 1010, n=72; Study 1022, n=164), 101 (43%) proceeded to allogeneic HSCT and were included in this analysis. Median age was 37 y (range 20-71) with 55% males. The majority of pts received INO as first salvage treatment (62%) and 85% had no prior SCT. Most pts received matched HSCTs (related = 25%; unrelated = 45%) with peripheral blood as the predominant cell source (62%). The conditioning regimens were mainly myeloablative regimens (60%) and predominantly TBI-based (62%). Dual alkylators were used in 13% of pts, while thiotepa was used in 8%. The Figure shows post-transplant survival in the different INO populations: The median OS post-HSCT for all pts (n=101) who received INO and proceeded to HSCT was 9.2 mos with a 2-yr survival probability of 41% (95% confidence interval [CI] 31-51%). In patients with first HSCT (n=86) the median OS post-HSCT was 11.8 mos with a 2-yr survival probability of 46% (95% CI 35-56%). Of note, some patients lost CR while waiting for HSCT and had to receive additional treatments before proceeding to HSCT (n=28). Those pts who went directly to first HSCT after attaining remission with no intervening additional treatment (n=73) fared best, with median OS post-HSCT not reached with a 2-yr survival probability of 51% (95% CI 39-62%). In the latter group, 59/73 (80%) attained MRD negativity, and 49/73 (67%) were in first salvage therapy. Of note, the post-HSCT 100-day survival probability was similar among the 3 groups, as shown in the Table. Multivariate analyses using Cox regression modelling confirmed that MRD negativity during INO treatment and no prior HSCT were associated with lower risk of mortality post-HSCT. Other prognostic factors associated with worse OS included older age, higher baseline LDH, higher last bilirubin measurement prior to HSCT, and use of thiotepa. Veno-occlusive disease post-transplant was noted in 19 of the 101 pts who received INO. Conclusion: Administration of INO in R/R ALL pts followed with allogeneic HSCT provided the best long-term survival benefit among those who went directly to HSCT after attaining remission and had no prior HSCT. Disclosures DeAngelo: Glycomimetics: Research Funding; Incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria; Blueprint Medicines: Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.: Honoraria; Shire: Honoraria; Pfizer Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy; ARIAD: Consultancy, Research Funding; Immunogen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Kantarjian: Novartis: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Delta-Fly Pharma: Research Funding; Bristol-Meyers Squibb: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; ARIAD: Research Funding. Advani: Takeda/ Millenium: Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy. Merchant: Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding. Stock: Amgen: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Wang: Pfizer: Employment, Equity Ownership. Zhang: Pfizer: Employment, Equity Ownership. Loberiza: Pfizer: Employment, Equity Ownership. Vandendries: Pfizer: Employment, Equity Ownership. Marks: Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau.

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Absence Of Mutation In Cereblon (CRBN) and DNA Damage Binding Protein 1 (DDB1) Genes In Myeloma Cells and Patients and Its Clinical Significance

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v122.21.3139.3139 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 122 (21) ◽

pp. 3139-3139

Author(s):

Anjan Thakurta ◽

Anita K Gandhi ◽

Michelle Waldman ◽

Chad C. Bjorklund ◽

Suzanne Lentzsch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Board Of Directors ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Research Funding ◽

Heterozygous Mutation ◽

Employment Equity ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Truncating Mutation ◽

Equity Ownership

Abstract Background CRBN, a target of thalidomide and IMiDs® immunomodulatory agents lenalidomide (LEN) and pomalidomide (POM), is a component of the E3 ubiquitin cullin 4 ring ligase (CRL4) complex that also includes DDB1, Roc1, and Cul4. Two CRBN mutations have been reported in multiple myeloma (MM) patients: truncating mutation (Q99) and point mutation (R283K). One copy of the CRBN gene was shown to be deleted in the MM1S and MM1S.R cell lines. No DDB1 mutation has been described previously. Results We investigated the incidence of CRBN and DDB1 mutations by next-generation sequencing in 20 MM cell lines and MM subjects. Of 90 MM patients, 24 were newly diagnosed and 66 were relapsed and refractory of which 36 patients were LEN resistant. Out of the cell lines tested, 1 heterozygous CRBN mutation (D249Y) was found in the LEN-resistant ANBL6R cells, which is located in the putative DDB1 binding domain, and 2 single silent mutations were identified in the KMS-12-BM (rs17027638) and OPM-2 cells. One DDB1 heterozygous mutation (E303D) was identified in ANBL6 cells. In the cohort of patients assessed, no CRBN mutation was detected; however, 5 single nucleotide variations (SNV) were identified. Three of the 5 SNVs were at position 735 (Y245Y) and 1 each at position 219 (H73H) and 939 (C313C), respectively. The first 2 SNVs (rs17027638 and rs1045309) are described but not the last. We found a single SNV (P51P; rs2230356) in DDB1 gene the patient samples. Conclusion Mutations within the coding sequences of CRBN and DDB1 are rare in MM patients and cell lines. Most intrinsically LEN-resistant cells and cell lines made resistant to LEN or POM do not have CRBN or DDB1 mutations, suggesting the potential role of other sources, such as genetic or epigenetic pathways in developing resistance to IMiD drug–based therapy. Disclosures: Thakurta: Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Gandhi:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Waldman:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Bjorklund:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Lentzsch:Celgene: Research Funding. Schey:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; NAPP: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Orlowski:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Millennium: Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Onyx: Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Resverlogix: Research Funding; Array: Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genentech: Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Madan:Covance Genomics Lab: Employment. Ning:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Mendy:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Lopez-Girona:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Schafer:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Avet-Loiseau:Celgene: Research Funding. Chopra:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership.

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Targeting Wnt/β-Catenin and BCL-2, Two Critical Survival Factors, Synergistically Induces Apoptosis in AML Via Rac1-Mediated MCL-1 Inhibition

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2018-99-118367 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽

pp. 1442-1442

Author(s):

Xiangmeng Wang ◽

Po Yee Mak ◽

Wencai Ma ◽

Xiaoping Su ◽

Hong Mu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Progenitor Cells ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Research Funding ◽

Single Agent ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Equity Ownership ◽

Critical Survival

Abstract Wnt/β-catenin signaling regulates self-renewal and proliferation of AML cells and is critical in AML initiation and progression. Overexpression of β-catenin is associated with poor prognosis. We previously reported that inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling by C-82, a selective inhibitor of β-catenin/CBP, exerts anti-leukemia activity and synergistically potentiates FLT3 inhibitors in FLT3-mutated AML cells and stem/progenitor cells in vitro and in vivo (Jiang X et al., Clin Cancer Res, 2018, 24:2417). BCL-2 is a critical survival factor for AML cells and stem/progenitor cells and ABT-199 (Venetoclax), a selective BCL-2 inhibitor, has shown clinical activity in various hematological malignancies. However, when used alone, its efficacy in AML is limited. We and others have reported that ABT-199 can induce drug resistance by upregulating MCL-1, another key survival protein for AML stem/progenitor cells (Pan R et al., Cancer Cell 2017, 32:748; Lin KH et al, Sci Rep. 2016, 6:27696). We performed RNA Microarrays in OCI-AML3 cells treated with C-82, ABT-199, or the combination and found that both C-82 and the combination downregulated multiple genes, including Rac1. It was recently reported that inhibition of Rac1 by the pharmacological Rac1 inhibitor ZINC69391 decreased MCL-1 expression in AML cell line HL-60 cells (Cabrera M et al, Oncotarget. 2017, 8:98509). We therefore hypothesized that inhibiting β-catenin by C-82 may potentiate BCL-2 inhibitor ABT-199 via downregulating Rac1/MCL-1. To investigate the effects of simultaneously targeting β-catenin and BCL-2, we treated AML cell lines and primary patient samples with C-82 and ABT-199 and found that inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling significantly enhanced the potency of ABT-199 in AML cell lines, even when AML cells were co-cultured with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). The combination of C-82 and ABT-199 also synergistically killed primary AML cells (P<0.001 vs control, C-82, and ABT-199) in 10 out of 11 samples (CI=0.394±0.063, n=10). This synergy was also shown when AML cells were co-cultured with MSCs (P<0.001 vs control, C-82, and ABT-199) in all 11 samples (CI=0.390±0.065, n=11). Importantly, the combination also synergistically killed CD34+ AML stem/progenitor cells cultured alone or co-cultured with MSCs. To examine the effect of C-82 and ABT-199 combination in vivo, we generated a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model from an AML patient who had mutations in NPM1, FLT3 (FLT3-ITD), TET2, DNMT3A, and WT1 genes and a complex karyotype. The combination synergistically killed the PDX cells in vitro even under MSC co-culture conditions. After PDX cells had engrafted in NSG (NOD-SCID IL2Rgnull) mice, the mice were randomized into 4 groups (n=10/group) and treated with vehicle, C-82 (80 mg/kg, daily i.p injection), ABT-199 (100 mg/kg, daily oral gavage), or the combination for 30 days. Results showed that all treatments decreased circulating blasts (P=0.009 for C-82, P<0.0001 for ABT-199 and the combination) and that the combination was more effective than each single agent (P<0.001 vs C-82 or ABT-199) at 2 weeks of therapy. The combination also significantly decreased the leukemia burden in mouse spleens compared with controls (P=0.0046) and single agent treated groups (P=0.032 or P=0.020 vs C-82 or ABT-199, respectively) at the end of the treatment. However, the combination did not prolong survival time, likely in part due to toxicity. Dose modifications are ongoing. These results suggest that targeting Wnt/β-catenin and BCL-2, both essential for AML cell and stem cell survival, has synergistic activity via Rac1-mediated MCL-1 inhibition and could be developed into a novel combinatorial therapy for AML. Disclosures Andreeff: SentiBio: Equity Ownership; Oncolyze: Equity Ownership; Oncoceutics: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz Pharma: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Eutropics: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Daiichi-Sankyo: Consultancy, Patents & Royalties: MDM2 inhibitor activity patent, Research Funding; Aptose: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Reata: Equity Ownership; Astra Zeneca: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy; United Therapeutics: Patents & Royalties: GD2 inhibition in breast cancer . Carter:novartis: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Research Funding.

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An Open-Label Phase I/IIa Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of CCS1477, a First in Clinic Inhibitor of the p300/CPB Bromodomains, As Monotherapy in Patients with Advanced Haematological Malignancies

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2019-124797 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 1266-1266 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tomasz Knurowski ◽

Karen Clegg ◽

Nigel Brooks ◽

Fay Ashby ◽

Neil A Pegg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bone Marrow ◽

Cell Proliferation ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

Research Funding ◽

Haematological Malignancies ◽

Loss Of Function ◽

Employment Equity ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Measurable Disease ◽

Equity Ownership

Background CCS1477 is a first in class potent, selective and orally bioavailable inhibitor of the bromodomains of p300 and CBP, two closely related histone acetyl transferases with oncogenic roles in haematological malignancies. In pre-clinical studies, CCS1477 was found to be a potent inhibitor of cell proliferation in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) multiple myeloma (MM) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cell lines. In primary patient AML blast cells CCS1477 inhibited proliferation through a combination of cell cycle arrest at the G1/S transition and an induction of differentiation (up-regulation of CD11b and CD86). CCS1477 has significant anti-tumour activity, inducing tumour regressions in xenograft models of AML and MM. These effects were accompanied by significant reductions in tumour MYC and IRF4 expression. Additionally, there are molecular features of certain haematological malignancies that are likely to increase the sensitivity to p300/CBP inhibition with CCS1477. For example, in B-cell lymphomas there are frequent loss of function mutations in CBP that are associated with heightened sensitivity to pre-clinical inhibition of corresponding non-mutated p300. CCS1477 represents a novel and differentiated approach to inhibiting cell proliferation and survival and offers a potential new therapeutic option for patients who have relapsed or are refractory to current standard of care therapies in AML, MM or NHL. Study Design and Methods This study is the first time that CCS1477 is being dosed in patients with haematological malignancies. The Phase I/IIa study aims to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and/or recommended Phase II dose (RP2D) and schedule(s) of CCS1477 and investigate clinical activity of CCS1477 monotherapy in patients with haematological malignancies. This study will also characterise the pharmacokinetics (PK) of CCS1477 and explore potential biological activity by assessing pharmacodynamic and exploratory biomarkers. The trial aims to enrol approximately 90 patients and is currently recruiting in the UK with plans to open additional sites in the USA. Key inclusion criteria include patients with confirmed (per standard disease specific diagnostic criteria), relapsed or refractory haematological malignancies (AML, MM and NHL). Patients must have received standard therapy which for the majority of therapeutic indications is at least 2 prior lines of therapy. Single dose and steady state pharmacokinetics will be determined in all patients. AML response will be measured in bone marrow samples. Myeloma response will be evaluated according to the 'International Myeloma Working Group Response Criteria' based on changes in M protein in blood and/or urine, changes in serum free light chains if measurable, and changes on imaging and/or bone marrow if applicable and according to the guidelines. In NHL patients, tumour assessments will be done for measurable disease, non-measurable disease, and new lesions on CT (or magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) and/or combined with visual assessment of [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) for response assessment per recent International Working Group consensus criteria (RECIL 2017), until progression The study will begin with two parallel monotherapy dose-escalation arms; Arm 1: Relapsed or refractory NHL and MM; Arm2: Relapsed or refractory AML/high-risk MDS. Once a recommended phase 2 dose/schedule is reached, three monotherapy expansion arms will be opened in AML/high-risk MDS (15 patients), MM (15 patients) and NHL (30 patients). Blood samples along with bone marrow biopsies and aspirates will be collected for exploratory biomarker analysis to understand mechanisms of response to treatment or disease progression. This will include the analysis of tumour-specific and circulating biomarkers, such as tumour DNA, mRNA, proteins or metabolites. In NHL patients, analysis of CBP (and p300) mutations will be undertaken to allow retrospective correlation with tumour response and to determine if loss of function mutations in the genes for either proteins can be utilised as response predictive biomarkers in future studies. Disclosures Clegg: CellCentric Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. Brooks:CellCentric Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. Ashby:CellCentric Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. Pegg:CellCentric Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. West:CellCentric Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. Somervaille:Novartis: Consultancy. Knapper:Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Daiichi Sankyo: Honoraria; Jazz: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Tolero: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Davies:ADCT Therapeutics: Honoraria, Research Funding; MorphoSys AG: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BioInvent: Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; Karyopharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Acerta Pharma: Honoraria, Research Funding; GSK: Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria, Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.

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Clot-On-A-Chip: A Microfluidic Device To Study Platelet Aggregation and Contractility Under Shear

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v122.21.2363.2363 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 122 (21) ◽

pp. 2363-2363 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lucas Ting ◽

Shirin Feghhi ◽

Ari Karchin ◽

Wes Tooley ◽

Nathan J White ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Platelet Aggregation ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

Microfluidic Device ◽

Platelet Function ◽

Research Funding ◽

Force Generation ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Equity Ownership ◽

Contractile Forces

Abstract Introduction In primary hemostasis, platelets adhere, activate, and aggregate at the wall of an injured vessel to form a hemostatic plug for the cessation of bleeding. After activation, platelets generate myosin-driven contractile forces to compact the size of the plug in order to reduce the space between platelets and prevent their disaggregation. Hemodynamic shear can be a major effector of platelet function in hemostasis, but its effect on the ability of platelets to produce contractile forces is an open question. Studying the dynamics of platelet aggregation and platelet force generation under hemodynamic shear can provide important insights into hemostasis and thrombosis. Method We have developed a microfluidic device that uses microscale blocks to induce platelet aggregation and microscale posts to measure platelet forces in a hemostatic plug. Whole human blood in heparin or citrate is pumped through a microfabricated chip containing microchannels with arrays of blocks and posts arranged along the bottom of a microchannel (Fig. 1). The surface of the blocks and posts are pre-coated with von Willebrand factor and type I collagen to allow for platelet adhesion. As blood is passes over a block, its rectangular shape induces a high shear rate that causes platelets to aggregate on its surface. A flexible micropost is situated behind each block. As platelets aggregate between the block and post, their contractile forces causes the post to bend toward the block. The deflection of the post is recorded under fluorescence microscopy and analyzed using quantitative image analysis of the videos. Since a microscale post bends like a cantilever beam, its deflection can be used to quantify the forces of platelets. Results Blebbistatin, a myosin inhibitor, was used to confirm that deflection of the posts by the platelets in heparinized blood was due to myosin activity. When blood was incubated with 2-MeSAMP, a P2Y12 antagonist, platelets were able to aggregate, but their ability to generate contractile forces was substantially reduced. This finding indicates that ADP activation is needed for platelet contractility under shear. The rate of hemodynamic shear was found to influence platelet function, for the rate of platelet aggregation and force generation were found to increase for blood sheared from 2000 to 12,000 s-1. Moreover, platelet aggregation and contractile forces were reduced when glycoprotein Ib-V-IX complex and integrin αIIbβ3 were inhibited with antibody AK2 and antibody fragment c7E3 Fab, respectively. When citrated blood was incubated with tissue plasminogen activator, platelets aggregate and produced contractile forces that increased steadily within the first ten minutes, but then the forces began to subside. Conclusions Our device can be used to study the role of hemodynamic shear in platelet function and gives insights into the role of platelet forces during hemostasis. Its microscale dimensions also allow us the study the biomechanics involved in the formation of a hemostatic plug during its early stages of growth and stability. Disclosures: White: Vidacare Corp: Honoraria; Stasys Medical Corp: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties; NIH: Research Funding; Coulter Foundation: Research Funding; Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund: Research Funding. Sniadecki:Stasys Medical Corporation: Equity Ownership, Founder Other, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees.

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Enhanced In Vivo Persistence and Proliferation of NK Cells Expanded in Culture with the Small Molecule Nicotinamide: Development of a Clinical-Applicable Method for NK Expansion

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v130.suppl_1.657.657 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 130 (Suppl_1) ◽

pp. 657-657 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tony Peled ◽

Guy Brachya ◽

Nurit Persi ◽

Chana Lador ◽

Esti Olesinski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nk Cells ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

Research Funding ◽

Nk Cell ◽

Culture Method ◽

Employment Equity ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Nsg Mice ◽

Equity Ownership

Abstract Adoptive transfer of cytolitic Natural Killer (NK) cells is a promising immunotherapeutic modality for hematologic and other malignancies. However, limited NK cell in vivo persistence and proliferation have been challenging clinical success of this therapeutic modality. Here we present a reliable, scalable and GMP-compliant culture method for the expansion of highly functional donor NK cells for clinical use. Nicotinamide (NAM), a form of vitamin B-3, serves as a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and is a potent inhibitor of enzymes that require NAD including ADP ribosyltransferases and cyclic ADP ribose/NADase. As such, NAM is implicated in the regulation of cell adhesion, polarity, migration, proliferation, and differentiation. We have previously reported that NAM augments tumor cytotoxicity and cytokine (TNFα and IFN-γ) secretion of NK cells expanded in feeder-free culture conditions stimulated with IL-2 or IL-15. Immunophenotype studies demonstrated NK cells expanded with NAM underwent typical changes observed with cytokine only-induced NK cell activation with no significant differences in the expression of activating and inhibitory receptors. CD200R and PD-1 receptors were expressed at low levels in resting NK cells, but their expression was up-regulated following activation in typical cytokine expansion cultures. Interestingly, the increase in CD200R and PD-1 was reduced by NAM, suggesting these NK cells to be less susceptible to cancer immunoevasion mechanisms (Fig 1). In vivo retention and proliferation is a pre-requisite for the success of NK therapy. We have reported that NK expanded with NAM displayed substantially better retention in the bone marrow, spleen and peripheral blood of irradiated NSG mice. Using a carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) dilution assay, we demonstrated increased in vivo proliferation of NAM-cultured NK cells compared with cells cultured without NAM. These results were recently confirmed using a BrdU incorporation assay in irradiated NSG mice (Fig.2). These findings were mechanistically supported by a substantial increase in CD62L (L-selectin) expression in cultures treated with NAM. CD62L is pivotal for NK cell trafficking and homeostatic proliferation and its expression is down regulated in IL-2 or IL-15 stimulated cultures (Fig. 3). These data provided the foundation for the development of a feeder cell-free scalable culture method for clinical therapy using apheresis units obtained from healthy volunteers. CD3+ cells were depleted using a CliniMACS T cell depletion set. Following depletion, the CD3- fraction was analyzed for phenotypic markers and cultured in closed-system flasks (G-Rex100 MCS, Wilson Wolf) supplemented with 20ng/ml IL-15 or 50ng/ml IL-2 GMP, 10% human serum, minimum essential medium-α and NAM USP for two weeks. While at seeding, NK cells comprised 5-20% of total culture seeded cells, at harvest, NK cells comprised more than 97% of the culture. Although overall contamination of the NK cultures was low with either IL-15 or IL-2, a lower fraction of CD3+ and CD19+ cells was observed with IL-15 vs IL-2 (0.2±0.1% vs. 0.4±0.2% and 1.3±0.4% vs. 2.4±0.6%, respectively). Consequently, we decided to use IL-15 for clinical manufacturing. Optimization of NAM concentration studies showed similar expansion with 2.5 and 5 mM and a decrease in expansion with 7.5 mM NAM. Since NAM at 5 mM had a stronger impact on CD62L expression and on the release of IFNγ and TNFα than NAM at 2.5 mM, we selected 5mM NAM for clinical manufacturing. Overall median NK expansion after two weeks in closed G-Rex flasks supplemented with IL-15 and 5mM NAM was 50-fold (range 37-87). An additional and significant increase in expansion was obtained after doubling the culture medium one week post seeding. While there was a marked advantage for single culture feeding, more feedings had less impact on NK expansion and had a negative effect on the in vivo retention potential. Our optimized expansion protocol therefore involved one feeding during the two weeks expansion duration resulting in 162±30.7-fold expansion of NK cells relative to their input number in culture. Based on these data, we have initiated a clinical trial at University of Minnesota, to test the safety and efficacy of escalating doses (2 x 107/kg - 2 x 108/kg) of our novel NAM NK cell product in patients with refractory non-Hodgkins lymphoma and multiple myeloma (NCT03019666). Disclosures Peled: Gamida Cell: Employment, Equity Ownership. Brachya: Gamida Cell: Employment. Persi: Gamida Cell: Employment. Lador: gamida Cell: Employment, Equity Ownership. Olesinski: gamida cell: Employment. Landau: gamida cell: Employment, Equity Ownership. Galamidi: gamida cell: Employment. Peled: Biokine: Consultancy; Biosight: Consultancy. Miller: Celegene: Consultancy; Oxis Biotech: Consultancy; Fate Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding. Bachanova: Oxis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Zymogen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Seattle-Genetics: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Juno: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

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Significant In Vivo Sensitivity to Aurora Kinase Inhibition in TCF3-Hlf rearranged Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2018-99-115706 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽

pp. 4026-4026

Author(s):

Bill H. Chang ◽

Jessica Leonard ◽

Joelle Wolf ◽

Michelle Degnin ◽

Kyle Lenz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Board Of Directors ◽

Research Funding ◽

Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽

Variable Region ◽

Drug Screen ◽

Significant Heterogeneity ◽

Type I ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Equity Ownership

Abstract Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) harboring the t(17;19)(q22;p13) is a rare subtype of leukemia with a dismal prognosis. This recurring translocation produces an aberrant TCF3-HLF fusion with distinct gene expression profiles and drug sensitivity. Recent studies have shown that this subtype of ALL might be targeted using therapies inhibiting BCL-2 and the pre-B cell receptor through inhibition of SRC family kinases. However, preliminary validation of these studies have revealed significant heterogeneity of response to BCL-2 and SRC inhibitors. As such, we sought to identify other possible targets that could overcome this heterogeneity and improve response to therapy. Methods: One local as well as four other samples from the Children's Oncology Group's ALL Biorepository with TCF3-HLF ALL were expanded in immunodeficient NSG mice. All samples were verified by RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing for the fusion transcript. Samples were then interrogated with our functional drug screen that is comprised of compounds with activity against two-thirds of the tyrosine kinome as well as other non-tyrosine kinase pathways, including RAF/MEK/MAPKs, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, AMPK, ATM, Aurora kinases, CAMKs, CDKs, GSK3a/b, IKK, PKA, PKC, PLK1, and RAF as well as BCL2 family, BRD4, IDH1/2, Hedgehog, HSP90, NOTCH/g-secretase, proteasome, survivin, STAT3, and WNT/b-catenin. The samples were sequenced using the Agilent SureSelect Strand-Specific RNA Library Preparation Kit on the Bravo robot (Agilent). All five patient samples successfully engrafted into NSG mice and were tested for in vivo sensitivity as assessed for disease burden or survival. Results: Three patient samples were identified to carry Type I translocations fusing exon 13 of TCF3 with variable intronic insertions followed by exon 4 of HLF. All three type I translocations produced different fusions due to different lengths within the variable region. One sample predicted a truncation product of TCF3 ending in exon 13 with an early stop codon within the variable region. Two patient samples carried the identical type II translocation fusing Exon 12 of TCF3 with exon 4 of HLF. RNA-seq results of the five samples identified other individual translocations, but none involved other specific disease related lesions. Results from our drug screen showed significant heterogeneity in response to the majority of drugs assayed including the ABL/SRC inhibitor dasatinib and the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax. Further, in vivo studies exposing cohorts of animals to vehicle (n=5), dasatinib (40mg/kg/day; n=5), venetoclax (25-100mg/kg/day; n=5) or combination of dasatinib and venetoclax (n=5) identified only two samples with treatment benefit. Interestingly, review of the results of the drug screen suggested hypersensitivity to aurora kinase inhibitors. Each sample was tested in vivo in cohorts of vehicle (n=5) and alisertib (30mg/kg/day; n=5). All five ALL samples showed significant response (p<0.01 for all five samples compared to their respective vehicle controls by Chi Square analysis). All animals tolerated treatment and no animal showed significant hematologic toxicity from treatment with drugs. Conclusion: Our results suggest that TCF3-HLF ALL is a heterogeneous subset of ALL with both different gene expression patterns from TCF3-HLF to other fusions as well as functional drug response. In vivo validation in the murine model with these five samples suggests significant heterogeneity to current pursued targets such as BCL-2 and SRC compared to previously published reports. Most intriguing, all samples tested with alisertib identified significant in vivo response suggesting unique preclinical support to pursue further clinical testing within this rare and lethal subtype of ALL. Disclosures Leonard: Amgen: Research Funding. Mullighan:Loxo Oncology: Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Research Funding; Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas: Consultancy. Tyner:Takeda: Research Funding; Vivid Biosciences: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Array: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Constellation: Research Funding; Aptose: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding. Druker:GRAIL: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol-Meyers Squibb: Research Funding; Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Patient True Talk: Consultancy; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center: Research Funding; ARIAD: Research Funding; Beta Cat: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Oregon Health & Science University: Patents & Royalties; McGraw Hill: Patents & Royalties; Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead Sciences: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Vivid Biosciences: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; ALLCRON: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MolecularMD: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Henry Stewart Talks: Patents & Royalties; Blueprint Medicines: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Monojul: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Third Coast Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Aileron Therapeutics: Consultancy; Aptose Therapeutics: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Cepheid: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millipore: Patents & Royalties.

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T Cells Educated By DC/AML Fusions in the Context of 4-1BB Costimulation As a Potent Strategy for Adoptive Cellular Therapy

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2019-131491 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 2673-2673

Author(s):

Jessica Liegel ◽

Dina Stroopinsky ◽

Haider Ghiasuddin ◽

Adam Morin ◽

Marzia Capelletti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

Research Funding ◽

Cellular Therapy ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Advisory Board ◽

Adoptive Cellular Therapy ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Equity Ownership

Introduction: Our group has developed a novel vaccine using patient-derived acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and autologous dendritic cells (DCs), capable of presenting a broad array of leukemia antigens. In a phase I/II clinical trial DC/AML vaccination led to an expansion of leukemia-specific T cells. We hypothesized that the fusion vaccine offered a unique platform for ex vivo expansion of functionally potent leukemia specific T cells with broad specificity targeting shared and tumor specific neoantigens. We postulated that incorporating 4-1BB (CD137) mediated co-stimulation would further enhance activation of antigen specific T cells and the development of a crucial memory response as well as promote survival and persistence. Here we describe therapeutic exploration of the use of 4-1BB to augment vaccine-educated T cells for adoptive cellular therapy in an immunocompetent murine model. Methods: DC/AML fusion vaccine was generated using DCs obtained from C57BL/6J mice and syngeneic C1498 AML cells as previously described. T cells were obtained from splenocytes after magnetic bead isolation and cultured with irradiated DC/AML fusion vaccine in the presence of IL-15 and IL-7. Following co-culture, 4-1BB positive T cells were ligated using agonistic 4-1BB antibody (3H3 clone, BioXCell) and further selected with RatIgG2a magnetic beads (Easy Sep). Subsequently T cells were expanded with anti-CD3/CD28 activation beads (Dynabeads). In vivo, mice underwent retro-orbital inoculation with C1498 and vaccination with irradiated fusion cells the following day. Agonistic mouse anti-4-1BB antibody was injected intraperitoneally on day 4 and day 7. In addition, C1498 cells were transduced with Mcherry/luciferase and a reproducible model of disease progression was established. Results: DC/fusion stimulated T cells showed increased immune activation as measured by multichannel flow cytometric analysis. Compared to unstimulated T cells, there was 5-fold increase in CD4+CD25+CD69+, and a 10-fold and 7-fold increase in 4-1BB and intracellular IFNƔ expression on CD8+ cells respectively. Following agonistic 4-1BB ligation and bead isolation, the proliferation rate was increased in the 4-1BB positive fraction as compared to both 4-1BB negative cells and unstimulated T cells. In addition, the 4-1BB positive fraction demonstrated increased cytotoxicity, as measured by a CTL assay detecting granzyme B with 1:10 tumor to effector cells. A shift from naïve to memory T cell phenotype was also observed. Following DC/fusion stimulation, CD44+CD62L- cells comprised 67% of CD8+ cells versus 20% without stimulation, the latter reflecting the effect of cytokines alone. Following 4-1BB ligation and anti-CD3/CD28 bead expansion, this phenotype was retained with the CD4+ and CD8+ effector memory and central memory compartments comprising the majority of T cells. Such findings are significant as presence of memory T cell populations are a critical component for successful adoptive cell transfer. The effect of agonistic 4-1BB antibody following vaccination was evaluated in vivo in an aggressive immunocompetent murine AML model. The combination of DC/AML fusion vaccine with 4-1BB antibody was associated with increased long-term survival (>120 days) of 40% versus 20% of mice treated with vaccine alone while all controls required euthanasia by 40 days. Conclusion: In the current study we have demonstrated the ability of DC/AML fusion vaccine to stimulate T cells ex-vivo as demonstrated by both early-activation (CD25,CD69), upregulation of antigen-specific markers (CD137) and cytokine secretion. Further enhancement of the cellular product using agonistic 4-1BB ligation and isolation simultaneously enriches for antigen-activated cells, as demonstrated by more potent cytotoxicity, as well as promoting memory phenotype and survival. Use of 4-1BB ligation for antigen-specific selection while providing an agonistic co-stimulatory signal is a potentially novel approach for development of non-engineered T cells. Ongoing experiments evaluating the efficacy of 4-1BB selected vaccine educated T cells using bioluminescence monitoring will be reported as well as in vitro use of patient-derived T cells. Disclosures Kufe: Canbas: Consultancy, Honoraria; Victa BioTherapeutics: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genus Oncology: Equity Ownership; Hillstream BioPharma: Equity Ownership; Reata Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Honoraria; Nanogen Therapeutics: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Rosenblatt:Dava Oncology: Other: Education; Partner Tx: Other: Advisory Board; Parexel: Consultancy; Celgene: Research Funding; BMS: Research Funding; Amgen: Other: Advisory Board; Merck: Other: Advisory Board; BMS: Other: Advisory Board ; Imaging Endpoint: Consultancy. Avigan:Takeda: Consultancy; Parexel: Consultancy; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Juno: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Partners Tx: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Partner Tx: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy.

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Dissecting the role of CXCR7 in Cell Trafficking of Endothelial-Cells and Endothelial-Progenitor-Cells in Multiple Myeloma,

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v118.21.3934.3934 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 118 (21) ◽

pp. 3934-3934

Author(s):

Abdel Kareem Azab ◽

Feda Azab ◽

Phong Quang ◽

Patricia Maiso ◽

Hai T Ngo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Endothelial Cells ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

Research Funding ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Tube Formation ◽

Cell Trafficking ◽

Advisory Committees

Abstract Abstract 3934 INTRODUCTION: The interaction of multiple myeloma (MM) cells with the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment plays a crucial role in MM pathogenesis. The BM microenvironment in MM is characterized by an increased micro-vessel density and increased secretion of angiogenic factors. CXCR7 is a G-protein coupled receptor shown to play a major role in the adhesion, migration and angiogenesis of endothelial cells (ECs). Our interest is in the role of CXCR7 in cell trafficking of ECs and EPCs in MM. Thus we characterized ECs and EPCs from MM patients and MM animal models and examined the contribution of CXCR7 to the cell trafficking using in vitro and in vivo assays and using CXCR7-selective compound. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used flow cytometry to detect the frequency of ECs and EPCs in the BM and peripheral blood (PB) of 5 MM patients and 5 normal subjects. ECs were detected as VEGFR+ CD133- cells, while EPCs were detected as VEGFR+ CD133+ cells. MM patients had significantly higher numbers of ECs and EPCs compared to healthy donors in both the BM and the PB. These results were confirmed in a mouse model of MM in which MM cells or vehicle were injected to SCID mice and the frequency of ECs and EPCs in the BM and the PB was determined 4 weeks after injection. We found that in mice with MM significantly higher numbers of ECs and EPCs could be detected in both the BM and the PB than in control mice. CXCR7 was expressed on both ECs and EPCs isolated from MM patients, healthy donors, and control mice. The expression of CXCR7 on EPCs was higher than the expression on ECs. The expression of CXCR7 on ECs and EPCs isolated from the BM was higher than the expression on ECs and EPCs isolated from the PB, respectively. Therefore, to test the role of CXCR7 in cell-trafficking of ECs and EPCs, we injected 10mg/kg of CXCR7 inhibitor POL6926, a potent and selective CXCR7 antagonist based on the Protein Epitope Mimetics (PEM) Technology (Polyphor, Switzerland), to BALB/c mice and tested the frequency of ECs and EPC in the PB and BM of the mice at 0, 2, 4 and 24 hours after the injection. We found a 3-fold increase in ECs and 6-fold increase in EPCs in the PB; 2 hrs post the injection of the CXCR7 antagonist. The levels of EPCs in the PB returned to baseline at 4 and 24 hrs, while the level of ECs was maintained at 4hrs and went back to baseline at 24 hrs. No significant differences were found in the frequency of ECs and EPCs in the BM after the injection of the CXCR7 antagonist. To investigate the function of CXCR7 in ECs in vitro we used human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as a model for ECs. CXCR7 was highly expressed on HUVECs. We could demonstrate that in vitro tube formation was promoted by either co-culture of MM cells or by conditioned medium from MM cell cultures. Furthermore, migration of HUVEC cells was facilitated by conditioned medium from MM cell cultures. These data suggest that MM cells may secrete factors promoting migration of endothelial cells and pro-angiogenic factors promoting angiogenesis. In addition, we could show that in vitro tube formation is inhibited by POL6926 suggesting that CXCR7 expression on HUVECs is required for tube formation. At the test concentrations POL6926 was not cytotoxic to HUVECs since cell proliferation was unaffected. CONCLUSION: We have shown that the level of ECs and EPCs was elevated in the PB and BM of MM patients compared to normal subjects, a finding which was confirmed in a MM mouse model in which CXCR7 was highly expressed on these cells. Injection of PEM CXCR7 antagonist increased the numbers of ECs and EPCs in the PB. These results suggest that CXCR7 may play a role in the cell-trafficking and recruitment of ECs and EPCs in MM. To investigate this hypothesis, using in vitro tube formation and migration assays, we have shown that MM cells secrete factors that promote migration and angiogenesis of HUVECs and the PEM CXCR7 antagonist inhibits these processes. In subsequent studies POL6926 will be tested in vivo in animal models of MM to determine the contribution of CXCR7 in EPC trafficking and its contribution to angiogenesis progression in MM. Disclosures: Zimmermann: Polyphor: Employment. Patel:Polyphor: Employment. Romagnoli:Polyphor: Employment. Roccaro:Roche:. Ghobrial:Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millennium: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Noxxon: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.

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