Post-Transplant Immune Monitoring In Patients Receiving Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation

Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 122 (21) ◽  
pp. 5486-5486
Author(s):  
Silvia Park ◽  
Chul Won Jung ◽  
Jun Ho Jang ◽  
Eun Suk Kang ◽  
Kihyun Kim

Abstract Introduction There are still substantial morbidity and mortality caused by insufficient immunologic recovery after allo-HSCT. In this context, we attempt to evaluate the clinical relevance of immune monitoring in allo-HSCT recipients. Method Fifty five patients who underwent allo-HSCT between 2008 and 2012 were included. Peripheral blood samples were drawn from recipients before transplant, and on 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 and 48 weeks after transplant. Each blood samples were analyzed by multi-color flow cytometry for determining lymphocyte subsets. MNC were separated from blood specimen, and analyzed for the quantitation of Treg with the use of real-time PCR. We also examined T cell derived IFN-r by using in vitro culture, intracellular staining, and flow cytometry analysis. Results The median age was 43, and AML was the most common reason for transplantation (49.1%). Grade II or more aGVHD occurred in 36.4% of cases, and 49.1% exhibited moderate or severe cGVHD. The differences in the proportion (%) and the absolute number (/uL) of CD4+, CD8+ cells, CD4+ derived IFN-r (%), CD8+ derived IFN-r (%), and Treg (%) between the groups (Gr. II or more aGVHD (+) vs (-); moderate or severe cGVHD (+) vs (-)) were compared by Two sample t-test. Patients with Gr. II or more aGVHD showed decreased CD4+ count at 4, 8 and 12 weeks, but showed rather higher CD8+ count at 8 weeks after transplant. T-cell secretion function assessed by IFN-r (%), and Treg (%) was similar between two groups within 12 weeks after transplant. In case of cGVHD, both CD4+ and CD8+ count tended to be higher in patients with moderate or severe cGVHD, and the trends lasted for up to 48 weeks from allo-HSCT. Treg (%) was almost consistently lower throughout the period in these patients. There were 12 relapses within follow up period (median 36.1 months), and higher slope of post-transplant increase in CD8+ count and CD8 derived IFN-r were identified as protective factors for disease relapse. Conclusion In view of the results so far achieved, slow recovery of CD8 count and function might be associated with disease relapse. However, this is still a preliminary data, and warrants further evaluation. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Li ◽  
Klaus Ley

Introduction: T cell adaptive immunity is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, but the phenotype of T cell subset and chemokine receptor that regulates effector T cell trafficking to atherosclerotic aortas is unknown. By multi-color flow cytometry, we discovered that >40% of T cells in the atherosclerotic aortas express CCR5. We hypothesize that CCR5 plays an important role in T cell recruitment to atherosclerotic aortas and CCR5+ T cells play an important roll in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Methods: T cell phenotype in the aorta of Apoe -/- mice on western diet 3-5 months was analyzed by multi-color flow cytometry. T cell homing assay were done in vitro by incubating 400,000 T eff from CD45.1Apoe -/- mice with explanted Apoe -/- aortas 12 to 18 hrs with media alone, CCL5 neutralizing antibody (0.5 ug/ml) or PTX (300ng/ml), and in vivo by adoptively transferring splenocytes from Apoe -/- Ccr5 -/- and dsRedApoe -/- mice at 1:1 ratio into CD45.1Apoe -/- recipients. 24 hours later, recipient aortas were digested and analyzed by flow cytometry. To visualize T cell proximity to APCs in the aorta by 2 photon imaging, T eff from Apoe -/- mice were labeled with SNARF before incubation with explanted aortas from CD11c-YFP+Apoe -/- mice in the above 3 conditions. In vitro T cell suppression assay was done by incubating 10 4 CD4+CD25- T cells with α-CD3 mAb and 5x10 4 irradiated splenic APCs and decreasing amount of Treg or CCR5Teff. Transcriptomic analysis is done following SMARTseq II prortocol from Illumina. Results: 43±6% of αβ T cells in the atherosclerotic aortas express CCR5, significantly higher than that in aortas of wild-type C57BL/6 mice (10±7%) or Apoe -/- mice on normal diet (7±6%). CCR5 and its ligand CCL5 play the major role in regulating T cell homing to atherosclerotic aortas in vitro and in vivo . Interestingly, at late stage of disease, the CCR5+ T cells in the atherosclerotic plaques are all FoxP3 + IFN-γ + T-bet + CD25 - CD44 hi CD62L lo (CCR5Teff) and do not suppress T cell proliferation. CCR5Teffs are only found in the aorta and para-aortic lymph nodes of Apoe -/- mice but not in the spleen or other organs. Transcriptomic analysis shows that CCR5Teff is more similar to Teff rather than Tregs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracie Profaizer ◽  
Patricia Slev

Abstract BACKGROUND T-cell receptor excision circles (TREC) and κ-deleting recombination receptor excision circles (KREC) concentrations can be used to assess and diagnose immune deficiencies, monitor thymic and bone marrow immune reconstitution, or follow responses to drug therapy. We developed an assay to quantify TREC, KREC, and a reference gene in a single reaction using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). METHODS PCR was optimized for 3 targets: TREC, KREC, and ribonuclease P/MRP subunit p30 (RPP30) as the reference gene. Multiplexing was accomplished by varying the target's fluorophore and concentration. Correlation with clinical results was evaluated using 47 samples from healthy donors, 59 samples with T-cell and B-cell markers within the reference interval from the flow cytometry laboratory, 20 cord blood samples, and 34 samples submitted for exome sequencing for severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID). RESULTS The limit of the blank was 4 positive droplets, limit of detection 9 positive droplets, and limit of quantification 25 positive droplets, or 2.0 copies/μL. TREC and KREC copies/μL were as expected in the healthy donors and cord blood samples and concordant with the healthy flow cytometry results. Of the samples from the SCID Panel, 56.5% had a TREC count <20 copies/μL and 17.7% had a KREC count <20 copies/μL, suggestive of low T- and B-cell numbers, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our multiplex ddPCR assay is an analytically sensitive and specific method for the absolute quantification of TREC and KREC. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to describe the simultaneous quantification of TREC, KREC, and a reference gene by use of ddPCR.


Cytometry ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan W. Gratama ◽  
Jaco Kraan ◽  
Mike Keeney ◽  
Viv Granger ◽  
David Barnett

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A121-A121
Author(s):  
Nina Chu ◽  
Michael Overstreet ◽  
Ryan Gilbreth ◽  
Lori Clarke ◽  
Christina Gesse ◽  
...  

BackgroundChimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are engineered synthetic receptors that reprogram T cell specificity and function against a given antigen. Autologous CAR-T cell therapy has demonstrated potent efficacy against various hematological malignancies, but has yielded limited success against solid cancers. MEDI7028 is a CAR that targets oncofetal antigen glypican-3 (GPC3), which is expressed in 70–90% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but not in normal liver tissue. Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) secretion is increased in advanced HCC, which creates an immunosuppressive milieu and facilitates cancer progression and poor prognosis. We tested whether the anti-tumor efficacy of a GPC3 CAR-T can be enhanced with the co-expression of dominant-negative TGFβRII (TGFβRIIDN).MethodsPrimary human T cells were lentivirally transduced to express GPC3 CAR both with and without TGFβRIIDN. Western blot and flow cytometry were performed on purified CAR-T cells to assess modulation of pathways and immune phenotypes driven by TGFβ in vitro. A xenograft model of human HCC cell line overexpressing TGFβ in immunodeficient mice was used to investigate the in vivo efficacy of TGFβRIIDN armored and unarmored CAR-T. Tumor infiltrating lymphocyte populations were analyzed by flow cytometry while serum cytokine levels were quantified with ELISA.ResultsArmoring GPC3 CAR-T with TGFβRIIDN nearly abolished phospho-SMAD2/3 expression upon exposure to recombinant human TGFβ in vitro, indicating that the TGFβ signaling axis was successfully blocked by expression of the dominant-negative receptor. Additionally, expression of TGFβRIIDN suppressed TGFβ-driven CD103 upregulation, further demonstrating attenuation of the pathway by this armoring strategy. In vivo, the TGFβRIIDN armored CAR-T achieved superior tumor regression and delayed tumor regrowth compared to the unarmored CAR-T. The armored CAR-T cells infiltrated HCC tumors more abundantly than their unarmored counterparts, and were phenotypically less exhausted and less differentiated. In line with these observations, we detected significantly more interferon gamma (IFNγ) at peak response and decreased alpha-fetoprotein in the serum of mice treated with armored cells compared to mice receiving unarmored CAR-T, demonstrating in vivo functional superiority of TGFβRIIDN armored CAR-T therapy.ConclusionsArmoring GPC3 CAR-T with TGFβRIIDN abrogates the signaling of TGFβ in vitro and enhances the anti-tumor efficacy of GPC3 CAR-T against TGFβ-expressing HCC tumors in vivo, proving TGFβRIIDN to be an effective armoring strategy against TGFβ-expressing solid malignancies in preclinical models.Ethics ApprovalThe study was approved by AstraZeneca’s Ethics Board and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).


Cytometry ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Roederer ◽  
M. Bigos ◽  
T. Nozaki ◽  
R. T. Stovel ◽  
D. R. Parks ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A243-A243
Author(s):  
Thomas Thisted ◽  
Arnab Mukherjee ◽  
Kanam Malhotra ◽  
Zuzana Biesova ◽  
Yuliya Kleschenko ◽  
...  

BackgroundImmunotherapies, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors, have become a cornerstone of cancer treatment. Remarkable clinical responses have been observed blocking the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) axis across a spectrum of indications. However, innate and/or acquired resistance to anti-PD-1 blockade remains a major challenge. V-domain Ig suppressor of T-cell activation (VISTA) is a B7-family member, which promotes T-cell and myeloid quiescence and represents a promising target, particularly in combination with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment. Recently, the interaction of VISTA with its receptor PSGL-1 was demonstrated to be significantly enhanced by the acidic tumor microenvironment (TME). As VISTA is highly expressed on myeloid cells, including those in the blood, antibodies binding VISTA at physiological pH 7.4 could result in rapid elimination from circulation through targeted-mediated drug disposition, making efficacious drug occupancy levels difficult to reach and potentially narrowing the therapeutic window. An antibody engineered to selectively bind and block VISTA at low pH in the TME may therefore be an ideal drug candidate.MethodsIn this study, fully human anti-VISTA antibodies were generated through pH-selective enrichment strategies of a yeast-based display library comprising highly diverse synthetic immune repertoires. The ‘parental’ antibodies have been extensively characterized using in vitro flow-cytometry, surface-plasmon resonance (SPR) and PSGL-1/VISTA inhibition assays in primary human CD4 and CD8 T-cells at pH 6.0 and pH 7.4. Eight parental antibodies were identified and tested for combinatorial efficacy with anti-PD-1 in vivo in human VISTA knock-in mice inoculated with syngeneic MC-38 tumors. These antibodies underwent further optimization for enhanced binding affinity at pH 6.0 and decreased binding at pH 7.4. ‘Progeny’ antibody ranking was based on the same in vitro and in vivo characterization as parental antibodies.ResultsEighty four parental antibodies were initially discovered. Flow-cytometry and SPR analysis revealed candidates displaying pH-dependent binding to endogenously expressed native VISTA on cells, and a PSGL-1/VISTA inhibition assay at pH 6.0 was run to identify and rank potent interface blockers. Eight candidate antibodies were tested in an in vivo intervention study in combination with anti-murine PD-1 demonstrating varied combinatorial efficacy with a subset leading to superior tumor rejection. Characterization of optimized progeny antibodies led to identification of anti-VISTA antibody SNS-101.ConclusionsEnrichment of highly diverse antibody libraries led to the identification of a pH-selective inhibitory anti-VISTA antibody SNS-101, which exerts excellent combinability with anti-PD-1 leading to superior anti-tumor activity in a mouse model.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darina Ocadlikova ◽  
Mariangela Lecciso ◽  
Javier Martin Broto ◽  
Katia Scotlandi ◽  
Michele Cavo ◽  
...  

BackgroundHigh-grade sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of aggressive tumors arising in bone and soft tissues. After relapse, treatment options are limited. The multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) sunitinib and inhibitor of PD-1 (anti-PD-1) nivolumab have shown antitumor activity in selected subtypes. In this study, we examine the role of TKIs and PD-1 based therapy in in vitro cocultures of sarcoma.MethodsThe human osteosarcoma (SaOS-2) and synovial sarcoma (SYO-1) cell lines were treated with sunitinib. After cell death and proliferation assessment, expression of PD-L1 was analyzed by flow cytometry. Sunitinib-treated sarcoma cells were cocultured with dendritic cells (DCs), and the phenotype of mature DCs was determined by flow cytometry. Mature DCs were cultured with autologous T cells. PD-1 expression on T cells, their proliferation, T regulatory cell (Tregs) induction and IFN-γ production, before and after nivolumab exposure, were analyzed.ResultsAlong with its anti-proliferative and direct pro-apoptotic effect on sarcoma cell lines, sunitinib prompted PD-L1 upregulation on sarcoma cells. Interestingly, sunitinib-treated sarcoma cells drive DCs to full maturation and increase their capacity to induce sarcoma-reactive T cells to produce IFN-γ. Conversely, no effect on T cell proliferation and T cell subpopulation composition was observed. Moreover, both bone and synovial sarcoma cell lines induced Tregs through DCs but sunitinib treatment completely abrogated Treg induction. Finally, sarcoma cell lines induced PD-1 upregulation on both effector T cells and Tregs when loaded into DCs, providing a rationale for using PD-1 blockade. Indeed, PD-1 blockade by nivolumab synergized with sunitinib in inducing IFN-γ-producing effector T cells.ConclusionsTaken together, our in vitro data indicate that the treatment of sarcoma cells with sunitinib can exert significant changes on immune cell subsets toward immune activation, leading to DC-based cross-priming of IFN-γ-producing effector T cells and reduced Treg induction. PD-1 blockade with nivolumab has a synergistic effect with sunitinib, supporting the use of TKI and anti-PD-1 approach in sarcomas, and perhaps in other cancers. DC-targeted drugs, including toll-like receptor 3 inhibitors and CD47 inhibitors, are under development and our preclinical model might help to better design their clinical application.


Blood ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 130 (Suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 810-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiying Qin ◽  
Sang M Nguyen ◽  
Sneha Ramakrishna ◽  
Samiksha Tarun ◽  
Lila Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Treatment of pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) using chimeric antigen receptor expressing T cells (CART) targeting CD19 have demonstrated impressive clinical results in children and young adults with up to 70-90% complete remission rate in multiple clinical trials. However, about 30% of patients relapse due to loss of the targeted epitope on CD19 or CART failure. Our CD22-targeted CAR trial has generated promising results in relapsed/refractory ALL, including CD19 antigen negative ALL, but relapse associated with decreased CD22 site density has occurred. Thus, developing strategies to prevent relapses due to changes in antigen expression have the potential to increase the likelihood of durable remissions. In addition, dual targeting of both CD19 and CD22 on pre-B ALL may be synergistic compared to targeting a single antigen, a potential approach to improve efficacy in patients with heterogeneous expression of CD19 and CD22 on leukemic blasts. We describe the systematic development and comparison of the structure and therapeutic function of three different types (over 15 different constructs) of novel CARs targeting both CD19 and CD22: (1) Bivalent Tandem CAR, (2) Bivalent Loop CAR, and (3) Bicistronic CAR. These dual CARs were assembled using CD19- and CD22-binding single chain fragment variable (scFv) regions derived from clinically validated single antigen targeted CARs. They are structurally different in design: both tandem and loop CARs have the CD19 and CD22 scFv covalently linked in the same CAR in different orders, whereas, bicistronic CARs have 2 complete CAR constructs connected with a cleavable linker. The surface expression on the transduced T cell of the CD19/CD22 dual CARs was detected with CD22 Fc and anti-idiotype of CD19 and compared to single CD19 or CD22 CARs. Activities of dual CARs to either CD19 or CD22 were evaluated in vitro with cytotoxicity assays or killing assays against K562 cells expressing either CD19 or CD22 or both antigens and also tested against a leukemia CD19+/CD22+ cell line, NALM6, and NALM6 with CRISPER/CAS9 knockout of CD19 or CD22 or both antigens. Therapeutic function of the top candidates of the dual CARs was then validated in vivo against these NALM6 leukemia lines. Some of these dual CARs were also further tested against patient-derived xenografts. Finally, we tested the dual targeting CARs in an artificial relapse model in which mice were co-injected with a mix of CD19 knockout and CD22 knockout NALM6 leukemia lines. From these studies, we established that the order of the scFv, size of the linker, type of leader sequence, and co-stimulatory domain in the CAR constructs all impact the efficacy of the dual targeting CARs. Tandem, Loop, and Bicistronic CARs all demonstrate some levels of in vitro and in vivo activities, but the bicistronic CAR was most effective at clearing leukemia and preventing relapse. In the CD19+/CD22+ NALM6 model, bicistronic CAR treated mice remain disease free while CD19 CAR or CD22 CAR treated mice already died or relapsed on day 27. In the relapse model, as expected, CD19 or CD22 single CAR T cell treatment resulted in progression of the corresponding antigen-negative NALM6. Treatment with dual targeted bicistronic CARs resulted in clearance of both CD19 and CD22 negative ALL with durable remission. In summary, we described novel CD19/CD22 dual targeting CARs with robust pre-clinical activity against pre-B cell ALL, and validated this approach in the prevention of resistance to single-antigen targeted CARs in preclinical models. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 1054-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongxing Liu

Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathways play a pivotal role in inflammation and immunity, among which, JAK/STAT3 pathway is the most potent and leads the crosstalk of immunity and oncogenesis. Somatic STAT3 activatingmutations have been found in about 40% of T cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia (T-LGLL) patients, most of which are located in exon 21 which encodes Src homology 2 (SH2) domain leading to the increased activity of aberrant STAT3 protein and the upregulation of its transcriptional targets. While germline STAT3activatingmutations represent a newly defined entity of immune dysregulations named infantile-onset multisystem autoimmune disease-1 (ADMIO1, #MIM 615952). Both the two diseases are rare and poorly understood. Here, we report a pedigree including a proband, a six-year-old girl, primarily manifesting as thrombocytopenia and lymphadenopathy and her father diagnosed as T-LGLL with pure red cell aplastic anemia without autoimmune disorders preceding or during his disease course. Morphology of the bone marrow smears of the proband indicated normal hyperplasia without evident dyspepsia or increased blast cells. However, the vacuoles in monocytes and the density and size of granules in neutrophils increased, and megaloblast transformation was observed in some neutrophils. (Fig. 1A, 1B) Biopsy of an enlarged lymph node showed the reactive follicular hyperplasia. (Fig. 1C) Whole exon sequencing and pedigree analysis of the family revealed the germline STAT3 c.833G>A/p.R278Hmutation harbored by the proband which originated de novo from her father who additionally carried a germline TAL1G62Rmutation and somatically accumulated an FLT3-ITD mutation. (Fig. 2) Through single-cell RNA sequencing, we also found the increase of circulating CD8+ T cells and the decrease of NK cells of the proband. (Fig. 3) The STAT3 target genes were generally overactivated, and the expression of cytokines decreased in transcription level. In the genes participating in JAK/STATs pathways, the expression of JAK3, STAT1, and STAT3was up-regulated significantly. (data not shown) Immunophenotype of the proband by flow cytometry confirmed change in immunocyte compartments, (Fig. 4) but the serum cytokine concentrations measured by flow cytometry yielded controversial results, that most of cytokines were moderately elevated, and IL-1β, IL-5, TNF-α, and IFN-γ were of the most evident. (data not shown) During the treatment and follow-up, Cyclosporin A (CsA) was efficient in maintaining her circulating platelets in the range of 166×109/L to 302×109/L, but the enlarged lymph nodes and hepatosplenomegaly had no response. Eleven months later, CsA was replaced by tacrolimusfor the severe gingival hyperplasia, which has efficiently stabilized her platelets count and normalized the enlarged lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. On the contrary, in the three and a half years' span of illness, the father was refractory to CsA and methotrexate (MTX), moreover, lethal bone marrow suppression was induced by one course of fludarabine. For the high level of HLA-I and HLA-II antibodies in the circulation, plantlets transfusions were only efficient after plasmapheresis. The father eventually died from pulmonary and gastrointestinal infection due to the failure of maternal HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We comprehensively elaborated the immunophenotype of the proband and thoroughly elucidated the genetic alternations of the father which led to the T cell leukemogenesis, which brought new insight on these two rare diseases and highlighted a more scrupulous therapeutic strategy in T-LGLL with congenital mutations. Figure 1 Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


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