scholarly journals Engineered TCR-T Cell Immunotherapy in Anticancer Precision Medicine: Pros and Cons

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qijie Zhao ◽  
Yu Jiang ◽  
Shixin Xiang ◽  
Parham Jabbarzadeh Kaboli ◽  
Jing Shen ◽  
...  

This review provides insight into the role of engineered T-cell receptors (TCRs) in immunotherapy. Novel approaches have been developed to boost anticancer immune system, including targeting new antigens, manufacturing new engineered or modified TCRs, and creating a safety switch for endo-suicide genes. In order to re-activate T cells against tumors, immune-mobilizing monoclonal TCRs against cancer (ImmTAC) have been developed as a novel class of manufactured molecules which are bispecific and recognize both cancer and T cells. The TCRs target special antigens such as NY-ESO-1, AHNAKS2580F or ERBB2H473Y to boost the efficacy of anticancer immunotherapy. The safety of genetically modified T cells is very important. Therefore, this review discusses pros and cons of different approaches, such as ImmTAC, Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK), and inducible caspase-9 in cancer immunotherapy. Clinical trials related to TCR-T cell therapy and monoclonal antibodies designed for overcoming immunosuppression, and recent advances made in understanding how TCRs are additionally examined. New approaches that can better detect antigens and drive an effective T cell response are discussed as well.

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2087
Author(s):  
Yuna Jo ◽  
Laraib Amir Ali ◽  
Ju A Shim ◽  
Byung Ha Lee ◽  
Changwan Hong

Novel engineered T cells containing chimeric antigen receptors (CAR-T cells) that combine the benefits of antigen recognition and T cell response have been developed, and their effect in the anti-tumor immunotherapy of patients with relapsed/refractory leukemia has been dramatic. Thus, CAR-T cell immunotherapy is rapidly emerging as a new therapy. However, it has limitations that prevent consistency in therapeutic effects in solid tumors, which accounts for over 90% of all cancer patients. Here, we review the literature regarding various obstacles to CAR-T cell immunotherapy for solid tumors, including those that cause CAR-T cell dysfunction in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, such as reactive oxygen species, pH, O2, immunosuppressive cells, cytokines, and metabolites, as well as those that impair cell trafficking into the tumor microenvironment. Next-generation CAR-T cell therapy is currently undergoing clinical trials to overcome these challenges. Therefore, novel approaches to address the challenges faced by CAR-T cell immunotherapy in solid tumors are also discussed here.


Blood ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1327-1333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Gruber ◽  
June Kan-Mitchell ◽  
Kelli L. Kuhen ◽  
Tetsu Mukai ◽  
Flossie Wong-Staal

Abstract Dendritic cells (DCs) genetically modified to continually express and present antigens may be potent physiologic adjuvants for induction of prophylactic or therapeutic immunity. We have previously shown that an env and nef deleted HIV-1 vector (HIV-1ΔEN) pseudotyped with VSV-G transduced monocyte-derived macrophages as well as CD34+ precursors of DCs. Here we extended these findings with HIV-1ΔEN to highly differentiated human DCs derived in culture from circulating monocytes (DCs). In addition, a new vector derived from HIV-1ΔEN but further deleted in its remaining accessory genes vif, vpr, and vpu(HIV-1ΔEN V3) was also tested. Both vectors efficiently transduced DCs. Transduction of DCs did not significantly alter their viability or their immunophenotype when compared with untransduced DCs. Furthermore, the phagocytic potential of immature DCs, as well as their ability to differentiate into mature DCs capable of stimulating T-cell proliferation, was not affected. Finally, DCs transduced by the HIV-1ΔEN vector were able to elicit a primary antiviral cytotoxic T-cell response in autologous CD8 T cells. These results suggest that HIV-1–based vectors expressing viral antigens may be useful for in vivo active immunization as well as ex vivo priming of cytotoxic T cells for adoptive T-cell therapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Makhlouf ◽  
Lamiaa El-Shennawy ◽  
Hesham A. Elkaranshawy

Mathematical modelling has been used to study tumor-immune cell interaction. Some models were proposed to examine the effect of circulating lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and CD8+T cells, but they neglected the role of CD4+T cells. Other models were constructed to study the role of CD4+T cells but did not consider the role of other immune cells. In this study, we propose a mathematical model, in the form of a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, that predicts the interaction between tumor cells and natural killer cells, CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, and circulating lymphocytes with or without immunotherapy and/or chemotherapy. This system is stiff, and the Runge–Kutta method failed to solve it. Consequently, the “Adams predictor-corrector” method is used. The results reveal that the patient’s immune system can overcome small tumors; however, if the tumor is large, adoptive therapy with CD4+T cells can be an alternative to both CD8+T cell therapy and cytokines in some cases. Moreover, CD4+T cell therapy could replace chemotherapy depending upon tumor size. Even if a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy is necessary, using CD4+T cell therapy can better reduce the dose of the associated chemotherapy compared to using combined CD8+T cells and cytokine therapy. Stability analysis is performed for the studied patients. It has been found that all equilibrium points are unstable, and a condition for preventing tumor recurrence after treatment has been deduced. Finally, a bifurcation analysis is performed to study the effect of varying system parameters on the stability, and bifurcation points are specified. New equilibrium points are created or demolished at some bifurcation points, and stability is changed at some others. Hence, for systems turning to be stable, tumors can be eradicated without the possibility of recurrence. The proposed mathematical model provides a valuable tool for designing patients’ treatment intervention strategies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 1625-1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shenghua Zhou ◽  
Evelyn A. Kurt-Jones ◽  
Anna M. Cerny ◽  
Melvin Chan ◽  
Roderick Terry Bronson ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) is an essential adaptor protein in the Toll-like receptor-mediated innate signaling pathway, as well as in interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) and IL-18R signaling. The importance of MyD88 in the regulation of innate immunity to microbial pathogens has been well demonstrated. However, its role in regulating acquired immunity to viral pathogens and neuropathogenesis is not entirely clear. In the present study, we examine the role of MyD88 in the CD4+ T-cell response following lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection. We demonstrate that wild-type (WT) mice developed a CD4+ T-cell-mediated wasting disease after intracranial infection with LCMV. In contrast, MyD88 knockout (KO) mice did not develop wasting disease in response to the same infection. This effect was not the result of MyD88 regulation of IL-1 or IL-18 responses since IL-1R1 KO and IL-18R KO mice were not protected from weight loss. In the absence of MyD88, naïve CD4+ T cells failed to differentiate to LCMV-specific CD4 T cells. We demonstrated that MyD88 KO antigen-presenting cells are capable of activating WT CD4+ T cells. Importantly, when MyD88 KO CD4+ T cells were reconstituted with an MyD88-expressing lentivirus, the rescued CD4+ T cells were able to respond to LCMV infection and support IgG2a antibody production. Overall, these studies reveal a previously unknown role of MyD88-dependent signaling in CD4+ T cells in the regulation of the virus-specific CD4+ T-cell response and in viral infection-induced immunopathology in the central nervous system.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (20) ◽  
pp. 9808-9822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Radziewicz ◽  
Chris C. Ibegbu ◽  
Huiming Hon ◽  
Melissa K. Osborn ◽  
Kamil Obideen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A majority of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) do not sustain an effective T-cell response, and viremia persists. The mechanism leading to failure of the HCV-specific CD8+ T-cell response in patients developing chronic infection is unclear. We investigated apoptosis susceptibility of HCV-specific CD8+ T cells during the acute and chronic stages of infection. Although HCV-specific CD8+ T cells in the blood during the acute phase of infection and in the liver during the chronic phase were highly activated and expressed an effector phenotype, the majority was undergoing apoptosis. In contrast, peripheral blood HCV-specific CD8+ T cells during the chronic phase expressed a resting memory phenotype. Apoptosis susceptibility of HCV-specific CD8+ T cells was associated with very high levels of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and low CD127 expression and with significant functional T-cell deficits. Further evaluation of the “death phase” of HCV-specific CD8+ T cells during acute HCV infection showed that the majority of cells were dying by a process of cytokine withdrawal, mediated by activated caspase 9. Contraction during the acute phase occurred rapidly via this process despite the persistence of the virus. Remarkably, in the chronic phase of HCV infection, at the site of infection in the liver, a substantial frequency of caspase 9-mediated T-cell death was also present. This study highlights the importance of cytokine deprivation-mediated apoptosis with consequent down-modulation of the immune response to HCV during acute and chronic infections.


Blood ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1327-1333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Gruber ◽  
June Kan-Mitchell ◽  
Kelli L. Kuhen ◽  
Tetsu Mukai ◽  
Flossie Wong-Staal

Dendritic cells (DCs) genetically modified to continually express and present antigens may be potent physiologic adjuvants for induction of prophylactic or therapeutic immunity. We have previously shown that an env and nef deleted HIV-1 vector (HIV-1ΔEN) pseudotyped with VSV-G transduced monocyte-derived macrophages as well as CD34+ precursors of DCs. Here we extended these findings with HIV-1ΔEN to highly differentiated human DCs derived in culture from circulating monocytes (DCs). In addition, a new vector derived from HIV-1ΔEN but further deleted in its remaining accessory genes vif, vpr, and vpu(HIV-1ΔEN V3) was also tested. Both vectors efficiently transduced DCs. Transduction of DCs did not significantly alter their viability or their immunophenotype when compared with untransduced DCs. Furthermore, the phagocytic potential of immature DCs, as well as their ability to differentiate into mature DCs capable of stimulating T-cell proliferation, was not affected. Finally, DCs transduced by the HIV-1ΔEN vector were able to elicit a primary antiviral cytotoxic T-cell response in autologous CD8 T cells. These results suggest that HIV-1–based vectors expressing viral antigens may be useful for in vivo active immunization as well as ex vivo priming of cytotoxic T cells for adoptive T-cell therapy.


Author(s):  
Moritz Anft ◽  
Krystallenia Paniskaki ◽  
Arturo Blazquez-Navarro ◽  
Adrian Doevelaar ◽  
Felix S. Seibert ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundThe efficacy of the humoral and cellular immunity determines the outcome of viral infections. An appropriate immune response mediates protection, whereas an overwhelming immune response has been associated with immune-mediated pathogenesis in viral infections. The current study explored the general and SARS-CoV-2 specific cellular and humoral immune status in patients with different COVID-19 severities.MethodsIn this prospective study, we included 53 patients with moderate, severe, and critical COVID-19 manifestations comparing their quantitative, phenotypic, and functional characteristics of circulating immune cells, SARS-CoV-2 antigen specific T-cells, and humoral immunity.ResultsSignificantly diminished frequencies of CD8+T-cells, CD4+ and CD8+T-cell subsets with activated differentiated memory/effector phenotype and migratory capacity were found in circulation in patients with severe and/or critical COVID-19 as compared to patients with moderate disease. Importantly, the improvement of the clinical courses from severe to moderate was accompanied by an improvement in the T-cell subset alterations. Furthermore, we surprisingly observed a detectable SARS-CoV-2-reactive T-cell response in all three groups after stimulation with SARS-CoV-2 S-protein overlapping peptide pool already at the first visit. Of note, patients with a critical COVID-19 demonstrated a stronger response of SARS-CoV-2-reactive T-cells producing Th1 associated inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, clear correlation between antibody titers and SARS-CoV-2-reactive CD4+ frequencies underscore the role of specific immunity in disease progression.ConclusionOur data demonstrate that depletion of activated memory phenotype circulating T-cells and a strong SARS-CoV-2-specific cellular and humoral immunity are associated with COVID-19 disease severity. This counter-intuitive finding may have important implications for diagnostic, therapeutic and prophylactic COVID-19 management.


2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. 3077-3088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilpa P. Deshpande ◽  
Sujin Lee ◽  
Mei Zheng ◽  
Byeongwoon Song ◽  
David Knipe ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Viruses are suspected but usually unproven triggering factors in autoimmunity. One favored mechanism to explain the role of viruses in the genesis of autoimmunity is molecular mimicry. An immunoinflammatory blinding lesion called herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK) that follows ocular infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) is suggested to result from a CD4+ T-cell response to a UL6 peptide of HSV that cross-reacts with a corneal autopeptide shared with the immunoglobulin G2ab (IgG2ab) isotype. The present report reevaluates the molecular mimicry hypothesis to explain HSK pathogenesis. Our results failed to reveal cross-reactivity between the UL6 and IgG2ab peptides or between peptide reactive T cells and HSV antigens. More importantly, animals infected with HSV failed to develop responses that reacted with either peptide, and infection with a recombinant vaccinia UL6 vector failed to cause HSK, in spite of generating UL6 reactivity. Other lines of evidence also failed to support the molecular mimicry hypothesis, such as the failure to affect HSK severity upon tolerization of susceptible BALB/c and B-cell-deficient mice with IgG2ab or UL6 peptides. An additional study system revealed that HSK could be induced in mouse strains, such as the OT2 × RAG1−/− mice (T cell receptor transgenic recognizing OVA323–339) that were unable to produce CD4+ T-cell responses to any detectable HSV antigens. Our results cast doubt on the molecular mimicry hypothesis as an explanation for the pathogenesis of HSK and indicate that if autoimmunity is involved its likely proceeds via a bystander activation mechanism.


2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (10) ◽  
pp. 5256-5268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naveen K. Rajasagi ◽  
Sadik H. Kassim ◽  
Christina M. Kollias ◽  
Xiangyi Zhao ◽  
Robert Chervenak ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The role of CD4+ helper T cells in modulating the acquired immune response to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) remains ill defined; in particular, it is unclear whether CD4+ T cells are needed for the generation of the protective HSV-1-specific CD8+-T-cell response. This study examined the contribution of CD4+ T cells in the generation of the primary CD8+-T-cell responses following acute infection with HSV-1. The results demonstrate that the CD8+-T-cell response generated in the draining lymph nodes of CD4+-T-cell-depleted C57BL/6 mice and B6-MHC-II−/− mice is quantitatively and qualitatively distinct from the CD8+ T cells generated in normal C57BL/6 mice. Phenotypic analyses show that virus-specific CD8+ T cells express comparable levels of the activation marker CD44 in mice lacking CD4+ T cells and normal mice. In contrast, CD8+ T cells generated in the absence of CD4+ T cells express the interleukin 2 receptor α-chain (CD25) at lower levels. Importantly, the CD8+ T cells in the CD4+-T-cell-deficient environment are functionally active with respect to the expression of cytolytic activity in vivo but exhibit a diminished capacity to produce gamma interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Furthermore, the primary expansion of HSV-1-specific CD8+ T cells is diminished in the absence of CD4+-T-cell help. These results suggest that CD4+-T-cell help is essential for the generation of fully functional CD8+ T cells during the primary response to HSV-1 infection.


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