1
|
Huai Q, Zhu C, Zhang X, Dai H, Li X, Wang H. Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells armored by FGF21 ameliorate alcohol-induced liver injury through modulating polarization of macrophages. Hepatol Commun 2024; 8:e0410. [PMID: 38551384 PMCID: PMC10984668 DOI: 10.1097/hc9.0000000000000410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a major health care challenge worldwide with limited therapeutic options. Although mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) represent a newly emerging therapeutic approach to treat ALD, thus far, there have been extensive efforts to try and enhance their efficacy, including genetically engineering MSCs. FGF21, an endocrine stress-responsive hormone, has been shown to regulate energy balance, glucose, and lipid metabolism and to enhance the homing of MSCs toward injured sites. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether MSCs that overexpress FGF21 (FGF21-MSCs) improve the therapeutic effect of MSCs in treating ALD. METHODS Human umbilical cord-derived MSCs served as the gene delivery vehicle for the FGF21 gene. Human umbilical cord-derived MSCs were transduced with the FGF21 gene using lentiviral vectors to mediate FGF21 overexpression. We utilized both chronic Lieber-DeCarli and Gao-binge models of ethanol-induced liver injury to observe the therapeutic effect of FGF21-MSCs. Liver injury was phenotypically evaluated by performing biochemical methods, histology, and inflammatory cytokine levels. RESULTS Compared with MSCs alone, administration of MSCs overexpressing FGF21(FGF21-MSCs) treatment significantly enhanced the therapeutic effect of ALD in mice, as indicated by the alleviation of liver injury with reduced steatosis, inflammatory infiltration, oxidative stress, and hepatic apoptosis, and the promotion of liver regeneration. Mechanistically, FGF21 could facilitate the immunomodulatory function of MSCs on macrophages by setting metabolic commitment for oxidative phosphorylation, which enables macrophages to exhibit anti-inflammatory inclination. CONCLUSIONS Our data elucidate that MSC modification by FGF21 could enhance their therapeutic effect in ALD and may help in the exploration of effective MSCs-based cell therapies for the treatment of ALD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qian Huai
- Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Inflammation and Immune-mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Cheng Zhu
- Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Inflammation and Immune-mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Xu Zhang
- Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Inflammation and Immune-mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Hanren Dai
- Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Inflammation and Immune-mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Xiaolei Li
- Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Inflammation and Immune-mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Anhui Medical University, Key Laboratory of Anti-inflammatory and Immune Medicine, Ministry of Education, Anhui Collaborative Innovation Center of Anti-inflammatory and Immune Medicine, Hefei, China
| | - Hua Wang
- Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Inflammation and Immune-mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Poorebrahim M, Quiros-Fernandez I, Marmé F, Burdach SE, Cid-Arregui A. A costimulatory chimeric antigen receptor targeting TROP2 enhances the cytotoxicity of NK cells expressing a T cell receptor reactive to human papillomavirus type 16 E7. Cancer Lett 2023; 566:216242. [PMID: 37217069 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2023.216242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Immune cells modified to express a tumor-reactive T cell receptor (TCR) have shown limited efficacy as stand-alone therapy against solid tumors. Genital and oropharyngeal carcinomas induced by human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 express constitutively its E6 and E7 oncoproteins, which makes them convenient targets for adoptive cell immunotherapy. However, viral antigen presentation by tumor cells is low and limits the anti-tumor efficacy of CD8+ T cells. To enhance the functionality of immune effector cells, we have devised a strategy combining a costimulatory chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) with a TCR. We used a clinically tested TCR specific to E7 (E7-TCR) of HPV16 and a newly constructed CAR targeting the trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2), which carried the intracellular costimulatory domains CD28 and 4-1BB, but was devoid of the CD3ζ domain. Flow cytometry analyses showed a notable upregulation of activation markers and of cytolytic molecule release by NK-92 cells genetically engineered to express CD3, CD8 and both E7-TCR and TROP2-CAR, after co-incubation with HPV16+ cervical cancer cells. Furthermore, the E7-TCR/TROP2-CAR NK-92 cells demonstrated enhanced antigen-specific activation and augmented cytotoxicity against tumor cells compared with NK-92 cells expressing the E7-TCR alone. A costimulatory TROP2-CAR can synergistically cooperate with the E7-TCR in NK cells thereby enhancing their signaling strength and antigen-specific cytotoxicity. This approach might improve the outcome of adoptive cell immunotherapies for HPV16+ cancer patients that are currently under investigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mansour Poorebrahim
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Isaac Quiros-Fernandez
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Research Center on Tropical Diseases (CIET)/Research Center on Surgery and Cancer (CICICA), Faculty of Microbiology, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica
| | - Frederik Marmé
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Stefan Eg Burdach
- Translational Pediatric Cancer Research Action - Institute of Pathology, TUM School of Medicine - Technical University of Munich, Trogerstr. 22 - RG - 540.0.11, D-81675, München, Germany; Department of Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, 675 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1L3, Canada
| | - Angel Cid-Arregui
- Targeted Tumor Vaccines Group, Clinical Cooperation Unit Applied Tumor Immunity, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Gonzalez-Garcia P, Muñoz-Miranda JP, Fernandez-Cisnal R, Olvera L, Moares N, Gabucio A, Fernandez-Ponce C, Garcia-Cozar F. Specific Activation of T Cells by an ACE2-Based CAR-Like Receptor upon Recognition of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24087641. [PMID: 37108807 PMCID: PMC10145580 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24087641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 04/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is still a health issue worldwide mostly due to a high rate of contagiousness conferred by the high-affinity binding between cell viral receptors, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) and SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. Therapies have been developed that rely on the use of antibodies or the induction of their production (vaccination), but despite vaccination being still largely protective, the efficacy of antibody-based therapies wanes with the advent of new viral variants. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) therapy has shown promise for tumors and has also been proposed for COVID-19 treatment, but as recognition of CARs still relies on antibody-derived sequences, they will still be hampered by the high evasion capacity of the virus. In this manuscript, we show the results from CAR-like constructs with a recognition domain based on the ACE2 viral receptor, whose ability to bind the virus will not wane, as Spike/ACE2 interaction is pivotal for viral entry. Moreover, we have developed a CAR construct based on an affinity-optimized ACE2 and showed that both wild-type and affinity-optimized ACE2 CARs drive activation of a T cell line in response to SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein expressed on a pulmonary cell line. Our work sets the stage for the development of CAR-like constructs against infectious agents that would not be affected by viral escape mutations and could be developed as soon as the receptor is identified.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Juan P Muñoz-Miranda
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cadiz, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
| | | | - Lucia Olvera
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cadiz, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
| | - Noelia Moares
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cadiz, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
| | - Antonio Gabucio
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cadiz, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
| | - Cecilia Fernandez-Ponce
- Institute of Biomedical Research Cadiz (INIBICA), 11009 Cadiz, Spain
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cadiz, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
| | - Francisco Garcia-Cozar
- Institute of Biomedical Research Cadiz (INIBICA), 11009 Cadiz, Spain
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cadiz, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Watanabe N, Mo F, McKenna MK. Impact of Manufacturing Procedures on CAR T Cell Functionality. Front Immunol 2022; 13:876339. [PMID: 35493513 PMCID: PMC9043864 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.876339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The field of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified T cell therapy has rapidly expanded in the past few decades. As of today, there are six CAR T cell products that have been approved by the FDA: KYMRIAH (tisagenlecleucel, CD19 CAR T cells), YESCARTA (axicabtagene ciloleucel, CD19 CAR T cells), TECARTUS (brexucabtagene autoleucel, CD19 CAR T cells), BREYANZI (lisocabtagene maraleucel, CD19 CAR T cells), ABECMA (idecabtagene vicleucel, BCMA CAR T cells) and CARVYKTI (ciltacabtagene autoleucel, BCMA CAR T cells). With this clinical success, CAR T cell therapy has become one of the most promising treatment options to combat cancers. Current research efforts focus on further potentiating its efficacy in non-responding patients and solid tumor settings. To achieve this, recent evidence suggested that, apart from developing next-generation CAR T cells with additional genetic modifications, ex vivo culture conditions could significantly impact CAR T cell functionality – an often overlooked aspect during clinical translation. In this review, we focus on the ex vivo manufacturing process for CAR T cells and discuss how it impacts CAR T cell function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Norihiro Watanabe
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Norihiro Watanabe,
| | - Feiyan Mo
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, United States
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Mary Kathryn McKenna
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, United States
| |
Collapse
|