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Sharma S, Whitehead T, Kotowski M, Ng EZQ, Clarke J, Leitner J, Chen YL, Santos AM, Steinberger P, Davis SJ. A high-throughput two-cell assay for interrogating inhibitory signaling pathways in T cells. Life Sci Alliance 2024; 7:e202302359. [PMID: 38073578 PMCID: PMC10703992 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202302359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The recent success of immunotherapies relying on manipulation of T-cell activation highlights the value of characterising the mediators of immune checkpoint signaling. CRISPR/Cas9 is a popular approach for interrogating signaling pathways; however, the lack of appropriate assays for studying inhibitory signaling in T cells is limiting the use of large-scale perturbation-based approaches. Here, we adapted an existing Jurkat cell-based transcriptional reporter assay to study both activatory and inhibitory (PD-1-mediated) T-cell signaling using CRISPR-based genome screening in arrayed and pooled formats. We targeted 64 SH2 domain-containing proteins expressed by Jurkat T cells in an arrayed screen, in which individual targets could be assessed independently, showing that arrays can be used to study mediators of both activatory and inhibitory signaling. Pooled screens succeeded in simultaneously identifying many of the known mediators of proximal activating and inhibitory T-cell signaling, including SHP2 and PD-1, confirming the utility of the method. Altogether, the data suggested that SHP2 is the major PD-1-specific, SH2 family mediator of inhibitory signaling. These approaches should allow the systematic analysis of signaling pathways in T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sumana Sharma
- https://ror.org/052gg0110 MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Toby Whitehead
- https://ror.org/052gg0110 MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Mateusz Kotowski
- https://ror.org/052gg0110 MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Emily Zhi Qing Ng
- https://ror.org/052gg0110 MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Joseph Clarke
- https://ror.org/052gg0110 MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Judith Leitner
- Division of Immune Receptors and T Cell Activation, Institute of Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Yi-Ling Chen
- https://ror.org/052gg0110 MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Ana Mafalda Santos
- https://ror.org/052gg0110 MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Peter Steinberger
- Division of Immune Receptors and T Cell Activation, Institute of Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Simon J Davis
- https://ror.org/052gg0110 MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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2
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McPhedran SJ, Carleton GA, Lum JJ. Metabolic engineering for optimized CAR-T cell therapy. Nat Metab 2024; 6:396-408. [PMID: 38388705 DOI: 10.1038/s42255-024-00976-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
The broad effectiveness of T cell-based therapy for treating solid tumour cancers remains limited. This is partly due to the growing appreciation that immune cells must inhabit and traverse a metabolically demanding tumour environment. Accordingly, recent efforts have centred on using genome-editing technologies to augment T cell-mediated cytotoxicity by manipulating specific metabolic genes. However, solid tumours exhibit numerous characteristics restricting immune cell-mediated cytotoxicity, implying a need for metabolic engineering at the pathway level rather than single gene targets. This emerging concept has yet to be put into clinical practice as many questions concerning the complex interplay between metabolic networks and T cell function remain unsolved. This Perspective will highlight key foundational studies that examine the relevant metabolic pathways required for effective T cell cytotoxicity and persistence in the human tumour microenvironment, feasible strategies for metabolic engineering to increase the efficiency of chimeric antigen receptor T cell-based approaches, and the challenges lying ahead for clinical implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J McPhedran
- Trev and Joyce Deeley Research Centre, BC Cancer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Gillian A Carleton
- Trev and Joyce Deeley Research Centre, BC Cancer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Julian J Lum
- Trev and Joyce Deeley Research Centre, BC Cancer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
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3
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Kruglova N, Shepelev M. Increasing Gene Editing Efficiency via CRISPR/Cas9- or Cas12a-Mediated Knock-In in Primary Human T Cells. Biomedicines 2024; 12:119. [PMID: 38255224 PMCID: PMC10813735 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12010119] [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: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
T lymphocytes represent a promising target for genome editing. They are primarily modified to recognize and kill tumor cells or to withstand HIV infection. In most studies, T cell genome editing is performed using the CRISPR/Cas technology. Although this technology is easily programmable and widely accessible, its efficiency of T cell genome editing was initially low. Several crucial improvements were made in the components of the CRISPR/Cas technology and their delivery methods, as well as in the culturing conditions of T cells, before a reasonable editing level suitable for clinical applications was achieved. In this review, we summarize and describe the aforementioned parameters that affect human T cell editing efficiency using the CRISPR/Cas technology, with a special focus on gene knock-in.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Kruglova
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Institute of Gene Biology RAS, 119334 Moscow, Russia;
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Au TY, Arudkumar J, Assavarittirong C, Benjamin S. Killing two birds with one stone: CRISPR/Cas9 CCR5 knockout hematopoietic stem cells transplantation to treat patients with HIV infection and hematological malignancies concurrently. Clin Exp Med 2023; 23:4163-4175. [PMID: 37500934 DOI: 10.1007/s10238-023-01129-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is known to cause hematological malignancy. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HPSCT) is an advanced treatment for that. Currently, there are three successful HIV-eliminated cases, and two received HPSCT from CCR5-absent donors. It is well established that the CCR5 protein on the cell surface assists human immunodeficiency virus entry. Preliminary studies have revealed that knocking out CCR5 and/or CXCR4 may inhibit the viral entry of HIV, which may prove promising in the further development of HIV treatment options. Herein, we suggest performing autologous or allogeneic HSCT with CCR5 KO hematopoietic stem cells in patients who suffer from complicated HIV conditions, particularly drug-resistant HIV or a concurrent diagnosis of HIV with lymphoma/leukemia, to achieve complete HIV remission. Nevertheless, at the clinical forefront of CRISPR-HIV technology, more efforts should be directed to advance nonhuman primate (NHP) models for studies of HIV pathogenesis and off-target assessments within this system. CRISPR-Cas9 knock out of host HSCT-expressing CCR5 or CXCR4 may confer HIV-resistance, which when applied to bedside therapeutics in an allogeneic or autologous manner can warrant a permanent and effective treatment outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsz Yuen Au
- Center for Medical Education in English, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Jayshen Arudkumar
- South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
- The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
| | - Chanika Assavarittirong
- Center for Medical Education in English, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Shamiram Benjamin
- Center for Medical Education in English, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
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5
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Allemailem KS, Alsahli MA, Almatroudi A, Alrumaihi F, Al Abdulmonem W, Moawad AA, Alwanian WM, Almansour NM, Rahmani AH, Khan AA. Innovative Strategies of Reprogramming Immune System Cells by Targeting CRISPR/Cas9-Based Genome-Editing Tools: A New Era of Cancer Management. Int J Nanomedicine 2023; 18:5531-5559. [PMID: 37795042 PMCID: PMC10547015 DOI: 10.2147/ijn.s424872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The recent developments in the study of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system have revolutionized the art of genome-editing and its applications for cellular differentiation and immune response behavior. This technology has further helped in understanding the mysteries of cancer progression and possible designing of novel antitumor immunotherapies. CRISPR/Cas9-based genome-editing is now often used to engineer universal T-cells, equipped with recombinant T-cell receptor (TCR) or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). In addition, this technology is used in cytokine stimulation, antibody designing, natural killer (NK) cell transfer, and to overcome immune checkpoints. The innovative potential of CRISPR/Cas9 in preparing the building blocks of adoptive cell transfer (ACT) immunotherapy has opened a new window of antitumor immunotherapy and some of them have gained FDA approval. The manipulation of immunogenetic regulators has opened a new interface for designing, implementation and interpretation of CRISPR/Cas9-based screening in immuno-oncology. Several cancers like lymphoma, melanoma, lung, and liver malignancies have been treated with this strategy, once thought to be impossible. The safe and efficient delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 system within the immune cells for the genome-editing strategy is a challenging task which needs to be sorted out for efficient immunotherapy. Several targeting approaches like virus-mediated, electroporation, microinjection and nanoformulation-based methods have been used, but each procedure offers some limitations. Here, we elaborate the recent updates of cancer management through immunotherapy in partnership with CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Further, some innovative methods of targeting this genome-editing system within the immune system cells for reprogramming them, as a novel strategy of anticancer immunotherapy is elaborated. In addition, future prospects and clinical trials are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khaled S Allemailem
- Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed A Alsahli
- Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ahmad Almatroudi
- Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Faris Alrumaihi
- Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Waleed Al Abdulmonem
- Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Amira A Moawad
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Jena, Germany
| | - Wanian M Alwanian
- Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nahlah Makki Almansour
- Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia
| | - Arshad Husain Rahmani
- Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Amjad Ali Khan
- Department of Basic Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
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6
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Jenkins E, Whitehead T, Fellermeyer M, Davis SJ, Sharma S. The current state and future of T-cell exhaustion research. OXFORD OPEN IMMUNOLOGY 2023; 4:iqad006. [PMID: 37554723 PMCID: PMC10352049 DOI: 10.1093/oxfimm/iqad006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
'Exhaustion' is a term used to describe a state of native and redirected T-cell hypo-responsiveness resulting from persistent antigen exposure during chronic viral infections or cancer. Although a well-established phenotype across mice and humans, exhaustion at the molecular level remains poorly defined and inconsistent across the literature. This is, in part, due to an overreliance on surface receptors to define these cells and explain exhaustive behaviours, an incomplete understanding of how exhaustion arises, and a lack of clarity over whether exhaustion is the same across contexts, e.g. chronic viral infections versus cancer. With the development of systems-based genetic approaches such as single-cell RNA-seq and CRISPR screens applied to in vivo data, we are moving closer to a consensus view of exhaustion, although understanding how it arises remains challenging given the difficulty in manipulating the in vivo setting. Accordingly, producing and studying exhausted T-cells ex vivo are burgeoning, allowing experiments to be conducted at scale up and with high throughput. Here, we first review what is currently known about T-cell exhaustion and how it's being studied. We then discuss how improvements in their method of isolation/production and examining the impact of different microenvironmental signals and cell interactions have now become an active area of research. Finally, we discuss what the future holds for the analysis of this physiological condition and, given the diversity of ways in which exhausted cells are now being generated, propose the adoption of a unified approach to clearly defining exhaustion using a set of metabolic-, epigenetic-, transcriptional-, and activation-based phenotypic markers, that we call 'M.E.T.A'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Jenkins
- Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7FY, UK
| | - Toby Whitehead
- Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK
| | - Martin Fellermeyer
- Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK
| | - Simon J Davis
- Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK
| | - Sumana Sharma
- Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK
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7
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VanderBurgh JA, Corso TN, Levy SL, Craighead HG. Scalable continuous-flow electroporation platform enabling T cell transfection for cellular therapy manufacturing. Sci Rep 2023; 13:6857. [PMID: 37185305 PMCID: PMC10133335 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33941-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Viral vectors represent a bottleneck in the manufacturing of cellular therapies. Electroporation has emerged as an approach for non-viral transfection of primary cells, but standard cuvette-based approaches suffer from low throughput, difficult optimization, and incompatibility with large-scale cell manufacturing. Here, we present a novel electroporation platform capable of rapid and reproducible electroporation that can efficiently transfect small volumes of cells for research and process optimization and scale to volumes required for applications in cellular therapy. We demonstrate delivery of plasmid DNA and mRNA to primary human T cells with high efficiency and viability, such as > 95% transfection efficiency for mRNA delivery with < 2% loss of cell viability compared to control cells. We present methods for scaling delivery that achieve an experimental throughput of 256 million cells/min. Finally, we demonstrate a therapeutically relevant modification of primary T cells using CRISPR/Cas9 to knockdown T cell receptor (TCR) expression. This study displays the capabilities of our system to address unmet needs for efficient, non-viral engineering of T cells for cell manufacturing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Thomas N Corso
- CyteQuest, Inc, 95 Brown Road, Box 1011, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA
| | - Stephen L Levy
- CyteQuest, Inc, 95 Brown Road, Box 1011, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA
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8
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Cas-CLOVER is a novel high-fidelity nuclease for safe and robust generation of TSCM-enriched allogeneic CAR-T cells. MOLECULAR THERAPY - NUCLEIC ACIDS 2022; 29:979-995. [PMID: 36189080 PMCID: PMC9481872 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2022.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The use of T cells from healthy donors for allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell cancer therapy is attractive because healthy donor T cells can produce versatile off-the-shelf CAR-T treatments. To maximize safety and durability of allogeneic products, the endogenous T cell receptor and major histocompatibility complex class I molecules are often removed via knockout of T cell receptor beta constant (TRBC) (or T cell receptor alpha constant [TRAC]) and B2M, respectively. However, gene editing tools (e.g., CRISPR-Cas9) can display poor fidelity, which may result in dangerous off-target mutations. Additionally, many gene editing technologies require T cell activation, resulting in a low percentage of desirable stem cell memory T cells (TSCM). We characterize an RNA-guided endonuclease, called Cas-CLOVER, consisting of the Clo051 nuclease domain fused with catalytically dead Cas9. In primary T cells from multiple donors, we find that Cas-CLOVER is a high-fidelity site-specific nuclease, with low off-target activity. Notably, Cas-CLOVER yields efficient multiplexed gene editing in resting T cells. In conjunction with the piggyBac transposon for delivery of a CAR transgene against the B cell maturation antigen (BCMA), we produce allogeneic CAR-T cells composed of high percentages of TSCM cells and possessing potent in vivo anti-tumor cytotoxicity.
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9
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Rezalotfi A, Fritz L, Förster R, Bošnjak B. Challenges of CRISPR-Based Gene Editing in Primary T Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23031689. [PMID: 35163611 PMCID: PMC8835901 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptive T-cell immunotherapy holds great promise for the successful treatment of leukemia, as well as other types of cancers. More recently, it was also shown to be an effective treatment option for chronic virus infections in immunosuppressed patients. Autologous or allogeneic T cells used for immunotherapy are usually genetically modified to express novel T-cell or chimeric antigen receptors. The production of such cells was significantly simplified with the CRISPR/Cas system, allowing for the deletion or insertion of novel genes at specific locations within the genome. In this review, we describe recent methodological breakthroughs that were important for the conduction of these genetic modifications, summarize crucial points to be considered when conducting such experiments, and highlight the potential pitfalls of these approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alaleh Rezalotfi
- Institute of Immunology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (A.R.); (L.F.); (R.F.)
| | - Lea Fritz
- Institute of Immunology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (A.R.); (L.F.); (R.F.)
| | - Reinhold Förster
- Institute of Immunology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (A.R.); (L.F.); (R.F.)
- Cluster of Excellence RESIST (EXC 2155), Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Berislav Bošnjak
- Institute of Immunology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; (A.R.); (L.F.); (R.F.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-511-532-9731
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