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Hiscox MJ, Wasmuth A, Williams CL, Foot JN, Wiedermann GE, Fadda V, Boiani S, Cornforth TV, Wikiert KA, Bruton S, Cartwright N, Anderson VE, Barnes CS, Vieira JV, Birch-Machin I, Gerry AB, Miller K, Pumphrey NJ. Selection, engineering, and in vivo testing of a human leukocyte antigen-independent T-cell receptor recognizing human mesothelin. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0301175. [PMID: 38574067 PMCID: PMC10994368 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Canonical α/β T-cell receptors (TCRs) bind to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) displaying antigenic peptides to elicit T cell-mediated cytotoxicity. TCR-engineered T-cell immunotherapies targeting cancer-specific peptide-HLA complexes (pHLA) are generating exciting clinical responses, but owing to HLA restriction they are only able to target a subset of antigen-positive patients. More recently, evidence has been published indicating that naturally occurring α/β TCRs can target cell surface proteins other than pHLA, which would address the challenges of HLA restriction. In this proof-of-concept study, we sought to identify and engineer so-called HLA-independent TCRs (HiTs) against the tumor-associated antigen mesothelin. METHODS Using phage display, we identified a HiT that bound well to mesothelin, which when expressed in primary T cells, caused activation and cytotoxicity. We subsequently engineered this HiT to modulate the T-cell response to varying levels of mesothelin on the cell surface. RESULTS The isolated HiT shows cytotoxic activity and demonstrates killing of both mesothelin-expressing cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models. Additionally, we demonstrated that HiT-transduced T cells do not require CD4 or CD8 co-receptors and, unlike a TCR fusion construct, are not inhibited by soluble mesothelin. Finally, we showed that HiT-transduced T cells are highly efficacious in vivo, completely eradicating xenografted human solid tumors. CONCLUSION HiTs can be isolated from fully human TCR-displaying phage libraries against cell surface-expressed antigens. HiTs are able to fully activate primary T cells both in vivo and in vitro. HiTs may enable the efficacy seen with pHLA-targeting TCRs in solid tumors to be translated to cell surface antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Jaelle N. Foot
- Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | | | - Valeria Fadda
- Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - Sara Boiani
- Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Shaun Bruton
- Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - Neil Cartwright
- Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Joao V. Vieira
- Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | | | - Andrew B. Gerry
- Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - Karen Miller
- Research, Adaptimmune, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
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