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Bolivar-Wagers S, Loschi ML, Jin S, Thangavelu G, Larson JH, McDonald-Hyman CS, Aguilar EG, Saha A, Koehn BH, Hefazi M, Osborn MJ, Jensen MC, Wagner JE, Pennell CA, Blazar BR. Murine CAR19 Tregs suppress acute graft-versus-host disease and maintain graft-versus-tumor responses. JCI Insight 2022; 7:e160674. [PMID: 35917188 PMCID: PMC9536261 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.160674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) efficacy is complicated by graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have shown efficacy in preventing GVHD. However, high Treg doses are often required, necessitating substantial ex vivo or in vivo expansion that may diminish suppressor function. To enhance in vivo suppressor function, murine Tregs were transduced to express an anti-human CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (hCAR19) and infused into lethally irradiated, hCD19-transgenic recipients for allo-HSCT. Compared with recipients receiving control transduced Tregs, those receiving hCAR19 Tregs had a marked decrease in acute GVHD lethality. Recipient hCD19 B cells and murine hCD19 TBL12-luciferase (TBL12luc) lymphoma cells were both cleared by allogeneic hCAR19 Tregs, which was indicative of graft-versus-tumor (GVT) maintenance and potentiation. Mechanistically, hCAR19 Tregs killed syngeneic hCD19+ but not hCD19- murine TBL12luc cells in vitro in a perforin-dependent, granzyme B-independent manner. Importantly, cyclophosphamide-treated, hCD19-transgenic mice given hCAR19 cytotoxic T lymphocytes without allo-HSCT experienced rapid lethality due to systemic toxicity that has been associated with proinflammatory cytokine release; in contrast, hCAR19 Treg suppressor function enabled avoidance of this severe complication. In conclusion, hCAR19 Tregs are a potentially novel and effective strategy to suppress GVHD without loss of GVT responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Bolivar-Wagers
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Michael L. Loschi
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Sujeong Jin
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Govindarajan Thangavelu
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Jemma H. Larson
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Cameron S. McDonald-Hyman
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Ethan G. Aguilar
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Asim Saha
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Brent H. Koehn
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Mehrdad Hefazi
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | - Mark J. Osborn
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Michael C. Jensen
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - John E. Wagner
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
| | - Christopher A. Pennell
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Bruce R. Blazar
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, and
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