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Giraudo L, Cattaneo G, Gammaitoni L, Iaia I, Donini C, Massa A, Centomo ML, Basiricò M, Vigna E, Pisacane A, Picciotto F, Berrino E, Marchiò C, Merlini A, Paruzzo L, Poletto S, Caravelli D, Biolato AM, Bortolot V, Landoni E, Ventin M, Ferrone CR, Aglietta M, Dotti G, Leuci V, Carnevale-Schianca F, Sangiolo D. CSPG4 CAR-redirected Cytokine Induced Killer lymphocytes (CIK) as effective cellular immunotherapy for HLA class I defective melanoma. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2023; 42:310. [PMID: 37993874 PMCID: PMC10664597 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-023-02884-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Even acknowledging the game-changing results achieved in the treatment of metastatic melanoma with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), a large proportion of patients (40-60%) still fail to respond or relapse due to the development of resistance. Alterations in the expression of Human Leukocyte Antigen class I (HLA-I) molecules are considered to play a major role in clinical resistance to ICI. Cellular immunotherapy with HLA-independent CAR-redirected lymphocytes is a promising alternative in this challenging setting and dedicated translational models are needed. METHODS In this study, we propose an HLA-independent therapeutic strategy with Cytokine Induced Killer lymphocytes (CIK) genetically engineered with a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) targeting the tumor antigen CSPG4 as effector mechanism. We investigated the preclinical antitumor activity of CSPG4-CAR.CIK in vitro and in a xenograft murine model focusing on patient-derived melanoma cell lines (Mel) with defective expression of HLA-I molecules. RESULTS We successfully generated CSPG4-CAR.CIK from patients with metastatic melanoma and reported their intense activity in vitro against a panel of CSPG4-expressing patient-derived Mel. The melanoma killing activity was intense, even at very low effector to target ratios, and not influenced by the expression level (high, low, defective) of HLA-I molecules on target cells. Furthermore, CAR.CIK conditioned medium was capable of upregulating the expression of HLA-I molecules on melanoma cells. A comparable immunomodulatory effect was replicated by treatment of Mel cells with exogenous IFN-γ and IFN-α. The antimelanoma activity of CSPG4-CAR.CIK was successfully confirmed in vivo, obtaining a significant tumor growth inhibition of an HLA-defective Mel xenograft in immunodeficient mice. CONCLUSIONS In this study we reported the intense preclinical activity of CSPG4-CAR.CIK against melanoma, including those with low or defective HLA-I expression. Our findings support CSPG4 as a valuable CAR target in melanoma and provide translational rationale for clinical studies exploring CAR-CIK cellular immunotherapies within the challenging setting of patients not responsive or relapsing to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Giraudo
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
| | - Giulia Cattaneo
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy.
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Loretta Gammaitoni
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
| | - Ilenia Iaia
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Chiara Donini
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Annamaria Massa
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Maria Laura Centomo
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Marco Basiricò
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
| | - Elisa Vigna
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Alberto Pisacane
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
| | - Franco Picciotto
- Dermatologic Surgery Section, Department of Surgery, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria (AOU) Città Della Salute E Della Scienza, Turin, TO, Italy
| | - Enrico Berrino
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Corso Dogliotti 14, 10126, Turin, TO, Italy
| | - Caterina Marchiò
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Corso Dogliotti 14, 10126, Turin, TO, Italy
| | - Alessandra Merlini
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Luca Paruzzo
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Stefano Poletto
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Daniela Caravelli
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
| | - Andrea Michela Biolato
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
- Cytoskeleton and Cancer Progression, Department of Oncology, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
- Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Valentina Bortolot
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Elisa Landoni
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Marco Ventin
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cristina R Ferrone
- Department of Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Massimo Aglietta
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Gianpietro Dotti
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Valeria Leuci
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | | | - Dario Sangiolo
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Strada Provinciale 142 Km 3.95, 10060, Candiolo, TO, Italy.
- Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, TO, Italy.
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