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Chancellor A, Alan Simmons R, Khanolkar RC, Nosi V, Beshirova A, Berloffa G, Colombo R, Karuppiah V, Pentier JM, Tubb V, Ghadbane H, Suckling RJ, Page K, Crean RM, Vacchini A, De Gregorio C, Schaefer V, Constantin D, Gligoris T, Lloyd A, Hock M, Srikannathasan V, Robinson RA, Besra GS, van der Kamp MW, Mori L, Calogero R, Cole DK, De Libero G, Lepore M. Promiscuous recognition of MR1 drives self-reactive mucosal-associated invariant T cell responses. J Exp Med 2023; 220:e20221939. [PMID: 37382893 PMCID: PMC10309188 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20221939] [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: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells use canonical semi-invariant T cell receptors (TCR) to recognize microbial riboflavin precursors displayed by the antigen-presenting molecule MR1. The extent of MAIT TCR crossreactivity toward physiological, microbially unrelated antigens remains underexplored. We describe MAIT TCRs endowed with MR1-dependent reactivity to tumor and healthy cells in the absence of microbial metabolites. MAIT cells bearing TCRs crossreactive toward self are rare but commonly found within healthy donors and display T-helper-like functions in vitro. Experiments with MR1-tetramers loaded with distinct ligands revealed significant crossreactivity among MAIT TCRs both ex vivo and upon in vitro expansion. A canonical MAIT TCR was selected on the basis of extremely promiscuous MR1 recognition. Structural and molecular dynamic analyses associated promiscuity to unique TCRβ-chain features that were enriched within self-reactive MAIT cells of healthy individuals. Thus, self-reactive recognition of MR1 represents a functionally relevant indication of MAIT TCR crossreactivity, suggesting a potentially broader role of MAIT cells in immune homeostasis and diseases, beyond microbial immunosurveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Chancellor
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Vladimir Nosi
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Aisha Beshirova
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Giuliano Berloffa
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Rodrigo Colombo
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Rory M. Crean
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, UK
- Doctoral Training Centre in Sustainable Chemical Technologies, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Alessandro Vacchini
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Corinne De Gregorio
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Verena Schaefer
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Constantin
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Gurdyal S. Besra
- School of Biosciences, Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK
| | | | - Lucia Mori
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Raffaele Calogero
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | | | - Gennaro De Libero
- Experimental Immunology, Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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Fultang L, Booth S, Yogev O, Martins da Costa B, Tubb V, Panetti S, Stavrou V, Scarpa U, Jankevics A, Lloyd G, Southam A, Lee SP, Dunn WB, Chesler L, Mussai F, De Santo C. Metabolic engineering against the arginine microenvironment enhances CAR-T cell proliferation and therapeutic activity. Blood 2020; 136:1155-1160. [PMID: 32573723 PMCID: PMC7565134 DOI: 10.1182/blood.2019004500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [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: 12/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Hematological and solid cancers catabolize the semiessential amino acid arginine to drive cell proliferation. However, the resulting low arginine microenvironment also impairs chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) cell proliferation, limiting their efficacy in clinical trials against hematological and solid malignancies. T cells are susceptible to the low arginine microenvironment because of the low expression of the arginine resynthesis enzymes argininosuccinate synthase (ASS) and ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC). We demonstrate that T cells can be reengineered to express functional ASS or OTC enzymes, in concert with different chimeric antigen receptors. Enzyme modifications increase CAR-T cell proliferation, with no loss of CAR cytotoxicity or increased exhaustion. In vivo, enzyme-modified CAR-T cells lead to enhanced clearance of leukemia or solid tumor burden, providing the first metabolic modification to enhance CAR-T cell therapies.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Apoptosis
- Arginine/metabolism
- Argininosuccinate Synthase/genetics
- Argininosuccinate Synthase/metabolism
- Cell Proliferation
- Humans
- Immunotherapy, Adoptive/methods
- Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/immunology
- Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/metabolism
- Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/pathology
- Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/therapy
- Metabolic Engineering/methods
- Mice
- Mice, Nude
- Neuroblastoma/immunology
- Neuroblastoma/metabolism
- Neuroblastoma/pathology
- Neuroblastoma/therapy
- Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase/genetics
- Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase/metabolism
- Receptors, Chimeric Antigen/chemistry
- Receptors, Chimeric Antigen/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes/metabolism
- T-Lymphocytes/transplantation
- Tumor Cells, Cultured
- Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
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Affiliation(s)
- Livingstone Fultang
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Booth
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Orli Yogev
- The Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom; and
| | | | - Vanessa Tubb
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Silvia Panetti
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria Stavrou
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Ugo Scarpa
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | | | - Gavin Lloyd
- School of Biosciences and Phenome Centre Birmingham and
| | | | - Steven P Lee
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | | | - Louis Chesler
- The Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom; and
| | - Francis Mussai
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Carmela De Santo
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
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De Santo C, Booth S, Vardon A, Cousins A, Tubb V, Perry T, Noyvert B, Beggs A, Ng M, Halsey C, Kearns P, Cheng P, Mussai F. The arginine metabolome in acute lymphoblastic leukemia can be targeted by the pegylated-recombinant arginase I BCT-100. Int J Cancer 2018; 142:1490-1502. [PMID: 29168171 PMCID: PMC5849425 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.31170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [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: 04/25/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid that plays a key role in cell survival and proliferation in normal and malignant cells. BCT-100, a pegylated (PEG) recombinant human arginase, can deplete arginine and starve malignant cells of the amino acid. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer of childhood, yet for patients with high risk or relapsed disease prognosis remains poor. We show that BCT-100 is cytotoxic to ALL blasts from patients in vitro by necrosis, and is synergistic in combination with dexamethasone. Against ALL xenografts, BCT-100 leads to a reduction in ALL engraftment and a prolongation of survival. ALL blasts express the arginine transporter CAT-1, yet the majority of blasts are arginine auxotrophic due to deficiency in either argininosuccinate synthase (ASS) or ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC). Although endogenous upregulation or retroviral transduced increases in ASS or OTC may promote ALL survival under moderately low arginine conditions, expression of these enzymes cannot prevent BCT-100 cytotoxicity at arginine depleting doses. RNA-sequencing of ALL blasts and supporting stromal cells treated with BCT-100 identifies a number of candidate pathways which are altered in the presence of arginine depletion. Therefore, BCT-100 provides a new clinically relevant therapeutic approach to target arginine metabolism in ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmela De Santo
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Sarah Booth
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Ashley Vardon
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Antony Cousins
- Institute of Cancer Sciences, Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom
| | - Vanessa Tubb
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Tracey Perry
- Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Boris Noyvert
- Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Andrew Beggs
- Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Margaret Ng
- Department of Anatomic PathologyThe Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong
| | - Christina Halsey
- Institute of Cancer Sciences, Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom
| | - Pamela Kearns
- Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Paul Cheng
- Bio‐Cancer Treatment International LtdHong Kong
| | - Francis Mussai
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
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