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Mehra V, Chhetri JB, Ali S, Roddie C. The Emerging Role of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells as Adoptive Cellular Immunotherapeutics. Biology (Basel) 2023; 12:1419. [PMID: 37998018 PMCID: PMC10669440 DOI: 10.3390/biology12111419] [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] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) has transformed the treatment landscape for cancer and infectious disease through the investigational use of chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-Ts), tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and viral-specific T-cells (VSTs). Whilst these represent breakthrough treatments, there are subsets of patients who fail to respond to autologous ACT products. This is frequently due to impaired patient T-cell function or "fitness" as a consequence of prior treatments and age, and can be exacerbated by complex manufacturing protocols. Further, the manufacture of autologous, patient-specific products is time-consuming, expensive and non-standardised. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as an allogeneic alternative to patient-specific products can potentially overcome the issues outlined above. iPSC technology provides an unlimited source of rejuvenated iPSC-derived T-cells (T-iPSCs) or natural killer (NK) cells (NK-iPSCs), and in the context of the growing field of allogeneic ACT, iPSCs have enormous potential as a platform for generating off-the-shelf, standardised, "fit" therapeutics for patients. In this review, we evaluate current and future applications of iPSC technology in the CAR-T/NK, TIL and VST space. We discuss current and next-generation iPSC manufacturing protocols, and report on current iPSC-based adoptive therapy clinical trials to elucidate the potential of this technology as the future of ACT.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Claire Roddie
- Research Department of Haematology, Cancer Institute, University College London, Paul O’Gorman Building, London WCIE 6DD, UK
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Sharma S, Sauer T, Omer BA, Shum T, Rollins LA, Rooney CM. Constitutive Interleukin-7 Cytokine Signaling Enhances the Persistence of Epstein-Barr Virus-Specific T-Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:15806. [PMID: 37958791 PMCID: PMC10649234 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242115806] [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: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The efficacy of therapeutic T-cells is limited by a lack of positive signals and excess inhibitory signaling in tumor microenvironments. We previously showed that a constitutively active IL7 receptor (C7R) enhanced the persistence, expansion, and anti-tumor activity of T-cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), and C7R-modified GD2.CAR T-cells are currently undergoing clinical trials. To determine if the C7R could also enhance the activity of T-cells recognizing tumors via their native T-cell receptors (TCRs), we evaluated its effects in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific T-cells (EBVSTs) that have produced clinical benefits in patients with EBV-associated malignancies. EBVSTs were generated by stimulation of peripheral blood T-cells with overlapping peptide libraries spanning the EBV lymphoma antigens, LMP1, LMP2, and EBNA 1, followed by retroviral vector transduction to express the C7R. The C7R increased STAT5 signaling in EBVSTs and enhanced their expansion over 30 days of culture in the presence or absence of exogenous cytokines. C7R-EBVSTs maintained EBV antigen specificity but were dependent on TCR stimulation for continued expansion. C7R-EBVSTs produced more rapid lymphoma control in a murine xenograft model than unmodified EBVSTs and persisted for longer. The findings have led to a clinical trial, evaluating C7R-EBVSTs for the treatment of refractory or relapsed EBV-positive lymphoma (NCT04664179).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandhya Sharma
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (S.S.)
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Tim Sauer
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Bilal A. Omer
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Thomas Shum
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (S.S.)
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Lisa A. Rollins
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Cliona M. Rooney
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Pathology-Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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