Sign In

A subscription to JoVE is required to view this content. Sign in or start your free trial.

In This Article

  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Protocol
  • Representative Results
  • Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Materials
  • References
  • Reprints and Permissions

Summary

Antigen-specific T cells are difficult to characterize or utilize in therapies due to their extremely low frequency. Herein, we provide a protocol to develop a magnetic particle which can bind to antigen-specific T cells to enrich these cells and then to expand them several hundred-fold for both characterization and therapy.

Abstract

We have developed a tool to both enrich and expand antigen-specific T cells. This can be helpful in cases such as to A) detect the existence of antigen-specific T cells, B) probe the dynamics of antigen-specific responses, C) understand how antigen-specific responses affect disease state such as autoimmunity, D) demystify heterogeneous responses for antigen-specific T cells, or E) utilize antigen-specific cells for therapy. The tool is based on a magnetic particle that we conjugate antigen-specific and T cell co-stimulatory signals, and that we term as artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPCs). Consequently, since the technology is simple to produce, it can easily be adopted by other laboratories; thus, our purpose here is to describe in detail the fabrication and subsequent use of the aAPCs. We explain how to attach antigen-specific and co-stimulatory signals to the aAPCs, how to utilize them to enrich for antigen-specific T cells, and how to expand antigen-specific T cells. Furthermore, we will highlight engineering design considerations based on experimental and biological information of our experience with characterizing antigen-specific T cells.

Introduction

With the rise of many immunotherapies, there is a need to be able to characterize and control immune responses. In particular, the adaptive immune response is of interest because of the specificity and durability of the cells. Recently, chimeric-antigen-receptor T cell therapies have been approved for cancer therapy; however, the antigen-receptors are based off the common cell surface antigen CD19, instead of the antigens specific to the cancer1. Beyond the specificity, immunotherapies can also suffer from the lack of control, and limited understanding the dynamic immune response within cancer or autoimmunity.

One of....

Protocol

All mice were maintained per guidelines approved by the Johns Hopkins University's Institutional Review Board.

1. Load Dimeric Major Histocompatibility Complex Immunoglobulin Fusion Protein (MHC-Ig) with Desired Antigen Peptide Sequence.

NOTE: If using H-2Kb:Ig, then follow the protocol detailed in Step 1.1; if using H-2Db:Ig, then follow the protocol detailed in Step 1.2.

  1. Active loading of peptide sequence into H-2Kb:Ig.
    1. Prepare necessar.......

Representative Results

To complete a successful enrichment and expansion of antigen-specific T cells, the peptide-loaded MHC-Ig and co-stimulatory molecules should be successfully attached to the aAPC particle. Based on the 3 methods of particle attachment, we provide some representative data for a successful conjugation procedure outcome (Figure 5a). Indeed, if the ligand density is too low, then there will not be effective stimulation of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells where this o.......

Discussion

We have created a novel antigen-specific T cell isolation technology based on nanoparticle artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPCs). Nanoparticle aAPCs have peptide-loaded MHC on the surface that allows antigen-specific T cell binding and activation alongside co-stimulatory activation. aAPCs are also paramagnetic, and thus can be used to enrich rare antigen-specific T cells using a magnetic field. We have optimized and studied key nanoparticle properties of size, ligand density, and ligand choice and their influence o.......

Acknowledgements

J.W.H. thanks the NIH Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center at the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE-1232825), and the ARCS foundation for fellowship support. This work was funded by support from the National Institutes of Health (P01-AI072677, R01-CA108835, R21-CA185819), TEDCO/Maryland Innovation Initiative, and the Coulter Foundation (JPS).

....

Materials

NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
DimerX I: Recombinant Soluble Dimeric Human HLA-A2:Ig Fusion ProteinBD Biosciences551263
DimerX I: Recombinant Soluble Dimeric Mouse H-2D[b]:IgBD Biosciences551323
DimerX I: Recombinant Soluble Dimeric Mouse H-2K[b]:Ig Fusion ProteinBD Biosciences550750
Vivaspin 20 MWCO 50 000GE Life Sciences28932362
Vivaspin 2 MWCO 50 000GE Life Sciences28932257
Purified Human Beta 2 MicroglobulinBio-RadPHP135
nanomag-D-spio, NH2, 100 nm nanoparticlesMicromod79-01-102
Super Mag NHS Activated Beads, 0.2 µmOcean NanotechSN0200 
Anti-Biotin MicroBeads UltraPureMiltenyi130-105-637
EZ-Link NHS-BiotinThermoFisher20217
Sulfo-SMCC Crosslinker ProteoChemc1109-100mg
2-Iminothiolane hydrochlorideSigma-AldrichI6256 Sigma 
96 Well Half-Area Microplate, black polystyreneCorning3875
FITC Rat Anti-Mouse Ig, λ1, λ2, & λ3 Light Chain  Clone  R26-46  BD Biosciences553434
FITC Mouse Anti-Armenian and Syrian Hamster IgG  Clone  G192-1BD Biosciences554026
B6.Cg-Thy1a/Cy Tg(TcraTcrb)8Rest/J (transgenic PMEL) miceJackson Laboratory005023
C57BL/6J (B6 wildtype) miceJackson Laboratory000664
CD8a+ T Cell Isolation Kit, MouseMiltenyi130-104-075
MS ColumnsMiltenyi130-042-201
LS ColumnsMiltenyi130-042-401
Streptavidin-Phycoerythrin, SAv-PEBiolegend405203
N52 disk magnets of 0.75 inches K&J MagneticsDX8C-N52
APC anti-mouse CD8a Antibody, clone 53-6.7Biolegend100711
LIVE/DEAD Fixable Green Dead Cell Stain Kit, for 488 nm excitation ThermoFisherL-34969

References

  1. Prasad, V. immunotherapy: Tisagenlecleucel-the first approved Car-t-cell therapy: implications for payers and policy makers. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology. 15 (1), 11 (2018).
  2. Jenkins, M. K., Moon, J. J.

Explore More Articles

Magnetic NanoparticlesAntigen specific T CellsEnrichmentExpansionNeoepitopesArtificial Antigen presenting CellsImmunotherapyCellular TherapyResuspension BufferStimulatory SignalsQuenching Buffer

This article has been published

Video Coming Soon

JoVE Logo

Privacy

Terms of Use

Policies

Research

Education

ABOUT JoVE

Copyright © 2024 MyJoVE Corporation. All rights reserved