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We describe an approach to reliably generate chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells and test their differentiation and function in vitro and in vivo.
Adoptive immunotherapy holds promise for the treatment of cancer and infectious disease. We describe a simple approach to transduce primary human T cells with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and expand their progeny ex vivo. We include assays to measure CAR expression as well as differentiation, proliferative capacity and cytolytic activity. We describe assays to measure effector cytokine production and inflammatory cytokine secretion in CAR T cells. Our approach provides a reliable and comprehensive method to culture CAR T cells for preclinical models of adoptive immunotherapy.
Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) provide a promising approach to redirect T cells against distinct tumor antigens. CARs are synthetic receptors that bind an antigen target. While their precise composition is variable, CARs generally contain 3 distinct domains. The extracellular domain directs binding to a target antigen and is typically comprised of a single chain antibody fragment linked to the CAR via an extracellular hinge. The second domain, commonly derived from the CD3ζ chain of the T cell receptor (TCR) complex, promotes T cell activation following CAR engagement. A third costimulatory domain is included to enhance T cell function, engraftment, metabolism, and persistence. The success of CAR T cell therapy in various hematopoietic malignancies including B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and multiple myeloma highlights the therapeutic promise of this approach1,2,3,4,5,6. The recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for two CD19-specific CAR T cell therapies, tisagenlecleucel for pediatric and young adult ALL and axicabtagene ciloleucel for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, reinforces the translational merit of CAR T cell Therapy.
CAR T-based approaches involve the isolation of T cells from peripheral blood, activation, genetic modification, and expansion ex vivo. Differentiation is an important parameter regulating CAR T cell efficacy. Accordingly, restricting T cell differentiation during ex vivo culture enhances the ability of the infused product to engraft, expand, and persist, providing long term immunosurveillance following adoptive transfer2,7,8,9. T cells consist of several distinct subsets including: naïve T cells (Tn), central memory (Tcm), effector memory (Tem), effector differentiated (Tte) and stem cell memory (Tscm). Effector differentiated T cells have potent cytolytic ability; however, they are short lived and engraft poorly10,11,12. In contrast, T cells with a less-differentiated phenotype including naïve T cells and Tcm exhibit superior engraftment and proliferative abilities following adoptive cell transfer13,14,15,16,17,18. The composition of the collected T cells in the premanufactured product can vary across patients and correlates with the therapeutic potential of CAR T cells. The proportion of T cells with a naïve-like immunophenotype in the starting apheresis product is highly correlated with both engraftment and clinical response19.
Culture duration is an important parameter influencing differentiation in CAR T cells prepared for adoptive transfer. We recently developed an approach to generate superior quality CAR T cells using an abbreviated culture paradigm20. Using our approach, we showed that limited culture gives rise to CAR T cells with superior effector function and persistence following adoptive transfer in xenograft models of leukemia. Here, we present the approaches to reliably generate CART19 cells (autologous T cells engineered to express anti-CD19 scFv attached to CD3ζ and the 4-1BB signaling domains) and include a detailed description of the assays that provide insight into CAR T bioactivity and efficacy prior to adoptive transfer.
All animal studies are approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Pennsylvania.
1. T Cell Activation, Transduction, and Expansion
2. Phenotypic Assessment of T Cell Differentiation
3. In Vitro Functional Analysis
4. In Vivo Functional Analysis
Using the methods described above, we stimulated and expanded T cells for either 3 or 9 days (Figure 1A,B). We also analyzed their differentiation profile, as indicated by the gating strategy outlined in Figure 1C, by measuring the abundance of distinct glycoproteins expressed on the cell surface. We show a progressive shift towards effector differentiation over time during ex vivo culture (Figure 1...
Here we describe approaches to measure the function and efficacy of CAR T cells harvested at varying intervals throughout ex vivo culture. Our methods provide comprehensive insight into assays designed to assess proliferative capacity as well as effector function in vitro. We describe how to measure CAR T cell activity following stimulation through the CAR and detail xenograft models of leukemia using CAR T cells harvested at day 3 vs day 9 of their logarithmic expansion phase.
There are inher...
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This work was supported in part through funding provided by Novartis Pharmaceuticals through a research alliance with the University of Pennsylvania (Michael C. Milone) as well as St. Baldrick's Foundation Scholar Award (Saba Ghassemi).
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
Anti CD3/CD28 dynabeads | Thermo Fisher | 40203D | |
APC Mouse Anti-Human CD8 | BD Biosciences | 555369 | RRID:AB_398595 |
APC-H7 Mouse anti-Human CD8 Antibody | BD Biosciences | 560179 | RRID:AB_1645481 |
BD FACS Lysing Solution 10X Concentrate | BD Biosciences | 349202 | |
BD Trucount Absolute Counting Tubes | BD Biosciences | 340334 | |
Brilliant Violet 510 anti-human CD4 Antibody | BioLegend | 317444 | RRID:AB_2561866 |
Brilliant Violet 605 anti-human CD3 Antibody | BioLegend | 317322 | RRID:AB_2561911 |
CellTrace CFSE Cell Proliferation Kit | Life Technolohgies | C34554 | |
CountBright Absolute Counting Beads, | Invitrogen | C36950 | |
FITC anti-Human CD197 (CCR7) Antibody | BD Pharmingen | 561271 | RRID:AB_10561679 |
FITC Mouse Anti-Human CD4 | BD Biosciences | 555346 | RRID:AB_395751 |
HEPES | Gibco | 15630-080 | |
Human AB serum | Valley Biomedical | HP1022 | |
Human IL-2 IS, premium grade | Miltenyi | 130-097-744 | |
L-glutamine | Gibco | 28030-081 | |
Liquid scintillation counter, MicroBeta trilux | Perkin Elmer | ||
LIVE/DEAD Fixable Violet | Molecular Probes | L34964 | |
Multisizer Coulter Counter | Beckman Coulter | ||
Na251CrO4 | Perkin Elmer | NEZ030S001MC | |
Pacific Blue anti-human CD14 Antibody | BioLegend | 325616 | RRID:AB_830689 |
Pacific Blue anti-human CD19 Antibody | BioLegend | 302223 | |
PE anti-human CD45RO Antibody | BD Biosciences | 555493 | RRID:AB_395884 |
PE/Cy5 anti-human CD95 (Fas) Antibody | BioLegend | 305610 | RRID:AB_493652 |
PE/Cy7 anti-human CD27 Antibody | Beckman Coulter | A54823 | |
Phenol red-free medium | Gibco | 10373-017 | |
UltraPure SDS Solution, 10% | Invitrogen | 15553027 | |
Via-Probe | BD Biosciences | 555815 | |
X-VIVO 15 | Gibco | 04-418Q | |
XenoLight D-Luciferin - K+ Salt | Perkin Elmer | 122799 |
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